Here’s some fascinating family history courtesy of the American volleyball-playing brothers Kawika and Erik Shoji, who were in the American team that beat France today, and the Associated Press:
Volleyball has always been a family affair for Kawika and Erik Shoji. The sons of legendary University of Hawaii women’s coach Dave Shoji have put together impressive playing careers of their own at Stanford and for the United States as they began their second Olympic Games on Saturday night against France.
Playing in their ancestral homeland of Japan has provided the Shoji brothers the opportunity to highlight other members of their family, most notably their late grandparents, who met and got married at an internment camp before their grandfather fought in the 442nd Infantry Regiment for the US in World War II.
“It means a lot to us,” Erik Shoji said. “It’s a point of pride for us, for our family to continue to tell that story. Most people don’t know the…