HAVE A BLAST WITH OUR PAST
Shoji, volleyball didn't hit it off until college

Learn about Hawai'i sports history and those who figured prominently in it in this feature. We'll ask a question Wednesday and present the answer in an in-depth profile on Thursday
	Q: Before he even played the sport he now coaches, this person won Upland (Calif.) High School's "Best Athlete" award over Rollie Fingers, who would become a Hall of Fame pitcher. Who is he?

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

A: Dave Shoji, who didn't play volleyball in high school but has coached the University of Hawai'i Wahine volleyball team to four national titles, was named Upland's "Best Athlete" in 1964.

Dave Shoji was a standout baseball, football and basketball player long before he discovered volleyball, which he has coached at the University of Hawai'i for 28 years. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

"I was a chicken, I ran away from people," Shoji recalls of his days as an Upland (Calif.) High halfback. "I didn't want to get hit."

Somehow, Shoji's athletic talent shined through. In his senior year (1964), he won the high school's "Best Athlete" award over teammate — and future baseball Hall of Famer — Rollie Fingers.

Fingers would swallow his disappointment by signing a big baseball contract. He went on to epitomize the modern-day reliever in his 17-year career and pitched his way into the Hall of Fame in 1992.

"He might have been the most natural athlete I've ever seen. He could do anything; he was so coordinated," recalls Shoji, whose only contact with Fingers since their senior year has been a few dinners when he has visited Hawai'i.

"I remember we were on this (American Legion) baseball trip and we had a lot of time to kill," Shoji said. "We found a driving range. I don't think he'd ever golfed, but he picked up like a 2-iron and started hitting line drives at the guy in the cage picking up balls. At 200 yards he was nailing this guy. I'll never forget that about him. It was incredible."

The man with the handlebar mustache and wicked slider pitched in 16 World Series games with the Oakland A's and accumulated 341 saves. He won the American League MVP and Cy Young Awards with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1981.

Meanwhile, the man with the "Best Athlete" award took it home to Hawai'i and won four national championships as coach of University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine volleyball.

Shoji starts his 28th season tomorrow with a record of 770-145 and .842 winning percentage. USA Volleyball named him one of the All-time Greatest Volleyball Coaches this year.

Shoji is convinced he won that high school award simply because he had more letters than Fingers, whose only other high school sport was basketball.

Fingers hit cleanup and played outfield when he didn't pitch. Shoji hit leadoff, helped by his awkward start in the game. When he was 5, he picked up a bat for the first time and held it cross-handed. His father turned him around. The only thing Shoji does left-handed is bat.

His quickness and left-handed stance helped him beat out lots of balls. He was all-conference in football and basketball and all-everything in baseball where he was nearly Fingers' match — at least in high school. Shoji excelled in the sport from the moment he pulled on his first jersey. His American Legion team won the 1964 national championship, with Shoji batting .400.

He ended up in California for high school, and then college at UC-Santa Barbara, because his parents, Kobe and Chiz, were sent to Iran and Puerto Rico by C. Brewer. They took their youngest son with them — Kelvin now works in the UH Athletic Department as the Major Gifts Officer — but sent the older two to live with an aunt in Upland.

Middle son Tom is the volleyball coach at University of Southern Colorado. All three are accomplished athletes — Kelvin was Kalani's starting quarterback — and Kobe was a 24-foot long jumper and single wing tailback in college.

Volleyball came late in the Shojis' athletic life, but would have a life-altering, possibly life-saving impact.

Dave picked it up from a college roommate in Santa Barbara. He played three years for UCSB — the first two for former Iolani coach Dennis Berg. A quick study, Shoji earned All-America honors and won some low-level beach events.

Then reality hit. About to be drafted in 1971, Shoji entered the ROTC program at Santa Barbara. It required two years of active duty during the Vietnam War. Everyone in his infantry class was sent overseas, with one exception.

Shoji's commanding officer allowed him to try out for the All-Army volleyball team. He made that and every level after, extending his trip to a month. When he returned, his obligation was down to 51 weeks. Anyone with under a year left could not be sent to Vietnam.

"The timing didn't allow me to be sent overseas," recalls Shoji, whose father was a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and whose parents met in a relocation camp. "I was trained to go. I was expecting to go. I don't know if I wanted to go, but I was prepared to go and serve. I would have been an infantry officer in Vietnam and ... it was 50-50 whether you would come back."

Despite all that, volleyball has never been his favorite sport. He always considered baseball his best sport. Now, golf is his passion. He is so smitten, he tapes tournaments and watches them before he falls asleep at night ... probably dreaming of the day he beat out Fingers as Upland High's best athlete.