House of Champs

For the Wades, volleyball is more than a game. It’s a way of life. Over the years, the family has become a true powerhouse in Hawai‘i volleyball, starting with the partriarch, Charlie, who enters his 18th season as head coach of the University of Hawai‘i national champion men’s volleyball team, and the matriarch Tani, a Kaiser High School graduate who played collegiate volleyball at University of Washington.

The legacy continues with their three sons: Makana, who recently coached Le Jardin Academy to its first-ever Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association boys volleyball title; Kainoa, who is entering his third year as opposite for the UH men’s volleyball team; and Kekoa, an incoming sophomore at University Laboratory School who is training with the USA Volleyball boys U17 National Team.

“They always played sports when they were little and were very competitive and decent athletes, but to see the growth in the sport in volleyball has been pretty remarkable,” shares Charlie. “Kainoa has literally evolved into one of the best players in the world at his age. He’s now representing Team USA as captain of the U21 team and was tournament MVP (at the North, Central America and Caribbean Pan American Cup in Guatemala).

“Kekoa is now in his second year with Team USA at the U17 level and on a very ascendant phase. He’s got a long way to go in terms of physical strength and mental strength, but you see that he is a legitimate prospect and gonna be this long, lanky lefty. He’s a very good high school player, and he will be one of the best players in the state.

“And Makana (the oldest), he played everything with Kainoa when they were young and then later when they got into their high school years, volleyball was harder for him because of his size. But he was always very interested in coaching … We have now four dogs … and Makana would always come with me at night to go take the dogs out and ask lots of questions … lots of conversation about whether there was something that happened at the match that night or something that happened at club practice, just lots of different scenarios or situations about coaching.

“He graduated high school, ended up coming here (to UH) and helping as a manager, but ended up quitting on us this year in the middle of the season to take the Le Jardin job. That was his first opportunity to be a head coach kind of on his own. He jumped all in, with a talented team … and ultimately winning the state title. That was pretty cool to see.”

While the Wade boys grew up around volleyball, Charlie, a native of Indiana, never played until after high school.

“In those days nobody played volleyball, it wasn’t a school sport,” he explains, adding that he’d planned on attending Indiana University but changed his mind after seeing a broadcast of the beach volleyball world championships at King Harbor Redondo Beach, California.

“I was born in Redondo Beach, California, but we moved when I was only a few months old, so it was always kind of this mythical place to me,” Charlie says. “I’d never been there, and I saw this and I was like that’s me, that’s where I’m from, I got to go. I convinced another buddy of mine after we graduated high school, and we got in a car and drove to Southern California.”

When they arrived, Charlie intended to enroll at Long Beach State University. But after discovering that the classes were already full, he moved over to Long Beach City College and signed up for an outdoor volleyball class.

“It was the first volleyball class I was ever in, and I was just obsessed,” he recalls. “I could run and jump really good, but I never really played. I started going out for the team and then I started coaching.”

From there, the ball kept bouncing. He went on to coach club, junior varsity and varsity high school teams in Southern California, founded the Magnum Volleyball Club and Southern California Volleyball Institute training facility, and became an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton. Then, in 1995, UH women’s volleyball coach Dave Shoji asked him to help train the team.

“Within the first week that I was here, (Shoji) said, ‘OK, I need you to stay to the following season’ … and then before that ended, he said, ‘OK, I need you to stay indefinitely,’” recalls Charlie. “So, originally, I was only coming for four months but stayed 11 years.”

Charlie then moved to University of the Pacific, serving as head women’s volleyball coach for three seasons before returning as head coach of UH’s men’s volleyball program in 2009.

“I’m very grateful to Dave for bringing me here,” says Charlie. “He really let me do everything I could or needed to do to help the program get better. I did a lot of recruiting and scouting, there were so many different parts of the program I was able to be a part in that helped prepare me to be a head coach.

“And then watching his kids (Kawika and Erik) grow and develop in their sport. I was sleeping on a couch in his basement and I remember they were like 5 years old, Kawika is coming down and jumping on my chest at 5, 6 o’clock in the morning, ‘Wanna watch SportsCenter? Let’s watch SportsCenter.’”

