What it takes to bring back the Gold — in life and in sports

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — As we count down the final days of 2023, some will be reflecting on their journey this year and the achievements they have accomplished despite the many trials and tribulations they had to struggle with along the way.

It will no doubt be a reflection of great satisfaction and thanksgiving as they remember the hardships they had to go through with a lot of perseverance, determination and faith that there would be light at the end of the tunnel.

Some people however will be lamenting their failure to achieve the goals they set, wondering where they went wrong and if they will ever succeed in achieving it.

One of these people is the coach of the men's national volleyball team that returned recently from an unsuccessful campaign at the 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands where they failed to medal and adding insult to injury, lost their final game to Fiji, which determined their sixth place finish.

According to national coach and former national player Reno Amisone, the 31st of December, 2023 will mark the official culmination of 40 years since the men's national volleyball team last brought back the gold medal from the Pacific Games!

Amisone told Samoa News that he knows this because he was a member of the last American Samoa men's national volleyball team to win the gold medal in the 1983 South Pacific Games (SPG) as it was called back then, held in Apia, Samoa.

"We were one of the powerhouses of volleyball in the Pacific," Amisone reminisced. "Whenever we played, we played together as a team, each one anticipating the other's move like a well-oiled machine.

“I had hoped to attain that level of awareness in our performance during the recent Pacific Games but for some reason, our players did not gel maybe because they were from different clubs and didn't have enough time to get used to each other's style of play or maybe they had personal issues, I don't know.

“But I do know that the camaraderie was not there at the beginning and the lack of communication resulted in mistakes which cost us dearly. However, as the games progressed, the players developed a rhythm and gained a little momentum but it was too little too late to fix the damage to their chances of winning a medal caused by their earlier mistakes.”

The former national player turned national coach stated that it was a far cry from the dream team they had in 1983.

“We were on a high from winning gold in the 1979 SPG hosted by Fiji and so as the defending champions, there was a lot of pressure and expectations from our people for us to repeat that gold-winning performance in the 1983 SPG in Samoa,” Amisone recalled.

He stated that the selection process for the team started in 1981 by identifying the best players from various parts of the island, from Onenoa, Auasi, Aua and other villages to the east and also the western side from Nu’uuli, Leone, Amaluia to Amanave.

After club competitions and various other domestic and inter-Samoa meets, a squad of the best players was picked with the goal of making the final selection later for the players that would represent the Territory in the 1983 SPG in Apia.

These 7 local players were joined by 5 off-island players who had also gone through a similar selection process, to make the national team.

After final selection, the local players were; Mike Agasiva, Taumaloto Leasialii, Frank Petelo, Time Opetaia, Onenoa Faitalia, Joe Pu’eliu, Reno Amisone

The off-island players were; Matauaina Iosia, Aliitama Sotoa, Ala Iosefa, Max Tuioti, Iameli Kaio.

Of these 12 players, three have died - Matauaina Iosia, Frank Petelo and Iameli Kaio.

“The players clicked from the beginning on and off the court,” Amisone reminisced. “We used to play together with the boys from off-island when I was in the mainland and so I taught those moves to our local players.

“So when the off-island guys arrived, the play transition went really smoothly. It was a genuine camaraderie based on mutual trust and friendship, which was just the recipe the team needed going into the Games in Apia that year.

“That was why we succeeded, because no matter how hopeless a situation looked, we had faith in each other, that we had each other’s back. It is a comradery that continues to this day.”

The team went into intensive training and instruction with our coaches Kolio Lea’e and Sila Sila, Jr. three weeks prior to the Games preparing themselves physically and mentally.

Amisone recalled that all sports at that time was under the auspices of the Amateur Athletics Association or Triple A as it was known back then, a sports governing association established by prominent local businesspeople and community leaders who supported and funded, with government help, the participation of local sports teams in local and international sports events.

“There was only one gym on the island at the time and it was owned by Triple A,” he stated. “Sometimes, we would be using part of the gym for our training sessions while the basketball team would be using the other side, and boxing would be using another part of the gym! But we didn’t mind. We learned to make do with what we had and improvise.”

