 I'm Rusty Kamori, and this is Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou School Boys Varsity tennis team for 22 years, and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. This show is based on my books Beyond the Lines and Beyond the Game, and it's about inspiration, leadership, and creating a superior culture of excellence. My special guest today is one of the star players on our University of Hawaii men's volleyball team. He is Chaz Galloway, and today we are going beyond national championships. Hey, Chaz, welcome to Beyond the Lines. Hi, thank you for having me on the show today. Chaz, you are such an incredible player. I mean, it's so exciting to watch you, but I wanna first ask if you can share, you know, where you grew up, and how did you first get interested in volleyball? All right, so I grew up in San Diego, California, and my first introduction to volleyball was actually through my sister. She played when she was 12, and she's 18 months older than me, so I'd always grown up going to the volleyball tournaments, just watching, and I was a dual sport athlete. I was playing football, running track, playing soccer, you know, like the most young kids do, and in football, I got my fourth concussion in my eighth grade year, and so my mom was like, you know, we're done with football, I'm not signing you up for that anymore, and she was like, why don't you go try and play volleyball? And I was like, I didn't even know if they had men's volleyball at the school I was going to or anything like that, but she signed me up, and the rest is history after that. Wow, yeah, no, concussions are not good. Yeah, she wasn't having any more of those. Now, Chas, what attracted you to ultimately come to the University of Hawaii? I mean, initially I was on my unofficial visit and I was here for the senior night of 2019 against Long Beach and Hawaii, and I was in the Stan Sheriff Arena and just seeing all the energy and the fans and the culture around volleyball here, I was like, this is where I wanted to play and continue my career. So, literally the Stan Sheriff Center is, do you say that that's the best arena in the nation for college volleyball? I would say it's one of the best arenas in the world for volleyball. I mean, the fans and the culture, like I said, is you can't find that really anywhere else at any level, even in the pro level. I mean, having thousands of fans there weekly, day in and day out is something that you don't really see in it. It's really nice to have that environment to play in. Now, Chas, you are a fifth year senior and so every year, have you been to the national championship final every year and then you guys won two back-to-back national championships, right? Yes, so since I've been here, I've been in the national championship every single year besides my freshman year due to COVID. This season was cut short, but other than that, yeah, I've been in the national championship every single year. Man, that's amazing, Chas. And Chas, I wanna ask you, when you guys won that first national championship and then the following year, you won that second national championship, what are some of the reasons why you guys won that? I would say the culture, the culture of excellence that we have here on this program was the main defining factor that we were able to be in the national championship year in and year out. We don't really, we train really, really hard and we have that goal and then in the beginning of the year, we have this goal that we always set and it's just like, okay, winning the big West and winning the national championship. So after having those, we can set our eyes on them and hope to go out in there and get them. Now, you guys, I mean, you're in a tricky situation now. I mean, there's high expectations. I'm sure you have high expectations of yourself and the team and the public. I mean, they have high expectations as well. Now, how do you deal with that personally? I mean, the pressure is always there and as an athlete, you want to have that pressure. You wanna feel like, you know, this means something bigger than you and it's more than just a volleyball game. So dealing with that, I mean, as an athlete, you're a competitor and you wanna compete at the highest level. So dealing with the pressure and it'll always be there, but we just have that in the back of our minds. Just go out there and trust what we've done and the work that we've put in. Now, it seems that you and Speedos Hocus, I mean, you guys have a close friend. I mean, you guys are super close friends and he's such an integral part of the team. What do you admire about Speedos Hocus? His leadership, his mentality too. If you've been watching the games, it seems like he's always angry out there on the court and just knowing how much it means to him and the work that he puts in, it really translates to me and a lot of the younger guys knowing that this is really what he wants and he puts his mind to that goal and he's able to go out there and achieve it. Yeah, you know, I can see his passion. I mean, we can all feel his passion and then specifically as a leader for him as being one of the leaders of the team, what specifically does he do to really help you guys gel together? I think he brings, like you said, that passion and that energy that we need. He's like that, the battery on the team. He's always giving 100% effort and practicing games and he's really good with his words. He's really good at calming us down when we need to on the court. If we're getting a little