By Julie Sharp, Daily Forty-Niner
May 14, 1997
Until recently, Mr. and Mrs. Amar were not sport aficionados. They wanted their son to go to college, concentrate on academics, graduate and get a good job. Their 6-foot 7-inch 20 year old son is a junior at Cal State Long Beach majoring in finance, but he is not just concentrating on academics.
Last month Gaby Amar was selected to the First-Team All-America national award presented by Kaepa and the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Amar is also kill leader, block leader and service ace leader of CSULB's men's volleyball team. He was named as one of the top five blockers in the nation.
According to Amar, his parents have converted into volleyball enthusiasts. "Now my parents come to all my games. My dad even gives me advice on my playing," Amar said.
The First-Team and Second-Team All-America nominations were made by the players' coaches. Fifty one student athletes representing 20 schools nationwide from Penn State to Hawaii were up for the award. Nine made Second-Team All-America and nine made the First-Team All-America.
Ray Ratelle, the men's head volleyball coach nominated Amar based on the strength of his overall game. "Gaby is one of the best middle blockers in the country - if not the best one," Ratelle said.
This is Amar's first time to receive this prestigious national university award. "When coach nominated me for the award, he asked me if I would want go to Ohio to receive it. I told him no. When I made First-Team, I was on the first plane to Ohio," Amar said.
Amar's unassuming, nearly humble attitude toward volleyball can be traced back to high school in Pacific Palisades where he stumbled into the sport.
He was playing basketball in the tenth grade on the B-team, which is one level below junior varsity. The school's volleyball coach was in dire need of players so he recruited Amar along with fellow teammates from the basketball team. "I had no idea how to play volleyball, I had never even played before," Amar said.
The coach took the neophyte and taught him all of the volleyball basics. After four games Amar moved from the freshman sophomore team to the junior varsity team, eventually making the varsity team. His junior year he made the Third-Team All-City and his senior year he made the First-Team All-City.
At this point, Mr. and Mrs. Amar wanted their son to choose a good college and delve into the world of academia. Ray Ratelle's keen eye saw a talented, competitive young player ho had all the physical tools and was full of potential.
"I didn't think I was going to play volleyball at all in college. Ray offered me the scholarship, my first offer at that point, so I decided to come to Long Beach," Amar said.
Playing volleyball at CSULB has proven to be the right choice for Amar. He said he is very pleased with the school and boasts that CSULB has one of the nation's top volleyball programs. "In all of my years playing here, we have beaten every team at one point," Amar said.
Last year the team was second in the county and this year they were second in their division according to Amar. "We had some great wins this year," Amar said.
Out of all of Amar's college volleyball achievements, he esteems his blocking abilities the most. He said he has worked the hardest at refining his blocking with the help of assistant coach Alan Knipe. "He's progressed tremendously. His biggest improvement has been in blocking," Ratelle said.
Amar is most surprised by the success of his jump serve, a little trick he learned at the beach. "The coaches saw me jump serve a couple of times at practice and told me to try to do it at the games and I guess it worked out," Amar said.
His offensive playing has also worked out well. Kill leader is the privilege Amar humbly accepts. He attributes receiving this title to the injury of teammate Geoff Cryst. He asserted that if Cryst were not injured, he would of definitely been kill leader.
Amar possesses the one thing money and hard work can not buy. It has been alluded to as the x-factor, the elusive competitive spirit that teeters between confidence and arrogance. "When people ask me about other volleyball players and if I think they are good, I usually say no. You have to feel that there is no better middle than you, nobody else can do what you do," Amar said.
Amar gets to put his competitive spirit to the test this weekend. He will be trying out for the World University Team at the Pyramid. From an open pool of all college players under 26 years of age, 12 will be chosen for the team to compete internationally in Italy this summer.
"Now that I'm First-Team All-America, I better make it. I definitely feel some pressure, but it (the award) also gives me confidence," Amar said. Coach Ray Ratelle said he has full confidence Amar will make the team.
Forget the beach, Amar would rather play indoors when he completes his illustrious college career. His dream is to play for the indoor U.S. National Team. The U.S. National Team is the team that plays in the Olympic games. The try outs for this are also at the Pyramid this weekend, but for now Amar is just going for the World University Team.
"As long as someone is willing to pay me to play volleyball, I'll go anywhere to play after college," Amar said.