By Sammy Miller
Sports Editor
Eric Fonoimoana is transitioning from a Mustang to a Trojan on the sand this year.
Fonoimoana coached the Mira Costa girls’ beach volleyball team for six years, but recently accepted a job to coach girls beach volleyball at the University of Southern California.
“Being an Olympic Gold medalist he has more knowledge than you could need,” junior beach volleyball player Kate Reilly said. “You really can’t get any better than having Eric Fonoimoana as your coach.”
Fonoimoana won an Olympic Gold Medal for beach volleyball at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. The Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) named him the Most Valuable Player in 2002, and he has been a part of the AVP Tour for 16 years. He has won all of the AVP major opens and was inducted in to the California Beach Volleyball Association (CBVA) Hall of Fame in 2013.
“I remember the experience of being in the Olympic village and I was in awe that I was amongst the best athletes in the world,” Fonoimoana said.
Fonoimoana is the owner of Elite Beach Volleyball Club in Manhattan Beach, and he dedicates much of his winnings and free time to his foundation, Dig for Kids, which helps kids in inner cities excel in volleyball and academics.
“I started Dig for Kids because I wanted to make a difference in kids lives who are less fortunate than [me],” Fonoimoana said.
Fonoimoana is a Costa alumnus who won Costa’s Athlete of the Year award as a senior in 1987. He went on to play volleyball at University of California Santa Barbara and was a Hall of Fame All American in 1991 and 1992.
“I’m the youngest of six kids, my mom and dad graduated from Costa, and all of my siblings graduated from Costa, so I bleed green and gold,” Fonoimoana said.
Under Fonoimoana, Mira Costa girls’ beach volleyball team has won 87 consecutive matches and two State Championships, earning seven Interscholastic Beach Volleyball League (IBVL) titles.
“I enjoyed teaching the girls the sport I love,” Fonoimoana said. “Each team was different but I enjoyed putting different partners together so we could have a good chance to win championships.”
In his time at Costa, Fonoimiana has impacted many players and helped countless girls earn division one scholarships, by pushing the players to compete at the highest level, Reilly said.
“Eric Fonoimoana is special because he has always been a hard worker and mindful of how he prepares and trains his athletes,” girl’s beach volleyball Olympian Holly McPeak said.
USC’s girls’ beach volleyball is a championship team, and won back-to-back National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships in 2016 and 2017 and captured a fourth place finish in the NCAA Championships.
“The team is solid, I’m looking forward to winning a championship,” Fonoimoana said.
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