Going to the SPG in Samoa, the team won all their pool games and progressed into the semi-finals where they met one of the best teams of the competition, the hosts Samoa.

“Like us, Samoa had also recruited off-island players from New Zealand to beef up their team and led by their hard-hitting spiker Vaimauga Tupu, we were given a run for our money,” Amisone recalled. “They exploded into the game with their passing, setting and hitting and we were scrambling all over the court and up in the air trying to stop their shots that were like missiles landing inside our side of the court!

“And with their home advantage, they won the first two sets. But we kept our composure and stuck to our game plan. We rallied and slowly we found our rhythm and gained momentum. Once we clicked, we were unstoppable. We won the next two sets and the game went into a fifth deciding set.”

Amisone explained that in the South Pacific Games in those days, volleyball was played in the Side Out format, which stipulates that a team has to win a rally twice to score a point.

However, if they win the next consecutive rallies they will record points until the opposing team wins to get an opportunity to serve. But they will have to win the rally from their first serve to record a point and so on.

Side Out scoring is usually played to a score of 15 in a “best of three” match.

“With the Side Out format, matches took a long time but I remember that last set like it happened yesterday,” Amisone said. “I don’t know what their coach told them before the set started but they came back determined to win the game.”

Samoa again launched powerful aerial attacks by their spikers and took an early five-point lead until the score was at 8-2

However, there was some disagreement between the Samoa reserve players and their coach on some internal issue and as a result their players on the court lost their focus and their momentum.

American Samoa refused to be left behind and fighting back, managed to level the score at 12-all, then broke the hearts of the Samoan fans who filled the gymnasium at Apia Park when they went on to win 15-12.

Proceeding to the grand final against New Caledonia, American Samoa knew that had to keep their cool and stick to their game plan and set moves.

“The game with New Caledonia started off much like the game against Samoa,” Amisone recalled. “Bolstered by elite players from France who 6’6” or 6’7” tall, they made us feel their presence with explosive spikes that burst through our blockers hands and took the first set.

“However, our coach told us to calm down and focus on what we had to do. And that’s what we did! Coming back strongly, we took the next three sets to win the gold!

“I still remember the feeling and the celebrations that night, having our family members and the whole community at the airport when we arrived! It was surreal! Then the governor hosted a dinner for the whole American Samoa delegation to the 7th SPG in Samoa.”

Fast forward 40 years later after the 17th Pacific Games in Solomon Islands, asked for his thoughts as a coach on his team’s failure to recreate that victory and bring back the gold, Amisone replied that while he is satisfied that his players gave it their all, he still does not accept the result.

“I do not accept the fact we did not get a medal and we ended up in sixth place,” Coach Amisone emphasized. “But I do accept the fact that we need more understanding of the game and that we need to prepare earlier and also, we need clubs that will develop elite players. That should be the ultimate goal for each club, to develop elite players to support our national team.”

He also pointed out the need for more competitions and programs like the Samoa Bowl to identify and develop local talent.

He stated that coaches also need to have courses to keep them abreast of new developments in the game and new strategies to improve team performance.

Amisone commended the local coaches for improving the skills of the new generation of players.

"It's been 40 years and unfortunately we did not succeed in our bid to bring back the gold," he conceded. "The team that went to Solomon Islands wanted that real bad but now they've seen what it takes to achieve that. So now they have to prepare early in order for that to happen.

"I guess that's one good thing that came out of the recent Games in the Solomons, and I hope the various associations will follow through with that so that we can do justice to the support from government and the country especially our families.

"For me personally, the best medal that we came back with was the camaraderie and friendships that have developed amongst Team American Samoa. It was heartwarming to see players who were strangers not long ago but are now close friends after three weeks in the Solomons.

"If we continue this mentality, I'm not gonna promise you anything but I see it happening in the 2025 Mini Games in Palau, we will bring back the gold."