Joyce Kapuaala Kaapuni straddled the line between the two governing bodies for women's intercollegiate sports. The all-American setter for the University of Hawaii volleyball team played under the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women umbrella in 1974 and 1976, and also in 1982-83 under the NCAA aegis. Kaapuni made
most of second chanceBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comIt was a world of difference for the 1973 Radford High School graduate, whose UH career bookended a break to play for the U.S. national team and to get married. Her first collegiate experience was on the 1973 UH club team, whose backbone was comprised of other Radford alumnae: Cheryl Grimm and Waynette Mitchell.
"We didn't have much in the 1970s," said Kaapuni, who currently works as an airplane fueler at Honolulu International Airport. "Our tuition was paid for, but we didn't get money for housing, books or per diem. In the '80s, it was taken care of.
"It was quite a difference when I came back in 1982."
Her return coincided with the NCAA grandfathering in athletes from the AIAW who still had eligibility remaining. On the soft hands of Kaapuni, UH became the first team to win back-to-back NCAA volleyball titles.
"I lucked out," she said. "Dave (Shoji, the head coach) needed a setter and they put in the rule that allowed me to play.
"I'm so glad to have played on the teams I did. But I would have loved to have played in the Stan Sheriff Center."
The Sheriff Center was more than a decade away when Kaapuni and the Wahine regularly sold out Klum Gym. The team went a combined 67-3 over two seasons, rallying to beat Southern California for the title in 1982 after being down 0-2 in games, and sweeping UCLA for the 1983 championship.
Kaapuni said she would have liked to have been able to play basketball and softball growing up, but the sports weren't offered. The only reason she knew anything about volleyball prior to high school was that her father was a fireman and she used to get out on the court behind the station to play.
"My family was real sports-oriented," said Kaapuni, one of seven children. "My mom played in the women's baseball league here. I wanted to play baseball, too, but there was no Little League. So we played on the street.
"I think it's wonderful what girls can play now."
Golf wasn't a consideration when she was younger. Besides thinking it was a "stupid game," it would cost money the family didn't have, not with her father working three jobs.
"I'm into golfing now, don't play volleyball anymore because of my knees," she said. "I'm happy that sports have really come around for women. But, as far as professional sports go, I don't think the women's salaries will ever match the men's."
