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Eleonor (Tina) Leite-Ah Yo
Eleonor (Tina) Leite-Ah Yo
Coach / Trainer
Coach Tina began playing indoor volleyball in the Bay Area. She played high school and club volleyball until she went off to college at UCLA where she continued to play competitive intramurals and on a club team. It was in her college years that Coach Tina played recreational beach volleyball with her indoor volleyball friends when they needed study breaks. Santa Monica was an easy drive from campus. Once Coach T graduated, she really got into beach volleyball and indoor volleyball became a thing of her past.
Tina's stomping grounds for beach doubles was the famous once-upon-a-time beach volleyball mecca, Santa Monica State Beach. Tina spent hours training on those courts at sunrise before her teacher day began or after the school bell rang, and into the wee hours at the Santa Monica Pier where stadium lights allowed them to play until 10pm. Tina's training came from various Southern California coaches like Dane Selznick, Danalee Bragado Corso, and the entire Barber ʻohana (Santa Monica legends). Though undersized, Tina earned and held her AAA-rating, the highest beach rating according to the California Beach Volleyball Association, for years before making her way to Oʻahu, Florida and of course, Hawaiʻi Island.
After achieving the highest amateur rating in California, Tina dabbled in the semi-pro/pro volleyball scene, having competed in the AVP Tour (Association of Volleyball Professionals) qualifiers as well as the EVP Tour (Extreme Volleyball Professionals).
In Florida, Tina was able to play in tons of local amateur tours (Great American Volleyball (GAV), First Coast Volleyball Association (FCVA), Dig the Beach Series (DTB), Sandbox Volleyball.
Beach volleyball has even brought Tina internationally when she played on a local tour in Turkey.
These days, you'll find Coach Tina growing the game with our youth, taking care of her baby boy, but also playing and training to continue competing in local tournaments or fun tournaments off island.
Besides her playing experience, Coach Tina has years of coaching experience - from middle school-aged athletes to college athletes in both indoor and beach volleyball. Most notably, Tina served as an assistant coach at Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville, Florida where she helped lead the girls to a Florida State Championship (2014). During her time in Florida Coach Tina also helped coach beach volleyball at Jacksonville University. As much as Tina enjoys coaching indoors, her true passion for coaching is on the sand court.
Kanani Leite-Ah Yo
Kanani Leite-Ah Yo
Coach / Physical Therapist
Coach K was first introduced to beach volleyball as a young keiki thanks to his dad who played all the time. Raised in Hilo, they religiously drove west every weekend to play beach volleyball, and of course here at his home court at the Hilo Yacht Club.
Kanani played indoor high school volleyball at St. Josephʻs High School & Hilo High School. After high school, Kanani continued his indoor volleyball career at Santa Barbara City College where he was named 1st team All Conference.
Though you may have seen Kanani play indoor tournaments (of course, the Haili Tournament), he slowly stepped away from the indoor game. Kanani passion for volleyball kept him competing, however, in beach doubles.
When he lived in California, Kanani earned his AAA-rating (the highest rank in the California Beach Volleyball Association). Kanani trained in Santa Barbara on beautiful East Beach. After earning his semi-pro AAA-rating, Kanani competed in AVP and EVP Tour events. Though Kanani could have easily competed seriously on the AVP Tour, his path pushed him into his studies to become a Physical Therapist. Beach volleyball became his outlet when he needed a break.
No longer in California, and back home in Hilo, Kanani currently plays competitively. You will often find him at the King of the Beach & King of the Court Series held by the Keahou Volleyball Association in Kailua-Kona. When he and Coach Tina are able, they make their way to other volleyball tournaments off island (Oʻahu, Kauaʻi and even on the continent).
Coach K stays busy as a full-time Physical Therapist in Hilo and being a (fairly) new dad. But he has been summoned by many to run individual skill lessons for indoor volleyball. And he joins Coach Tina on weekends to grow the beach game with our local youth.
Cammie Masanda
Cammie Masanda
Coach / Student-Athlete
Cammie is homegrown on Hawaiʻi island and started her volleyball career indoors. A tough outside hitter on the hard court, Cammie found her love for the beach volleyball game in high school during Covid when indoor season came to a surprising halt. Cammie decided to focus solely on beach volleyball for the remainder of her high school years and successfully earned a spot on the Corban University beach volleyball team in Salem, Oregon.
Cammie is pursuing a Bachelors degree in Biology with a concentration on Biokinetics and intends to continue on to Physical Therapy school.
We are so blessed to have Cammie coach when she is home from college!
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