Fathers and Sons in Volleball

“Every day I see a little more of my father in me. He’s in my eyes, my heart, my soul, my hands, my pride. And when I feel alone and I think I can’t go on I hear him sayin’ ‘Son you’ll be alright. Everything’s gonna be alright.’” From “Song for Dad” by Keith Urban.

Famous Father-Son Volleyball combinations are neither rare nor common, they reside somewhere in that nebulous area between those two extremes.  Just off the top of my head I came up with six famous combos. In alphabetical order, then: 1) Berzins; 2) McGown; 3) Sato; 4) Shoji; 5) Smith; and  6) Stanley.  Brief synopses follow.

Aldis Berzins achieved fame as an All American at Ohio State University and later with the National team where he won a Gold Medal in the 1984 Olympics as an outside hitter (Karch Kiraly was the other starting outside). His three sons – Kris, Mik, and Dainis – all played college volleyball.  Kris and Dainis starred at Loyola while Mik won an NCAA championship in 2011 at Ohio State.

Carl McGown was an All American at BYU and is a coaching legend both nationally and internationally. Dr. McGown received a Ph. D. from the University of Oregon and is widely considered one of the premier experts on motor skill learning in the world.  By the way, his BYU teams also won two NCAA men’s Volleyball championships. Both of his sons – Chris and Paul – played Volleyball for their father at BYU. Chris is currently the men’s head Volleyball coach at BYU and, although off to a great start, he still has some big shoes to fill.

Gary Sato attained fame as both a coach and player, and, somewhere along the way, managed to complete a Doctor of Chiropractic degree.  Dr. Sato’s son Andrew is currently the starting libero for the 49ers of Long Beach State.

Dave Shoji is the winningest coach in NCAA DI women’s Volleyball history and is starting his 40^th year with the University of Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine. Dave’s sons Kawika and Eric both played at Stanford and both are members of the national team.

Christopher St. John Smith, better known as Sinjin Smith, is a volleyball legend both indoor and on the beach, but the beach is his main claim to fame. Sinjin’s son Hagen started several contests for the UCLA Bruins last season, playing both setter and libero.

Jon Stanley was an All American at BYU and today is considered one of the best senior Volleyball players in the world, playing with the fabled Quicksilver team. Jon’s son Clay was a mainstay of the national team for 12 years and won Gold in the 2008 Olympics.

There are probably some other famous Father and Son combinations I have forgotten.  Let me know, please.  However, let’s pay tribute to these six men, who in addition to inspiring their sons to play volleyball so well, have also contributed so much to the growth of the game.  Gentlemen, thanks for all you have done, and continue to do, for Volleyball!