2010
Last year’s event was held October 16, 2010 at the Manoa District Park Gym. There were three tournaments: Men’s, Women’s, and Coed, which was a new addition last year. Thirty teams and nearly 200 players and volunteers descended upon Manoa for a day of hard hits, sweet sets, killer serves and awesome digs all in the name of charity. Proceeds from the tournament were donated to the United Cerebral Palsy of Hawaii and Special Olympics during a check presentation at intermission.
A special thanks to tournament sponsors Big City Diner and Kolohe Photo. Big City Diner provided the meals for all of the volunteers, and Catering & Sales Director Janice Takada was on hand for the check presentation. City Council member Stanley Chang was also on hand for the presentation. Kaoru Kohashigawa of Kolohe Photo donated his time, shooting all of the team pics and action shots for the tourney.
Lorri Pavo’s Boom Kanani team won the women’s title over the Hi Lifewomen’s team led by Michelle Isa, ending a two-year championship run by the women of Hi Life.
The Hi Life men’s team captained by Jared Yamamoto won the men’s division title, ekeing out a close win over Jared Shirai’s U-Down team. The Hi Life men’s win marked the third year in a row that a Hi Life team has taken home a title. The women of Hi Life won in 2008 and 2009.
New to this year’s Spikes for Tykes was a coed division that featured 12 teams, but time ran out as the championship match was set to begin.
2009
The ’09 tournament was held September 5, 2009 at the Manoa District Park Gym. The tournament featured 17 teams and over 120 players, as well as food from Chun Wah Kam, Summer’s Lava Dogs, and a shave ice booth manned by Adopt-A-School-Day volunteers. I Hi defeated Cheers for the men’s championship, and HiLife-Black took out Unintentional for the women’s crown.
Teams from Lokahi, Help!!!, Pa’ahana, HiLife, Drag Ass, Ku’i, Roadkill and Ka Ulukoa also participated that year. Lokahi entered four teams into the tournament, followed by Help!!! and Ka Ulukoa, both of whom entered two teams each.
RPJ especially thanks the players, coaches and parents of Ka Ulukoa. Not only did the club enter two teams into the men’s tournament, it provided volunteer scorekeepers and line judges and helped plan and coordinate the entire tournament.
2008
The Spikes for Tykes Benefit Volleyball Tournament started as the 2008 RPJ Summer Volleyball Tournament. Fourteen teams competed in that tournament at the Manoa District Park Gym, and the chapter held the tournament to raise funds for Keiki Movie Day, a project that sponsors a day of fun and games at the movies for local special needs keiki and their families. The men of Prolifik VBC and the women of Hi-Life won that inaugural tournament.