John Speraw did not plan on becoming a volleyball coach as the Arcadia native studied microbiology and molecular genetics at UCLA to become a doctor.
But after he graduated from the university, Speraw got a call from Al Scates, a legendary volleyball coach who led the UCLA Bruins for nearly five decades.
“My mentor called and asked if I could help out,” Speraw recalled. “I eventually changed my path and just went into that full time. It's worked out amazingly well. No second thoughts about a medical career.”
But his players said their coach approaches each game as if a surgeon is going into the operating room.
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“He’s a very intellectual guy,” said Micah Ma’a, one of the players for the U.S. men’s volleyball team. “He thinks the game through really well, thinks life through really well. And he is always looking to kind of gain an edge.”
Speraw, who led UC Irvine’s men’s volleyball team to three NCAA championships, helped UCLA win a second straight national title this year.
But his success streak hit a tumble block when the Tokyo Olympics happened during the pandemic as players were forced to play in empty arenas.
Team USA didn’t make it out of pool play after it finished 10th place.
Our Tokyo performance seems like a distant memory to me,” the coach said. “We can be better than that. We have a different team, better opportunity, I’m excited to go back and compete.”
Returning to the global stage, Speraw said he keeps himself grounded as he thinks about where he came from.“It's hard to describe because I still consider myself a young kid from Arcadia that wasn't around the elite programs at the time,” he said. “For me to come from that background and then to go to UCLA and be a role player most of my career. And here I am coaching the national team in Southern California. It's a little surreal. It’s never lost on me. I still think to myself, it's just an incredible journey.”
