Paris Bound: A Conversation With Volleyball Star Erik Shoji
Erik Shoji will be competing on Team USA at the Paris Olympics with four other volleyball players with Hawai‘i ties.
Photo: Courtesy of Erik Shoji
Erik Shoji and four other volleyball standouts with Hawai‘i ties (Micah Christenson, Micah Ma‘a, Taylor Averill and Garrett Muagututia) will be competing with Team USA at the Paris Olympics. It’s a remarkable showing that nearly half of the 12 men selected for the team are connected to the Islands.
It’s Shoji’s third Olympics in the libero role, an accomplishment he describes as “surreal.” Shoji—a former Punahou and Stanford star now playing volleyball professionally in Poland—is the son of legendary University of Hawai‘i women’s volleyball coach Dave Shoji, who will be in Paris watching with the rest of the family.
Fellow three-time Olympian Christenson, meanwhile, will represent the 808 as a Kamehameha grad, while Ma‘a hails from Punahou. Averill played for UH from 2012 to 2015, and Muagututia lived in the Islands as a child. While training in California, Erik Shoji chatted about his Olympic journey and Hawai‘i pride.
SEE ALSO: Hawai‘i Ties: Locals Making It Big
Does the thrill of Olympic competition diminish, or is it just as exciting as the first time?
There’s not a huge difference between the first time I made the team and the third. I remember heading into my individual meeting with nerves. I felt confident I would make the team, but you never know until the coaches tell you. I get chicken skin when I think about it. It’s an amazing feeling to be at the pinnacle of your sport. There’s so much energy at the Olympics, and I’m excited to have that experience again.
And with so many others from Hawai‘i?
During the last Olympics, it was me, Micah [Christenson] and my brother, Kawika. It’s cool there are four of us now. And actually, I want to include Garrett Muagututia. He spent three years as a kid in the Islands, has many connections to the Islands and is married to a local girl. For me, he’s part of the clan. All this shows Hawai‘i is a volleyball state. I love saying that. I’m so proud representing where we’re from.
You’re already a seasoned pro, so what keeps you going?
My first goal is to win. At 34, it’s tough to compete with 20-year-olds, but I’m still out there to win no matter what competition I’m playing. My second goal is to always be the best player I can be. And my third goal is to represent myself, my family and my state as well as I can, and show people you can be yourself, come from a small island and accomplish great things.
How did Hawai‘i become such a volleyball powerhouse?
It’s part of our culture—it’s who we are and what we do. You see people playing volleyball on the beach, in the gym, the parks. But I’m also going to brag about my father, who had such a successful program since the ’70s. A big part of the volleyball culture in Hawai‘i is the University of Hawai‘i program, and luckily, we had some amazing players who came before us, so now, we’re carrying the torch.
The Summer Olympics take place from July 26 to Aug. 11, with television coverage on NBC. You can follow Erik Shoji on Instagram @erikshoji.
