Former Olympians Hosted Volleyball Clinic

Community Contributed

By Suliana Aki

Molokai High School was honored to host a Give It Back Foundation (GIBF) Volleyball Camp on Feb. 7-8 at The Barn. Two former Olympians, Tama Miyashiro (libero) from Kaneohe, Oahu and Courtney Thompson (setter) from Bellevue, WA, are co-founders of the nonprofit GIBF. As retired players for the USA National Volleyball Team, they wanted to give back to youth. Proceeds from two-day camp on Molokai were put toward the medical costs of a dear friend of Miyashiro’s from Maui, Bala Spencer, who coaches the Kamehameha-Maui Volleyball team.

Miyashiro and Thompson also got to visit all the elementary schools to share how their experience being on USA National Volleyball Team as Olympians has paved a path in their life.

At the volleyball camp at The Barn, there were over 40 players present on both days. The instructors asked the players to be open to learning a new style, and keeping our volleyball mechanics/techniques “simple” was key during the camp.

If there was one piece of advice to share with youth on Molokai, Miyashiro said it’s “to be present.” Of course, we can learn from the past and prepare for the future, she said, but to “be present” here and now is what her coach would always say to them. Thompson shared, “Be you and do you.” She said you can only control yourself on the court or in life, so focusing on yourself is key. Their advice was very simple but so powerful and uplifting.

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