One athletic booster remembers a time when Long Beach State and Hawaii provided the “premier rivalry” for the Big West Conference in women’s volleyball.
And, now, the former Big West member is contemplating a possible return that could make a significant impact in women’s volleyball, as well as renew an old rivalry with the 49ers.
“It was the best atmosphere in the Pyramid — like an NCAA championship,” said Robert Burge, a 41-year-old booster who attended LBSU from 1987-91 and does photography of the school’s teams for the website BallinAtDaBeach.com.
While talks between the Big West and Hawaii have been reported since late August, an anonymous Hawaii head coach told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Sept. 30 that a majority of the school’s coaches were in favor of a move to the nine-team, all-California conference.
“Everybody I’ve talked to said they preferred the Big West,” one coach told the newspaper. “And I’ve talked to almost everybody.”
LBSU women’s volleyball head coach Brian Gimmillaro had fond memories of the rivalry after practice Monday.
“I just thought that it was a really good volleyball experience for players and fans,” Gimmillaro said. “I would hope that we could do that again. I think that the Big West would benefit from Hawaii, and Hawaii would benefit from the Big West. It’s a good fit, in all sports.”
Dennis Farrell, the Big West commissioner, said Monday morning that the discussions haven’t gone too far, and that any negotiation process would take “months, not weeks.”
“We’ve had a couple of informal conversations with the athletic directors, but first Hawaii needs to decide what it’s going to do with its football program,” he said. “We’re satisfied with having a nine-member institution, but do we want to expand to make [the Big West Conference] better?
“There’s quality in a number of programs [at Hawaii.]”
One scenario involving the Big West would result in Hawaii’s membership in 18 sports while playing as an independent in football, the Star-Advertiser reported.
Farrell said the process for any institution would start with the conference’s membership moratorium, which would have to be lifted, and the conference would have to “open up to other institutions for membership.”
“[An institution] would have to gain three quarters of approval (7 of 9),” he added.
Hawaii is currently a member of the Western Athletic Conference, which will lose Boise State in 2011-12 as well as Fresno State and Nevada by 2012-13. All three schools will join the Mountain West Conference.
“I think that [Hawaii’s] conference doesn’t benefit them at all in volleyball. It hurts them,” Gimmillaro said. “The level of competition is so much less than Hawaii’s level.”
Part of the negotiation process would involve travel expenses. Speaking hypothetically, Farrell said Hawaii’s teams would fly to Los Angeles or San Francisco and bus to the respective Big West cities.
“Hawaii has to travel far and wide in the WAC,” Farrell said. “It would be a matter of whether Hawaii would be able to pay travel subsidies.”
Hawaii spent $3.7 million on team travel expenses during the 2008-09 athletic year, according to a USA Today database. In comparison, LBSU spent $867,873 on travel expenses during the same period.
While most Hawaii coaches have remained silent on the matter, women’s volleyball head coach Dave Shoji told KKEA, 1420-AM radio in Honolulu earlier last week that a move back to the Big West was his “secret desire.”
“It was tongue-in-cheek, I wasn’t serious about it,” Shoji said via cell phone Monday afternoon. “It was more wishful thinking.”
Shoji’s team is currently 14-1 and ranked No. 5 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 poll released Monday.
The Rainbow Wahine competed in the Pacific Coast Athletic Association/Big West for 11 years before leaving for the WAC in 1996. Shoji’s teams, which finished atop the conference five times, also qualified for 10 NCAA tournaments, made back-to-back Final Four appearances (1987 and 1988) and won the 1987 NCAA National Championship.
“[The Big West] is something our fans are comfortable with and our fans remember,” Shoji said. “The fans would embrace us going to the Big West … but Hawaii has to do what’s best for football.”
A postseason nemesis, however, was Gimmillaro’s 49ers, who were just 13-15 head-to-head in those 11 seasons but posted a 5-0 record against the Rainbow Wahine in NCAA tournament matches.
“It was such a tremendous level (of play),” Gimmillaro said. “Some of the matches were the best I’d ever seen, ever been a part of.”
Shoji added, “The thing that’s compelling is that [LBSU] eliminated us from the NCAAs more times than I care to remember. It was always a battle and fun to play.”
Burge said that the competitive spirit between the teams was visible from the stands.
“The teams respected each other but didn’t like each other,” Burge said. “Players talked trash through the net.”
Burge believes that the potential move would force the current Big West women’s volleyball elite to “raise their game just to compete for conference championships.”
“It would mean a lot to both [LBSU and Hawaii],” he added. “It would make the Big West more competitive nationally.”
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