I didn't know Uvaldo Acosta. I wish I had. Volleyball world won’t be
same without AcostaThe word "tragic" is often overused and misused. Not in this case.
The drowning of the George Mason men's volleyball coach off Kaneohe on Thursday was truly a tragedy for the Patriots and the volleyball world.
It's not that only the good die young. It's that we seem to miss them more because we didn't have enough time to appreciate them.
Acosta was just 32, with a promising coaching future ahead. His passion was his sport -- volleyball -- a passion he tried to instill in teammates and players.
Everyone I spoke with Thursday night had nothing but admiration for Acosta, who coached the USA youth (17-and-under) national team this summer. Everyone wanted to talk about the charismatic former national team player, wanting to share a special moment or a funny story that surely would have elicited one of Acosta's famous smiles.
"When Uvaldo first joined the national team, he lived at my house," said Jim Coleman, the current general manager of the U.S. national team. "I was with him the first time he ever saw snow. He was having a great time. That's the way he lived his life."
Bill Neville was the U.S. team coach when Acosta tried out in 1989. Now the women's volleyball coach at the University of Washington, Neville remarked on Acosta's charisma and his passion to save the Patriots' program, which is in jeopardy of being cut.
"He was a gentleman, a gentle person in the sport," Neville said. "He was on his way to becoming an outstanding coach and contributor in the sport. He is one of my all-time favorite players for all the right reasons."
ACOSTA lost his life Thursday at North Beach after being struck by a wave and pulled out to the surf line. Witnesses say he was standing in knee-deep water during a lull between sets before the first wave hit. He then got caught in rolling sets of four- to six-feet and never made it back to shore.
The team wanted to play the match with Hawaii on Friday night because Acosta would have wanted it that way. Rainbow coach Mike Wilton thought it would have been therapeutic for the players "to feel all that aloha that would have been in the arena."
You know the Sheriff Center would have sold out.
When you hear of someone dying, the first response is to recall your best memory of them. After Maryland's Len Bias died, I pictured him ducking through the War Memorial Gym door, MVP trophy in hand, after he led the Terrapins to the championship of the 1985 HPU Christmas Tournament on Maui.
When the word came about Acosta, the image was of him standing in the hallway of the Sheriff Center following Thursday's 3-1 loss to the Rainbows. He was just so happy his team had played well.
"The crowd was incredible," Acosta said after Wednesday's match. "So knowledgeable. There wasn't the heckling we get back on the East Coast. I hate that. This was great."
FANS can get refunds from Friday's canceled match, or they can donate the money to a fund being set up through UH. Hawaii athletic director Hugh Yoshida said he will speak with his counterpart at George Mason, Thomas O'Connor, about how to handle the donations.
There are only 22 NCAA Division I men's volleyball teams left in the country, well below the number normally required to hold an NCAA national championship. George Mason is one of several programs that might be axed in the next year, which could drop the sport to the Division III or club non-scholarship level.
Hopefully, the donations will go to the volleyball program to keep it alive. For Acosta, a three-time All-American for the Patriots, it would be a fitting tribute.
And for all the future Uvaldo Acostas, it needs to happen.
Cindy Luis is a Star-Bulletin sportswriter.
Her column appears weekly.