frantic or the nerves are there, he's like, just send me the ball. We're gonna side out, get this point and it's just like the next point and he's like, don't worry, I got you guys. I really appreciate that about him. Now, Chaz, I was at your Hawaii Men's Volleyball fundraiser last year and this past year and Ryan Tanaka, who had bought a table and had invited me and his other friends and clients there and it's such an incredible event. I mean, everybody there, it's just grown to become this huge thing. I mean, how does that make you feel and your teammates feel when you see all this support there? It's a really nice feeling. Like you said, the support is everything. We don't really get to engage with the fans too much, like right after the game. So having a day or an event like that where we can come together and eat a little food talk story is really nice. I think for the players and the fans and the community just having people there that aren't only gonna show up for the games or when we're having success there, when we're just going throughout our day and we really wanna know how we're doing and what we're doing and be a part of our lives. Yeah, that's so great. And Ryan Tanaka also did a book donation of both of my books to your entire team last year and it was so great meeting and talking with Coach Charlie in depth, but Ryan is also the founder for Brutahood and Cystahood Grimes. And that's such a, that's a whole nother thing that's so exciting for UH sports. But I wanna ask you, Chas, what are some things that stood out to you in my books? Well, the one of the biggest takeaways I took away from the books was the setbacks are opportunities for comebacks. And like a lot of people know that we lost in the national championship last year. So that was a setback for my career. And this book helped me realize and kind of come up with things like how am I gonna come back from this? How am I gonna continue my career? How am I gonna grow from this minor setback? Is there setbacks all throughout life? And just finding ways to navigate those and finding ways to come back from those and achieve your goals is the huge thing that I read. No, I love that you mentioned the setbacks. And then you also know about the four Ps, right? Yeah, the four Ps, people, purpose was the process equals performance. Yes, I'm impressed. That's awesome, Chas. But you know that that's literally the framework for success. And for me, I like to keep things really simple and clear. And so for on beyond the lines, I wanted to create that framework for achieving success and then to also sustain success. And that's where you guys are in right now. I mean, it's hard to get to the top of the mountain and it's even harder to stay there. So what are you doing personally to really try to be at your best to try to sustain success for yourself and the team? I would say trying to pass along the culture that we've established here over the years and then it just started with me, it came with guys that came way before me and just trying to keep that culture going, that culture of excellence that we have high standards here and we're gonna do everything in our power to achieve our goals. And it's like, there's nothing that can really stop us but ourselves. So having a good mindset and going into every day like it's a new challenge, it's a new adventure and yeah, that's pretty much it. Okay, so let's go into mindset right there, Chas. So I mean, you're a champion, national champion, two-time national champion. What is the mindset of champions when you're in practice? Because for me as a coach, I wanted to simulate practices just as much pressure as it would be in a match. I wanted my players to perform the same way in practice as they did in matches. What's your thoughts about that? I would say the competitiveness, like in practices that we have, we have so many good guys in practices that it makes it feel like it's a game. And I used to say this earlier on in my career that practices were actually harder than the game day itself because of the energy and the passion and the drive that these guys are going at. They're giving 100%, they're trying to either make that starting lineup or just trying to improve every single day. So just having that type of practice environment really makes it easier for the games because if you're going hard in practice and you're giving 100% there, you're able to trust your abilities in the game and everything just kind of pans out when it's go time. All right, Chas, let's get into some details here. I mean, people that know you, they see this air galloway. I mean, you get up there. I mean, it's like you have springs in your legs. People know Air Jordan, but we now know there's air galloway here in Hawaii. I mean, how do you do it? How do you get up there? My mom will say it's from the Johnny Jumper that I had as a kid. She'd always put me in there and it's this little thing that you hang up in the door. Sorry, water bomb that you hang up in the door frame. And as a baby, I'd just sit in there and jump and kick my legs day in and day out. And then growing up, I was on a trampoline as much as I could be jumping. I love to jump. I love to challenge myself. I'd be at Disneyland and be like, can I touch that? Can I jump up and reach that? And I would just test my abilities over and over and over again, and it just kept growing. So I got to, fortunately in a sport where, jumping's the main thing, so it helped me there. Okay, and Chazz, that's so funny how you're like, I wanna touch