CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii senior water polo player Karin Van Hoff has been around the world. The former Dutch national team member plays her final match for the Wahine tomorrow against No. 6 San Diego State at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
Language is power. [ WATER POLO ]
Von Hoff’s world tour
settles in HawaiiBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comIt has the power to take someone wherever she would like to go. It has the ability to make someone feel at home away from home.
When Karin von Hoff goes to Germany, she speaks German. When she travels to Spain, she speaks Spanish.
And when von Hoff dives into any pool anywhere in the world, she is right at home, speaking the language of water polo.
The sport has taken the 25-year-old von Hoff around the globe as a member of the Dutch national team. It brought her to Hawaii three years ago to play for the Wahine.
Now, three years and three coaches later, von Hoff will play her final home match tomorrow when No. 8 Hawaii (7-11 overall, 2-5 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) hosts No. 6 San Diego State (14-8, 4-5) at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex. The match has been moved to 10 a.m., three hours earlier than originally scheduled, to accommodate the Aztecs' travel plans.
"I didn't think I'd stay this long in Hawaii," said the Wahine captain and lone senior on this year's team. "But it's hard to leave the islands.
"Originally, I thought I'd stay a year. Then I told my parents I would stay another. Then another. Now I told them I want to finish school, get my degree."
Von Hoff, No. 6 on the UH career goals list (101), plans to graduate with her degree in Spanish in the fall of 2004. How she intends to use it, she hasn't a clue ... other than she knows that travel is in the future.
"I like seeing different places," she said. "It's fun to go to tournaments, catch up with old friends, like the German girls at USC, a friend at UCLA. I like getting different views of water polo.
"I think I got out of water polo what I put in for the past 20 years. I've been so many places, met so many interesting people. After I graduate, I want to visit places where I can practice my Spanish. If you can speak English and Spanish, you can talk to half the world."
Her water polo game needs no translation. Von Hoff has been playing it since she was 6, beginning her journey through the Dutch club system.
Small for her sport -- von Hoff is barely 5-foot-5 -- she is a big force as a utility player. Her strengths are her speed, her knowledge and her versatility. She can move from driver to 2-meter set to center back.
"In Holland, you grow up learning every single position," said von Hoff, who leads the Wahine with 20 goals, 21 assists and 31 steals this season. "In America, players focus on one position. I've always played wherever I'm needed.
"To me, it's more fun to learn all the aspects of the game. Except for goalie, I don't mind where I play. It all depends on what team we're playing what they need me to do."
"She has been nothing but great," said Michel Roy, completing his first season as UH coach. "She's a great athlete and can do a lot of things. Her strengths are her technical knowledge and her ability to communicate with me.
"Because she's of European-Dutch background, I highly respect her. When I was coaching (the Canadian women's national team), the Dutch were world champions. It's sad that we're losing her. I would like to have her a few more years."
Von Hoff said she expects to be around the team while she finishes up her degree.
"The program is growing," she said. "If anything, I think I've taught the players how to be more aware of the game and to make them think for themselves.
"It will be fun to help the girls with techniques next year, even though I won't be in shape like they are. I joined our water polo club when I was 6 and I never left the pool."
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