Kaneohe native shares ‘lifelong journey’ to finally becoming an Olympian

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The road to becoming an Olympian has taken Punahou graduate Micah Maa all over the world.

Maa comes from a decorated volleyball ohana.

His dad, Pono Maa, was a two-time All-American at the University of Hawaii, and part of the U.S. men’s national team in 1986. His mom, Lisa Strand, led the Rainbow Wahine to its first two NCAA national titles in 1982 and ‘83.

“It’s more I guess something I’m proud of and a gift I feel like I can give to her for all of her sacrifices and hard work that she’s poured into me and going to the Olympics,” said Micah Maa. “I think it’s more of me giving to her through my eyes kind of as a thank you for everything that she’s done for me.”

Maa has racked up a long list of accolades himself — the Kaneohe native won four straight state titles with Punahou, and was a six-time national champion with club Ka Ulukoa.

For several years they played against girls teams after the high school boys volleyball season moved from a fall sport to a spring sport.

“They would let them play on the girls tournaments, they always had to play up, so they’re like 12-13, playing 15-16 year olds,” said Ka Ulukoa Director Lee Lamb.

“I definitely think it benefited them because on the girls side, it’s a lot more discipline, technical, the game isn’t as fast as or as powerful, but I think it required them to be able to sustain rallies and figure out ways to overcome.”

Following high school, Maa would leave the islands for Los Angeles, where he won a national championship with UCLA in 2018.

Then came the international circuit, years playing overseas in France, Poland and Turkey, before finally making the Olympics this year.

“It wasn’t until the rosters came out, I think I didn’t want to get too caught up on that it can be such an emotional rollercoaster and so I kind of was blocking it out of my head a little and just going to work every day and trying to get better,” Maa said.

Lamb added, “It’s always nice when you have somebody that went in front of you that’s so accomplished, so it just sets the bar for the other kids to let them know what’s possible.”

While Maa said it’s a dream come true, it also meant a change in position.

Maa spent his career at opposite, but transition into becoming a full-time setter forced him to learn the game from a different perspective.

“A lot of time went into that and learning the setting position is really a lifelong journey, the most difficult by far, no matter what other people say and it has the most depth to it, you’re kind of a quarterback of the team,” said Maa.

Maa says while expectations are always to bring home the gold, he’s also trying to soak up every moment while in Paris.

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