that, I'll just see if I can touch that. I'll always challenge myself, always. I still do it. I'm like, let's see when it's kind of high, can I get up there? And I'm like, I might as well try. I'm gonna keep doing it until I can't for sure. So Chazz, you have a lot of strengths. I mean, as a player, I mean, you have a lot of strengths. Obviously, spiking is one of your strengths. I mean, how does it feel when you're really getting up there and then you're just like, you get that perfect set. And I mean, the timing and the rhythm, everything's there. I mean, how does that feel? It feels amazing. I mean, I like to describe it as like a song. A lot of athletes can, you know, attest to that. It's like you get in this rhythm on the court and it just feels like everything is clicking. Like everything just coming natural. And we have a great strength program and great coaches that maintain our bodies. And so it's like when game day does come around, I feel like I'm at 110%. My legs are ready to go. My mind says good. And so it's like mentally preparing before that is a big process that I like to take. But once I'm out there, it's like it's go time. It's just, let's just do it. Let's give 110% and, you know, live with the results. Yeah, I love it. And let's talk about blocking. I mean, you guys are incredible with the blocks that you guys are doing. I mean, what's the key for your guys' success as block when you're doing blocking? I think a lot of it has to come with our coach, Milan Zarkovich. How many European coach like that? He's big on defense. You know, and I like to say defense wins games. You know, a lot of people at this level can go ahead and side out and score. And, but I think a lot of it comes down to in these big games is defense. How often can you block the team? How often can you disrupt what they're trying to do? And so just paying attention to the little details is a huge thing on blocking. Like just getting over the net and being right next to your blocker and pressing and trying to take away as much core as you can for your defenders behind you. Their job is so much easier. Is it like, what's going through my mind where I'm trying to block? Just touch the ball. I'm not even trying to block it, honestly. A lot of the times I'm just like, just touch it. Just slow down the ball for it. I trust that my teammates behind me can go back there and I get a dig and we can side out. Okay, I love these insights. And so you mentioned coach Milan. What's another thing that you admire about coach Milan? His passion. He might be the one of the most passionate people about volleyball that I've ever met. He eats, breathes, lives volleyball. And I think we see that every day and the effort that he puts into us and he treats us like family, like we're his kids. And so I mean, I really respect that. And I love him for that. It's like, he's giving his all. So it makes us want to go out there and give ourselves 100 cents. Now through, yeah, no, that's great. And through these years, we had the addition of coach Coupon O'Fei. What kind of big positive impact did coach Coupon O'Fei have on the team? I think his perspective, because he went overseas and played at the highest level that there is and a lot of guys that look up to him on that. And so he brings his perspective into it where it's like he's been there, he's done that and he's able to give us little tips and tricks that what he's learned. And I mean, he's a great passer, he was a great passer. And I like to follow behind him and improve my passing as much as I can. So I'm going to him every day, like when I do better here, what should I have done there? And he's all giving me these little nuggets of gold that I'm like, I didn't even think about that. In this last game, he was like, let's just push all the passers to our right and let's have you take up half the court. And that's my first time in my career where I'm like, I'm taking up more court passing than I ever have before, but I trusted him. And he trusted me and he's just like, make this little move before the server is serving the ball. And I was like, okay, I love that he can see that and give me insight off the court that I can't see what I'm out there. Oh, I love these details. And that's why he's brilliant. And I want to ask you about coach Charlie Wade. What are some reasons why he is a successful coach? I mean, I think there's a hundred different reasons why he's a successful coach. I don't know if I'm able to pinpoint one, but he holds us to the standard of profession that I think that a lot of coaches should adapt. And it's just like he's trying not to only make us the best volleyball players, but the best young men in life. And he's always just trying to just help us wherever he can. And I think that goes beyond volleyball. If you have a coach like that that's really looking out for you and really wants the best for you, like that's going to translate into volleyball and you're going to trust him. You're like, okay, he's done this before. He knows what he's talking about. And I think that that's one of his strongest suits. Oh, I know coach Charlie for many years and I got to agree with you. I mean, he's awesome. I mean, he has a high standard for himself and he has a high standard for everyone around him, especially on his team. And I want to ask you about teamwork because obviously one of the greatest parts of volleyball is you have to work as a team. I mean, every player matters. And it seems like all of you are like best friends on the team. I mean, can