As the turnstiles at the Stan Sheriff Center clicked away this past weekend, you could also picture the thought process doing likewise the minds of officials.
If the University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team could attract more than 17,000 fans to the arena over two nights for the its triumphant Big West Conference tournament championship, why not take the next step to hosting an NCAA championship tournament?
It has been 15 years since UH has hosted one and, as the Rainbow Warriors prepare to head off to Long Beach for this year’s event as the No. 1 seed, why not hold one here, again?
“It is something we’re looking at,” athletic director David Matlin said.
As one visitor told a UH official on the way out the door Saturday night, “Where else in the country would you rather have a (men’s NCAA) championship volleyball event?”
Where indeed.
The application period to host one of the next round (2023-on) of NCAA volleyball tournaments is approaching and this past weekend made for an impressive display of credentials by UH and its fans. (The 2020 Big West tournament will be held at UC Irvine and future sites will be discussed by the conference council.)
“I mean, the atmosphere here is second to none when you can fill a 10,000-seat arena to the max,” said Mike Villamor, associate commissioner of the Big West. “You’ve got (people) passionate and knowledgeable about the sport and what’s going on. They even cheer for the other team when there is a great play and it adds to the whole ambiance. It is very impressive.”
So, too, figures to be the bottom line, which is projected, after approximately $210,000 in tournament and travel expenses, to produce a tidy profit to be shared among the six participating schools and the conference office, officials have said.
Sadly, the likelihood is that UH, which had long set the nation’s home court attendance standard, will never again host an NCAA women’s volleyball championship final four. While the growth of the event has been good for the sport, it also means that it has far outgrown the facilities available here.
Increasingly over the past decade, the NCAA has moved the women’s championships to the larger, pro sports arenas such as the 19,758-seat PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, home of the NHL Penguins, that will host this December’s finals.
Last year’s final four was in Minneapolis’ 18,798-seat Target Center, home court of the NBA’s Timberwolves. Over the last five years no arena with a seating capacity of less than 17,000 has hosted.
So, a men’s championship is UH’s best bet to bring an NCAA championship event here and even that is no sure thing for a school that has hosted on three previous occasions (2004, 1998 and ’91).
Schools are teaming up with their area convention and tourism boards to make bids, such as the partnership between Ohio State and the Columbus Sports Commission that will take the championships to that city in 2021. Something UH and the Hawaii Tourism Authority might like to look at.
While the process is largely financial, head coach Charlie Wade says it is also a matter of timing. “Traditionally, (the NCAA) hasn’t gone back to the West Coast in consecutive years. We didn’t think they’d do it in ’19 because they had gone to UCLA the year before.”
That, perhaps, gives some hope for ’23 even though 2022 is scheduled for UCLA, which will be hosting for the 15th time.
Wade said, “We’re looking to see where we want to plant our mark. I would think that we’d put in a bid, again.”
The numbers from the past weekend suggest that should be a winner.
CHAMPIONSHIP HOSTS
Sites of NCAA men’s volleyball championships
Year / Site / Capacity / Host
2019 Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, Calif. 4,200 Long Beach State
2020 EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Va. 7,860 George Mason University
2021 St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio 13,276 Columbus Sports Commission/ Ohio State
2022 Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles 12,829 UCLA
Source: NCAA.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
