Volleyball Camps: Making the grade

Six players from club headed for national training program

Jacob Kepler/ViewIncoming Palo Verde High School junior Tyler Capko practices at the Dula Gymnasium in downtown Las Vegas for Junior National team camps. He and five other Las Vegas Molten Volleyball Club members made the cut to participate in the training program. Joe Kauliakamoa Jr., who just graduated from Palo Verde High School, practices for the Junior National team camps.Jacob Kepler/View Advertisement

In just a few weeks, a group of local volleyball standouts will be traveling around the country to take part in Junior National team camps.

They'll be off to different cities, come from different high schools and some will be heading to different colleges soon. But there's one thing all six athletes have in common: the Las Vegas Molten Volleyball Club.

The club, founded 13 years ago by Joe and Debbie Kauliakamoa when the couple moved to Las Vegas from Hawaii, has served as a local anchor for the sport for years. Many of the top high school players around the valley take part in the club's training, currently based at the Dula Gymnasium downtown, and in turn the young athletes receive \experience and exposure.

Just ask Jasmin White, Tyler and Kyle Capko, Kris Mitchell and Antwain Aguillard. They are among the Molten players who recently tried out and made the cut to attend the national training camps.

"It's essential. Without them, I wouldn't be where I am today," said Kyle Capko, who just graduated from Palo Verde High School.

While playing a key role for the Panthers volleyball team, he also has been training with the club for four years.

Kyle Capko has been invited to national team training in Long Beach, Calif., next month, along with Mitchell, who just finished up at Green Valley High, and Aguillard, a recent graduate of Spring Valley.

But Capko won't be able to make it because he'll be starting basic training at the Air Force Academy, where he'll be attending college and trying out for the Falcons volleyball team.

"It would have been great to be able to go and compete at that level, but I'm just thankful I made it," he said. "I play volleyball for fun, but in order to have fun, I have to play well. And in order to get better, you have to play with the best, and that's what these camps are all about."

His younger brother Tyler will be headed to Fairfax, Va., in July for his age group of National Team training.

Tyler Capko also plays for Palo Verde, and just finished his sophomore year, which saw him get to play with Kyle for a match when Tyler made a late-season leap to the varsity squad.

Tyler Capko said he was surprised he made the cut at the boys' regional tryouts in Southern California, where 12 Las Vegas Molten players gave it a go.

"There were a lot of kids there and I didn't think I played very good," he said. "I was surprised to make it. But I'm hoping to go and get better and make up for it next year, hopefully make the first team next time around because I made the third team this time.

"It's a chance to work with the best coaches and players in the country, so of course you hope it makes you a better player, and hopefully I can come back (to Palo Verde) next year and help others improve."

White, a junior at Palo Verde, is the only female from Molten to be taking part in junior nationals this year and this is her second year making the cut. She'll be traveling to New York in July to train at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center. Eighteen girls from across the country were invited to the camp.

And then there's the other Joe Kauliakamoa, the son of the club's founder and perhaps its best known player. He just graduated from Palo Verde after leading the Panthers volleyball team, and in the fall he'll be attending classes and playing setter at BYU.

But first, he has a busy summer ahead of him.

"He's not like the rest of these guys," said Joe Kauliakamoa Sr. "They're on their way up. He's already been there."

Joe Kauliakamoa Jr., recently named by Volleyball Magazine as an All-American for the second straight year, is a member of the USA Youth National Team. In late July, he'll be training at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center just outside of San Diego, and from there it's on to the World Games for two weeks in Baja, Calif. That schedule has not yet been determined, but he and his U.S. teammates will be taking on top junior teams from around the world, something Joe Kauliakamoa Sr. calls one of the greatest experiences a young athlete can have.

"For these guys, getting opportunities like this to travel and play against the best really boosts their self-esteem in the game," the elder Joe Kauliakamoa said. "It's important for them to take it to the next level, because it's a chance for them to represent their schools and their club and Las Vegas, and they're getting ready for the college level at the same time. It makes the sport better here to have these opportunities."

With so many opportunities in his near future, Joe Kauliakamoa Jr. said he is most excited about the Youth National Team competitions.

"Not only do you get to play against different countries, but you're playing with a team that has the top 16 players in the country on it," he said. "I'm really grateful to be playing with those guys and it makes us all play harder. I just try to take what I've been taught and memorize the new things that I'm learning. I think after the summer, I will improve myself by getting stronger and more fit and I'll be ready for college ball."

Getting ready for the future -- and improving the state of local volleyball -- always has been the goal of the Molten club, even from its humble beginnings as an 8- and 9-year-old girls team. Back then, when it was known as the Las Vegas Wahine Volleyball Club, the Kauliakamoas just wanted to have a fun team for their daughters to play for. They said they never suspected it would grow each year into an essential part of the sport's existence in Las Vegas and a breeding ground for top talent.

"We are very thankful it has become what it has, but for me and my wife, it doesn't matter what happens with the club as long as the kids are successful, said Joe Kauliakamoa Sr. " To see them really shine for their high school teams, no matter which school it is, and then for them to have these kinds of opportunities and go to colleges, it brings us a lot of joy.

"When they come back from these camps and (national competitions), you can really see the difference in their game and the improvement it leads to in these (high school) programs. We're very excited and proud of that. Vegas is on the map. They know about volleyball here and it's bigger than what it was."