you tell me more about the importance of teamwork and then your relationships with your teammates? I mean, teamwork is everything in volleyball. I like to say it's a sport of chaos and being able to control that chaos is like the best thing you can do. So being able to trust the player next to you that he's going to handle his job and that comes with knowing the person, not just on the court, but off the court, knowing what he's into, what he likes to do, what he doesn't like, the feedback, you know what I mean? Like if he's not going to react good to that certain feedback, I'll know that with those players because they're like my brothers. I spend so much time with them every single day that I'm like, okay, I know what to say to this person. I know what will get all this fired up. I know it'll get tread fired up. I know it'll get spirals fired up. So just having that bond, not only on the court, but off the court is amazing. And then we get to go on trips like to Japan and really get to be around each other in a different culture and see how guys interact with each other is really cool. So it's just like, it's like a big family and it just correlates to the court. I love how you said control the chaos. Oh, absolutely, yeah, it's a big one. And how you mentioned the Japan trip, what was the highlight for you going to Japan? Ooh, I would say the food. I'm a foodie. And so the food there was just, it was amazing. I feel like I was eating something new every single day that I've seen on like TV or anime. And I'm like, oh, I'm actually getting to try like these dumplings or whatever they were. I think that was a big part of it. And then the culture, like I feel like they resemble like Hawaii and the culture of like just respect. And I think that's a huge thing. They had nothing but respect for us and we had nothing but respect for them. And I feel like you can't go wrong with it. Yeah, no, I agree with you completely. Japan is amazing. I mean, you can see how Japan and Hawaii has such an amazing relationship and then why so many Japanese people love Hawaii and vice versa. And Chas, I wanna ask you about being in the huddle. When you guys are in a match and you guys after a point's done and you're in that huddle, what are you guys talking about and focusing on? Well, when we come together after plays, it's usually just to reset. Even if we got the point or we lost the point, it's just like, okay, let's come back together. Let's reset. Let's talk about what we saw during the play and what we can make changes to. It's always these little micro changes that we like to talk about and be like, hey, can you take away this or can you do that? And it's just like, all right, next ball. Because volleyball is such a fast sport. There's so many points. You can't get caught up on the last point or what happened the last game. You have to move on. So it's just like coming together and being like, we got each other. Let's go back to our jobs, let's side out. Let's get this going. Now, I mean, right there, you're talking about present focus because there's past focus, present focus, future focus. All you can do is really control the present and control everything that you have control of. So, I mean, whether you have the best point that you just had or the worst point, I mean, the most important thing is the next point, right? Next point, making sure that the boys know that you have their back no matter what. Like I don't think, I think we go into this. I was like, I don't care if you hit the ball out 20 times. I'm gonna be here for you. I'm gonna do what I can do. I'm gonna come under and dig for you or cover you. Just go out there and do what you can do. And I trust that I've seen what you can do and go out there and do it. And Chas, volleyball is similar to tennis in a way where every point counts as one point. I mean, it's not like basketball where you shoot a basket, you get two points. You behind the arc, you get three points. Free throws, one point. Tennis, volleyball, I mean, every point is, counts as only one point. So for me as a coach, I wanted to make my team be relentless competitors from the first point to match point. I wanted them to play, to run the whole marathon, not just a sprint, you know, and maybe I would relate a sprint to being whether you won or lost the first set. You know, if you won the first set, you're winning, but you haven't won yet. If you lost the first set, you know, you lost the sprint, but you haven't lost yet. What are your thoughts about really running, playing that whole marathon? My thoughts on that would be, like you said, it's such a fast-paced sport and like you can't get caught up on what was happening or, you know, last place. And you guys got to keep moving forward. You got to keep going. And it's just like, you know, there's no time. The one thing I like about volleyball is you have to give 100% each play. There's no plays off. You can't just be like going through the motions out there because like you said, every time someone touches the ball, it's going to be a point for you or a point for the other team. So giving that max effort every single point and not taking any point off or for granted is a huge thing and I love that about this sport of volleyball. Yeah, and the other similarity too is time cannot run out. I mean, we have to win a certain number of points to win the set, to win the match. You know, there's no stalling. I mean, you got to... So you can be down match points and you can still find a way to come back and it's a