From left, Kristy Smith (Parker's fiancée) and Parker, Chris, Beth, Bekka and Spencer McLachlin.
Athletic McLachlins have
3 athletic offspringParker, Bekka and Spencer have gone
beyond the family sport of volleyball
It's been another busy summer for the McLachlin family. But when is summer not busy for a family of elite athletes?
Beth and Chris McLachlin have supported the athletic paths of their kids -- Parker, Bekka and Spencer -- since their own athletic careers started to dwindle.
Tracking her children's athletic feats may not have always been the path Beth would have chosen given the choice between watching and competing.
"If her knees wouldn't have gone bad, I don't know if any of the three of us would have come along," said Parker, the oldest of three siblings. "She might still be on the beach playing senior tour volleyball or something."
Beth acknowledged as much.
"I was playing with the national team, having a great time traveling all over the world and I certainly didn't want to stop," said Beth, a 1976 Olympian who retired from volleyball after having knee cartilage removed. "But once the knees didn't work, I didn't have a choice.
"It was a big blessing in disguise. ... Seriously the knee injury probably saved my marriage and gave me children."
Children who would excel at her sport and others as varied as golf, basketball and rhythmic gymnastics.
Parker started this summer with a bang. The 25-year-old qualified and played in his first U.S. Open in Southampton, N.Y., earlier this summer. McLachlin, who golfed at UCLA, is one of a dozen or so Hawaii golfers to compete in a men's U.S. Open.
The Punahou alum said it was an experience to be treasured and still gushes about being mentored by Masters winner Phil Mickelson.
"That was pretty cool for me to have probably the second-best player in the world kind of take me under his wing for those few days," said Parker, who plays on the Hooters Tour. "Getting to be around him and learn about different shots he's playing ... and being able to pick his brain.
"It was nothing like anything I've ever experienced. There's something different about playing one of biggest sporting events in New York. The passion that people in New York have put it over the top."
It was in rhythmic gymnastics that Bekka found her passion. The 23-year-old was initially resistant to the sport, saying it was "too ballerina-like and not macho" enough. But it was Beth who persisted in getting Bekka to give it a shot.
"My first day there, I fell in love with the coach, with the sport," Bekka said. "It just became my passion for the next five years.
"When I found rhythmic gymnastics, it just lit a fire in me."
The two-time junior olympic bronze medalist might have had a chance to go further in the sport had her coach not given up coaching.
With nowhere to channel her competitive juices, Bekka turned to the family sport -- volleyball. The 5-foot-8 setter played at Punahou and earned a scholarship to Salt Lake Community College. She competed for two seasons, the last one on a broken right foot, before transferring to Utah, where she was a manager of the women's volleyball team last fall.
The middle McLachlin missed out on this summer's festivities because of summer school, but Bekka is the most well-traveled of the younger generation of McLachlins. She has competed internationally in England and France.
Spencer just competed in his fifth volleyball junior olympics, where he earned All-America honors as his team finished second in the 16 open division. The 6-foot-5 Punahou sophomore also excels in basketball. He was one of two freshmen on the varsity squad last season. The youngest and tallest of the family appears to have the best chance of duplicating mom's Olympic feat. Spencer has already drawn interest from several Division I volleyball coaches.
The McLachlins are traveling in California before zig-zagging back across the country to go to Lake Placid, N.Y., for Spencer's tryout with the USA Youth National team. Traversing the continent multiple times is nothing new for this family of frequent fliers.
"The funny thing is that we always thought that some summer we were all going to join canoe paddling and do it as a family," said Beth, one of the first scholarship players for the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team. "We've never been able to. Somebody always had a trip somewhere across the country that we have to go to. Maybe when we're old and gray we'll be canoe paddlers, but not yet."
The McLachlins have never played an all-in-the-family volleyball match but it would be difficult to predict a winner in a game of King and Queen of the court.
They all have lofty volleyball credentials. Chris, the color commentator for Rainbow Wahine and Warrior volleyball matches, played four years for Stanford. Before focusing on golf, Parker was an all-state selection and part of three state championship teams at Punahou.
If everyone was at their peak, it would be tough not to give the edge to Beth, who was the first alternate for the '68 Olympic team as an 18-year-old.
"My mom (would win) cause she's most competitive," Parker said. "She'd find a way around (Spencer's block). Not only is she the most competitive, but she'll do whatever it takes to get the victory.
"She'll serve when you're not ready. She'll do a dink shot that's considered cheap."
Beth couldn't choose one winner. Instead she offered another alternative.
"I'd like our team to play somebody else," she said. "We could challenge another family."
