This will be Coach Kaiao's first season with Athena Volleyball Academy. He will be the Athena 18 Gold Head Coach as well as an Associate Club Director of Culture for Athena and Ajax. Before Athena Coach Kaiao Nahale-a started Live Aloha Volleyball Academy (LAVA). LAVA was started with the mission to empower the lives of the players that came to LAVA. 

After serving as the First assistant in the 2021 Spring "Covid Season", Coach Kaiao is now the Interim Head Coach at Lewis & Clark College. Here is an excerpt from the press release:

​

"Better people play better volleyball. I truly believe and have witnessed in my coaching career that, when we focus on being the best people we can be, our team culture and have a WE before ME attitude, the volleyball not only takes care of itself, but man is it fun to coach and play." 

​

This is not Coach Kaiao's first time in the NCAA. He also has spent time at Concordia University-Portland (CUP) and Saint Martin's University (SMU). Both CUP and SMU compete in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) which is a Division two NCAA conference. He served as an assistant Coach at both of those Universities. 

Before the NCAA experience, Coach Kaiao (while accomplishing his undergraduate degree), took over Beaverton High School (BHS) program in the fall of 2013. BHS had won one (yes, you’re reading that correctly) game in 7 years. In 2013 the team went 4-13. Then in the Fall of 2014 the team went 7-11. In Coach Kaiao’s final season at BHS the team went 14-10 and made it to state. He left BHS being named Co-Coach of the year in the Metro League, which at that time was the most competitive league in 6A in the OSAA.

​

Coach Kaiao has had on court and classroom training sessions with some of the most influential teachers in our sport including:

​

• Women’s National team Head Coach Karch Kiraly

• Gold and Silver medalist and current Head Coach of the University of Minessota Hugh McCutcheon

• USAV Director of sport development John Kessel

• NCAA National champion and Women’s national team member Courtney Thompson

• Head Coach at the University of St. Mary’s Rob Browning

• University of Southern California’s Head coach Brent Couch and staff

• And many more!