HAVE A BLAST WITH OUR PAST
Peterson went from beach to Olympic volleyball fame

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.

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Q: This person who recently retired as a collegiate coach was a member of the USA Olympic volleyball team in 1964, the first year volleyball was played in the Olympics.

A: Sharon Peterson, who retired as UH-Hilo's coach in December, is a two-time Olympian (1964, 1968).

That year, volleyball was introduced to the Olympics in Tokyo and the USA volleyball team received a superstar welcome.

"Anyone who played volleyball, the Japanese just oohed and awed over," said Peterson, who credited Japan's first gold medal women's volleyball team as reason for the hysteria. "In Japan, volleyball was probably one of the top sports because of these women. They actually lived, slept and ate volleyball. From what I heard, they would get up at 2 a.m. and work out. They weren't very tall, but they had precision and their defense was just extraordinary."

Peterson, a two-time Olympian (1964, 1968) and five-time United States Volleyball Association All-American, went on to play professionally and coach Hawai'i-Hilo's women's volleyball team to seven national titles. She retired from UH-Hilo in December and will coach the Hawai'i Preparatory Academy boys varsity volleyball team this season.

Peterson said the Japanese adopted volleyball after World War II and chose to add the sport at the 1964 Olympics.

"Every year, wherever the Olympics were held, they had a chance to bring in one additional sport," Peterson said. "When it was in Japan, volleyball was what they wanted to bring in."

It helped that the Japanese trained year-round for volleyball and had the best team in the world at the time, Peterson said.

"They had this team that just revolutionized the game of volleyball," said Peterson, whose USA team finished fifth. "Their quick offense, their (defensive) rolling. They were just unbelievable.

"When we came home, we wanted to learn the Japanese roll," Peterson continued. "It was an easy way to go down and get back up on your feet. I remember practicing the roll. I did it once in a game without thinking about it. It took so many rolls to become a natural."

Peterson received her chance to play in the Olympics after she was spotted playing beach volleyball on California's Manhattan Beach by a woman named Evie Stoten who asked if Peterson wanted to be "coached."

Peterson, who had just graduated from Mira Costa High School, accepted the offer and Stoten did the rest, organizing a team and entering the group in a national tournament in New York. Stoten even drove the team van from California to New York.

"It took us three days," Peterson said of the cross-country drive. "I remember I was so stiff when I got out. I thought, 'oh my god, what's wrong?' We were sitting three days in a car. I even think we had a hibachi going in the back cooking. It was those days where you did crazy things."

Peterson's team won third place in the tournament. She was named to the all-tournament team and selected for the Olympics as a setter and defensive specialist.

Peterson honed her athletic skills at American Martyrs, a Catholic grammar school in California, and then attended Mira Costa High School, El Camino Junior College and Long Beach State.

"I just loved sports," Peterson said. "My grammar school experience was at a Catholic grammar school. We didn't have any coaches. Maybe a couple of nuns would help us a little bit.

"When I went to high school, I was so disappointed because they really didn't have anything except the GAA which was the Girls Athletic Association. It was a higher level of (physical education)."

Peterson found early success in volleyball in the eighth grade.

"I do remember we played in our little league and won our league," Peterson said. "We went to playoff in Los Angeles. It was the first time — I was probably in the eighth grade — that I saw someone spike a ball. I thought it was cheating because they were hitting the ball down. We just learned to volley the ball over."

Peterson's award-winning volleyball career started with a chance encounter with Stoten and a simple, one-word answer to Stoten's offer of competitive volleyball.

"The word, 'yes,' that's what I remember," Peterson said. "It opened up into the Olympics. To me it was a fluke. I just happened to be there at the right place at the right time and that woman walked up. She's the one that introduced us to being coached and going into organized competition."