‘Outside the box’: In a first, indoor Oahu mall to host volleyball championship

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Volleyball fans across the state will see a historic first this weekend: The Hawaii Club Volleyball Championship is set for this Saturday and it will be played not at an arena or gym but at Windward Mall.

The mall’s center court will soon temporarily become the state’s capital for Hawaii club volleyball and a premier championship tournament featuring hundreds of athletes on 32 teams.

“You could play it at the Stan Sheriff, you could play at the Blaisdell, but that’s something that’s been happening consistently,” said 7Gen Culture co-director Ed Chun.

“Why not think outside the box and put it in a unique setting that’s really gonna have these athletes experience something unique.”

It’s believed to be the first time ever a Hawaii indoor mall is hosting a tournament of this size and organizers have been planning it for over a year, securing a venue, meeting fire code requirements, and inputting safety protections such as retaining nets.

“It’s just gonna be rocking here,” said 7Gen Culture co-director Sivan Leoni.

“Just with the amount of people that are gonna come with the way everything is situated with the upper level, the lower level and just the pure engagement of the people.”

Lots of planning, but the actual setup takes place in just a matter of hours.

The court and nets can only be installed after the mall closes Friday night, hours before the start of matches Saturday morning.

However, the tournament host has experience in these matters, having planned matches at the Hawaii Convention Center.

“When we are able to focus on one court and one court only, we can really put something special in place because we’re not having to focus on over 50 courts per se,” Chun said.

It’s no secret how popular volleyball already is across the state and events like this can only help elevate Hawaii’s love for the sport to another level.

“In this next Olympics, men’s volleyball specific, we have four athletes competing on a national level in an Olympic level that’s gonna be representing Hawaii on a 12 man roster,” Chun said. “If that’s them creating something without this platform set, so now if we have such a platform of competition in place, how many more Olympic athletes will we have in the near future?”

Matches begin at 10 a.m. Saturday and admission is free.

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