Charlie can also credit Shoji for his marriage to Tani. The couple met after Shoji asked Charlie to interview her for a coaching position at Asics Rainbows Volleyball club. They settled in Kailua, raised a family, and were heavily involved in the volleyball community, not just with their own children and at UH, but also with A‘o Ā Koa volleyball club, which Charlie founded in 2013 as a way to help develop local youth talent.

“I grew up around the game my entire life,” says Kekoa. “There’s a video of us playing balloon volleyball. We set up a ribbon in the middle of our living room, that was our net, and we play with a balloon. There’s a video of me blocking Kainoa when I was 4 and he was 8, it was really funny.

“Then watching my brother Makana coach Kainoa in club, and watching Kainoa play and, of course, be successful. It’s just been a part of my life. It’s all I know.”

Now 15 years old, Kekoa — who stands 6-foot-5 and is a huge Star Wars fan (his favorite character is Anakin Skywalker) — says his dream is to play for UH and eventually professional volleyball.

“The true dream is to play with Kainoa in the Olympics. That would be phenomenal,” he says.

But before that, there’s another goal he’s trying to reach: “The doctor said he would bet money that I’ll be taller than Kainoa (who’s 6-10), so I’m waiting for that day when I’m taller than him and I’m going to be all in his face about it, it’s going to be amazing.”

Makana, a 2023 graduate of Kamehameha Schools, also recalls playing sports against Kainoa when they were younger, including balloon volleyball in the living room.

“Growing up, I played baseball, basketball and tried different things, and pretty much anything we could be competitive in, me and Kainoa always tried to compete against each other,” says Makana, noting that he’s better than Kainoa in golf, to which Kainoa quickly responds, “Lie.”

Makana also spent many hours observing his dad in the gym, picking up skills that would guide him on his own journey as a coach, including at Outrigger Canoe Club and A‘o Ā Koa. This year, in his first season as head coach at Le Jardin, he led the Bulldogs to a 16-1 record, and the first state boys volleyball title in program history.

“I couldn’t be more thankful to have that past season and Iʻm excited to see what’s coming forward for us,” he says. “I would love to keep elevating myself as a coach, but my goal is to keep creating a player’s love for the game.

“I think that’s my role, to keep making players better, keep being a good leader for them, and I think everything else will just take care of itself.”

As for 20-year-old Kainoa, he says he’s looking forward to returning to Mānoa for his third season this fall.

“The fans are the reason we’re so successful, it’s the reason I’m here playing, it’s 100% percent why I chose Hawai‘i,” he says.

A 2025 graduate of Kamehameha Schools and two-time state boys volleyball player of the year, Kainoa graduated early in his senior year to enroll at UH and joined the team for its 2025 NCAA volleyball season. This past season, his second with the Rainbow Warriors, he ranked fifth on the team with 28 aces and was a two-time Big West Player of the Week. Of course, the team also won the 2026 NCAA National Championship.

“My life goal is to play in the Olympics, that’s been a dream of mine since I was a little kid,” he says. “I’m on a pretty good trajectory right now, so just trying to keep at that. Obviously it doesnʻt happen overnight, so day by day, just trying to get myself better and eventually fight for a spot on that team.”

Part of that preparation includes lifting five times a week, touching the ball every day and prioritizing sleep.

“I also like playing golf, I love going to the beach, playing beach volleyball, and I like cooking and eating good food (his favorites include poke bowls from Foodland, and Korean barbecue).”

Today, the Wades have built not only a house of champions, but a family that continues to inspire and a community that keeps believing, including in Mānoa where they hope to keep the magic going.

“I really want to keep building, keep giving the fans something they’re really proud of and love coming out to support and that means putting a good product on the floor and hanging national championship banners in the arena,” says Charlie. “It’s a grind but I’m absolutely committed to keep bringing the level of success that we’ve had to the fans and the people of Hawai‘i.”