mindset and you guys have that mindset. I can see that every point, I mean, is like a match point and that's how it needs to be. That's what I wanted my players to be like. So I want to ask you about that. I mean, having the mindset where every point is like a match point and so you're giving it that 1,000% effort and focus. What are your thoughts? I mean, yeah, you nailed it right there. It's like you have to give a 1,000% every single point and there's no points off and I think that's the best thing about volleyball is that you have to have a great mindset and you have to have a quick turnover on what you're doing out there and yeah. No, that's so good. And Ches, I want to ask you about Hawaii now. I mean, what are some things that you love doing in Hawaii? I mean, you said you love food. What kind of food and where do you like to go? Oh, off the hook. I mean, I love spicy ahi, like poke, anything like that. I mean, before coming here, I wasn't a big fish fan. I couldn't eat raw fish, but since being here, I'm like, I crave fish. I'm like, I love the cuisine here, but my favorite dish would either be spicy ahi or I've been getting into the spam wasubis. I was like breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, dessert. I could kill like three or four of those a day. I've been really into those. And it's just, it doesn't have to be bougie or anything. The ones at 7-Eleven get the job done and I'm sustained and filled after. Yeah. Steve Chas, you're local. You're local already. I'm starting to change, yeah. Well, when you love spam wasubi and poke, I mean, Yacob Tela, I mean, he loved poke. I mean, he was like the poke king, right? Oh yeah, I'd run into him and Fijo off the hook or Onos, any sushi spot, any fish spot. I'm like, oh, there's definitely gonna be a teammate here if I go, so definitely seeing them out there. Do you like to go to the beach and hiking or what kind of activities do you like to do? Yeah, actually, as I've gotten older, I haven't been going to the beach as much, but when I first got here, I was in love with the beach. You couldn't, like every single day, I was like, how can I squeeze into my schedule of going to the beach? But after being here for now five years, I'm like, I've been to the beach, I've seen it. So now it's just like really cherishing the time with the people I have here, because I know it's not gonna be forever. So just having that quality time and spending it with people I want to, my friends, it's the biggest thing here on the island. It doesn't have to be the beach or hike. It can just be one of the boys' house or whatever. But yeah, just cherishing the time that I have here is the biggest thing. Chaz, I wanna ask you about Alakai Todd. I mean, he's been kind of behind the scenes for a few years, and then now he's like really making a big positive impact on the team. What is it about Alakai that you respect and admire? His work ethic. I mean, a lot of what you guys don't see outside of the practice gym is how hard he does go in practice. And a lot of people, like you said, he's just now coming out of his shell. People are just now noticing what he's capable of and his skill set. And it's just like, I've been seeing that for the last five years. I've been here. He's been dominating practices when Rado was around. And before Demi got here, like he was that guy. And so it's nice to see that, you know, the whole island and people are recognizing all the work and effort that he put in. But as an insider, I'm like, this has been all this. And he's finally getting his time to shine and to show what he's capable of. And I'm super proud of him, of everything that he has done. And I think he can go even further. I think he can be one of the best opposites, if not one of the best players in the country. Wow. And then we have a great young player in tread, right? I mean, what is it about tread that you admire? His maturity. You said he's young, but that kid is very mature. He has a great mindset. I mean, he's a competitor. He doesn't back down to anyone. He doesn't care if you're five years older than him. He's like, I'm going to go out there and compete. And I think that that's his strongest suit. And as he gets older and as he gets stronger and more wise in the game of volleyball, he's just kind of, you know, it's the best way to excel in the sky's the limit. Kaz, I want to ask you one more question before we wrap up. Greatness can be defined in many ways. How would you define greatness? I would define greatness as improving every single day and the influence that you have on people. If you're able to change people's lives for the better, I would consider you're great. You know what I mean? And yeah, along those lines, just trying to get better and improve them, whatever you're doing is you can be great at that. May not ever make it to whatever your standards are, but just keep pushing and keep grinding and keep doing whatever you got to do to be the best version of yourself that you can be. I would consider that as being great. I love it, Chas. And you know, you're inspiring so many of the youngsters out there. So, you know, for them to hear about greatness and the impact that you can have beyond yourself is awesome. Chas, I want to thank you for taking time to be on the show today. All right, thank you, Rusty, for having me. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKomori.com and my books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I hope that Chas and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.