Family and sports go together hand in hand and it has been that way for a long time. The Mannings in the NFL, the Williams sisters in tennis, the Andrettis in racing, the Griffeys in the MLB, the Currys in the NBA, the list goes on and on. While the percentage of playing a sport at the professional level is slim to none, being able to play a professional sport alongside or even for a family member is an even more rare feat to accomplish.

With most professional sports being pot luck for which team you end up on, high school sports are an easier way to find family connections. Some high school athletes have unique experiences being able to play at the same school their parents and sometimes even grandparents went to. But in the case at Skyline High School, which is the newest school in the Mesa Public School District, these players weren’t able to play for a bloodline at the school because it was built in 1999, the average year most of the senior students there were born.

Skyline athletic director Greg Schultz called Skyline athletics a “family affair” because of the unique ties in some of the sports on campus. One sport where that exists is volleyball.

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Kamaile Hiapo is a junior volleyball player who is committed to the University of Arizona for a full volleyball scholarship following her graduation from Skyline. Because volleyball recruiting is much more different than other sports like basketball and football, she actually had to send her own emails and tapes to prospective colleges to be able to recruit her, whereas the normal recruiting process is the other way around.

“When I realized that I wanted to play Division I volleyball, she made tapes for me because she has so many personal contacts with college coaches around the country and we were able to narrow it down to BYU, UCLA and Arizona after that,” said Kamaile.  

The “she” that Kamaile mentioned was able to help her make the best tapes possible, not only because she is her coach, but because she is her mom. 

“The college recruiting process was interesting to say the least because once the college coaches started tagging her as one of the best players in the country, it was interesting to see their presentations of wanting to recruit her to come and play for their respective schools,” said Vee Hiapo, Kamaile’s mother and coach.

There are many perks about playing a high school sport where your parent is the coach. Rides to and from practice and extra coaching, but there are also some rough parts about it as well.

“Going home,” Kamaile said with a laugh when asked about the hardest part of playing for her mom, “If I do my best with every single thing that I do and every rep that I take, I know she will be happy. But if I don’t…I won’t hear the end of it on the ride home. It is very important for me to impress my mom and live up to the standards that have been set for me and my team so luckily I don’t have to endure the rough rides often.”  

Not only does Kamaile want to live up to the standards set by her mom, she also wants to live up to the standards to represent her country. Kamaile is currently on the Junior National team and believes there is something special about being able to represent her country. “Playing for Team USA has taught me the nation's expectations of volleyball and what they need to be the best in the world,” said Kamaile.

When Vee Hiapo was asked if she holds the rest of her team to the same standards as her daughter, she stopped practice to bring her whole team over to be asked the same question. When the team was asked the same question, they answered with a resounding yes because “we are her daughters too,” players said.