The volleyball team of the A’o A Koa Club brings several Hawaiian volleyball players as coaches

Charlie Wade, head coach of the Hawaii men’s volleyball team, is preparing for another season of volleyball for the A’o A Koa Club, and this year the club will be expanding.

On Saturday, A’o A Koa held tryouts for this year’s teams. This season, the club will expand to eight teams (four boys and four girls).

“We started in 2013 and then dropped boys sports. We’ve been back for a while, but this is the first year we’ve been back. We have four boys teams and four girls teams, so it’s really kind of a fresh start for us,” Wade said.

With the new look and the new season come new coaches. Current players from the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine will be on the coaching staff for several teams in the club.

“I hope it gives them a glimpse of the possibilities that lie ahead of them. That you can stay home and play and be successful and all of those things. But it’s really great to see teams like that,” said Jackie Matias, Rainbow Wahine and A’o A Koa Club volleyball coach. “I think it’s very important in their journey to start with technique and develop it strongly, and I’m really glad I get to be a part of that.”

Players such as Matias and Adrianna Arquette of the Rainbow Wahine and Kurt Nusterer and Tread Rosenthal of the Rainbow Warriors will also serve as coaches this club season.

“It’s great. I mean, I started when I was 16. I started my volleyball career and I see so much of myself and the players I coached. It’s great because I see them experiencing the same moments that I did and having the same fun experiences that I did. So I’m reliving old memories that I like to think back on. And it’s so great to be able to offer kids such a great experience that I was lucky enough to experience myself,” said Nusterer.

Wade said that players who choose not to play for the club or who do not make it onto a team will still have the opportunity to play this season, as several training camps and clinics are planned.