Karch Kiraly

Karch Kiraly
Personal information
Full name	Charles Frederick Kiraly
Nickname	Karch
Nationality	United States
Born	November 3, 1960 ( 1960 -11-03) (age 51) Santa Barbara, California,  United States
Hometown	San Clemente, California,  United States
Height	188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	93 kg (210 lb)
Beach volleyball information
Previous teammates
Years Teammate Tours (points) 2003 Brent Doble 120
Honours Men's Volleyball Competitor for the  United States Olympic Games Gold 1984 Los Angeles Volleyball (indoor) Gold 1988 Seoul Volleyball (indoor) Gold 1996 Atlanta Beach Volleyball World Championships Gold 1986 Paris Team Competition Goodwill Games Silver 1986 Moscow Team Competition

Charles Frederick "Karch" Kiraly ( /ˈkɑrtʃ kɪˈraɪ/; born November 3, 1960 in Jackson, Michigan), is an American volleyball player who is the only person to have won Olympic gold medals in both the indoor and beach versions of the sport.

High school career

Kiraly started for the Santa Barbara High School Dons beach volleyball team and his father Laszlo was instrumental in helping found the program. The Dons with Kiraly were runners-up in 1976 to San Clemente High School and won the CIF SS title in 1978 over Laguna Beach High School under coach Rick Olmstead.

College career

Kiraly started for the UCLA Bruins volleyball team from 1979 through 1982. He was named All America all four years.^[1] While playing in UCLA's Pauley Pavilion under coach Al Scates, he led UCLA to three NCAA Men's Volleyball Championships in 1979 (undefeated season), 1981, and 1982 (undefeated season). During Kiraly's four years on the team, UCLA won 129 matches and lost only 5.^[1]

Kiraly won Most Outstanding Player in 1981 and 1982. He was inducted into UCLA's Hall of Fame in 1993.^[2]

At UCLA, Kiraly studied biochemistry and graduated cum laude in June 1983 with a 3.34 cumulative GPA.^[1]

American national team

Kiraly was popularly called the "Thunderball in Volleyball."^{[citation needed]} He went on to become a fixture on the national team through much of the 1980s as a passer/outside hitter in the "two-man" or "swing hitter" serve reception system created by Doug Beal in 1983.^[3] Team USA would win Olympic gold medals in 1984 and 1988 with Kiraly. He was team captain for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, wearing #15, and was also named by FIVB (International Volleyball Federation) as the top player in the world in 1986 and 1988.^{[citation needed]}

Beach volleyball career

After the 1988 Olympics, Kiraly retired from the national team. After a stint of professional club volleyball in Italy with Steve Timmons (playing for Il Messaggero Ravenna), he returned to the U.S. to play beach volleyball full time on the AVP tour. Kiraly has won 148 professional beach volleyball titles, and partnered with Kent Steffes to win the first men's Olympic beach volleyball tournament in 1996.

Even in his mid-40s, he continued to compete effectively against far younger players. Kiraly recorded two AVP tournament victories with his partner Brent Doble in 2002 and 2003, and four more with Mike Lambert in 2004 and 2005. Kiraly's most recent victory came in August 2005, when he and Lambert won an AVP tournament in Huntington Beach, California. In 2006, Kiraly partnered with Larry Witt, and in 2007, his partner was Kevin Wong. Kiraly has won over $3 million in beach volleyball (which is a record^{[citation needed]}). Kiraly retired from the AVP tour after the 2007 season.^[4]

Broadcasting

As of 2008, Kiraly still works as a broadcaster for ESPN in addition to continuing color commentary for AVP on NBC broadcasts. Kiraly served as an analyst for NBC Sports coverage of Beach Volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics.^[5]

Personal

Kiraly resides in San Clemente, California, with his wife Janna and two sons, Kristian and Kory. His father, Laszlo Kiraly, played for the Hungarian national volleyball team.^[6]

The nickname "Karch" is presumably derived from the Hungarian "Karcsi" (pronounced "KAR-chee"), which can be translated as "Charlie". It is a common derivative of Karoly, which is Charles. His last name, Kiraly, means "King".

He babysat Misty May-Treanor when she was younger.^[7]

Awards and honors

Kiraly was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2001.

Kiraly has been named as one of 2009's inductees into the College Sports Information Directors of America (COSIDA) Academic All-America Hall of Fame.^[8]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Karch Kiraly at AVP.COM". http://web.avp.com/players/profile.jsp?id=69. Retrieved 2008-08-25. 
2. ^ "UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame". CBS Interactive. Retrieved on 2009-07-07
3. ^ "Doug Beal named CEO of USA Volleyball". USA Volleyball. 2004-11-12. http://www.e-sports.com/articles/150/1/Doug-Beal-named-CEO-of-USA-Volleyball/Page1.html. 
4. ^ Moore, David Leon (9/1/2007). "For volleyball legend Kiraly, one last day at the beach". USA Today. Retrieved on 2009-07-07
5. ^ Frager, Ray (07/2008). "Medium Well: Your NBC Olympics lineup". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved on 2009-07-07
6. ^ "Karch Kiraly". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/319021/Karch-Kiraly. Retrieved 2008-08-22. 
7. ^ Jane Barrett (2008-07-24). "U.S. golden girls appear unstoppable". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Olympics/idUSL2448442420080725. Retrieved 2008-08-19. 
8. ^ "The NCAA News: The Record". National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). May 11, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-07-07

External links

• AVP Profile
• Beach Volleyball Profile at the Beach Volleyball Database
• Karch Kiraly Volleyball Academy

Preceded by Par J. Arvidsson Rowdy Gaines Oliver Luck Kenneth W. Sims Lynette Woodard

NCAA Top Five Award Class of 1983 Bruce Baumgartner John Elway Richard J. Giusto Charles F. Kiraly David R. Rimington

Succeeded by John E. Frank Beth Heiden Terrell L. Hoage Stefan G. Humphries Steve Young

Persondata
Name	Kiraly, Karch
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1960-11-03
Place of birth	Santa Barbara, California,
Date of death
Place of death