Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2007 1:54:14 GMT -5
Saint Mary's building Hawai‘i volleyball pipeline
Maybe Saint Mary's (Calif.) College women's volleyball coach Rob Browning has ties to Hawai'i I don't know about. Maybe he's lucky that many of Hawai'i's top athletes are related or know each other well.
But he obviously has recognized this place as a volleyball hotbed and has built himself a solid recruiting pipeline to the islands in a very short time. And for that, I give him credit.
Word of Life senior Chanteal Satele is the latest to commit to the Gaels, following 'Iolani's Megan Burton (2006) and Kapua Kamana'o (2007). Chanteal made a verbal commitment and plans to sign an official letter of intent in November.
Like Burton and Kamana'o, Satele was not heavily recruited as far as volleyball powers. She turned down offers from Pacific (Calif.) and New Mexico State, and St. John's and Loyola Marymount also were on the recruiting front. Chanteal also had interest from as far away as North Carolina and Georgia, and UH invited her to walk on with a possibility of earning a scholarship in 2009 or 2010.
But Saint Mary's appeared to be the best offer and the best fit. I can see how it would be.
On a personal level, Burton reportedly is Chanteal's cousin. Megan, Kapua and Chanteal all were club teammates at 'Imi 'Ike. Obviously, those ties helped a lot.
But Saint Mary's has its own attractiveness.
It's a small school, which should make the transition to college smoother. Sometimes going from smaller schools like 'Iolani and Word of Life to a big university can be a shock to the system.
Moraga is a nice area, and the campus is set up on a hill in quiet, almost country-like surroundings despite being just 20 minutes from Oakland and about a half-hour from San Francisco.
There's a strong Hawai'i presence all over the Bay Area, and as soon as you walk into the gym (McKeon Pavilion) at Saint Mary's, there is a huge display with lots of memorabilia of Herman Wedemeyer, the Saint Louis alum who to this day is the greatest athlete in Saint Mary's history.
The West Coast Conference is competitive, mid-major Division I, and the schools are mostly similar in makeup: Pepperdine, USF, Santa Clara, Gonzaga, etc.
But it seems like the biggest selling point for Saint Mary's is their concern for the athlete. Chanteal mentioned that when Burton was homesick once, some Hawai'i people showed up in hula skirts and danced to cheer her up.
"She said they took good care of her," Satele said.
Chanteal's mom, Lee Ann, said the family e-mailed specific questions to Browning and his staff, and they replied with specific answers.
"They had a plan," Lee Ann said, "just for her."
Chanteal said "it started with Megan. They liked her, and so they wanted to bring in more players from Hawai'i."
Smart move. Very smart.
blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com/index.php?blog=17&title=saint_mary_s_building_hawai_i_volleyball&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
Maybe Saint Mary's (Calif.) College women's volleyball coach Rob Browning has ties to Hawai'i I don't know about. Maybe he's lucky that many of Hawai'i's top athletes are related or know each other well.
But he obviously has recognized this place as a volleyball hotbed and has built himself a solid recruiting pipeline to the islands in a very short time. And for that, I give him credit.
Word of Life senior Chanteal Satele is the latest to commit to the Gaels, following 'Iolani's Megan Burton (2006) and Kapua Kamana'o (2007). Chanteal made a verbal commitment and plans to sign an official letter of intent in November.
Like Burton and Kamana'o, Satele was not heavily recruited as far as volleyball powers. She turned down offers from Pacific (Calif.) and New Mexico State, and St. John's and Loyola Marymount also were on the recruiting front. Chanteal also had interest from as far away as North Carolina and Georgia, and UH invited her to walk on with a possibility of earning a scholarship in 2009 or 2010.
But Saint Mary's appeared to be the best offer and the best fit. I can see how it would be.
On a personal level, Burton reportedly is Chanteal's cousin. Megan, Kapua and Chanteal all were club teammates at 'Imi 'Ike. Obviously, those ties helped a lot.
But Saint Mary's has its own attractiveness.
It's a small school, which should make the transition to college smoother. Sometimes going from smaller schools like 'Iolani and Word of Life to a big university can be a shock to the system.
Moraga is a nice area, and the campus is set up on a hill in quiet, almost country-like surroundings despite being just 20 minutes from Oakland and about a half-hour from San Francisco.
There's a strong Hawai'i presence all over the Bay Area, and as soon as you walk into the gym (McKeon Pavilion) at Saint Mary's, there is a huge display with lots of memorabilia of Herman Wedemeyer, the Saint Louis alum who to this day is the greatest athlete in Saint Mary's history.
The West Coast Conference is competitive, mid-major Division I, and the schools are mostly similar in makeup: Pepperdine, USF, Santa Clara, Gonzaga, etc.
But it seems like the biggest selling point for Saint Mary's is their concern for the athlete. Chanteal mentioned that when Burton was homesick once, some Hawai'i people showed up in hula skirts and danced to cheer her up.
"She said they took good care of her," Satele said.
Chanteal's mom, Lee Ann, said the family e-mailed specific questions to Browning and his staff, and they replied with specific answers.
"They had a plan," Lee Ann said, "just for her."
Chanteal said "it started with Megan. They liked her, and so they wanted to bring in more players from Hawai'i."
Smart move. Very smart.
blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com/index.php?blog=17&title=saint_mary_s_building_hawai_i_volleyball&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1