No one knows winning quite like the six children of Richard and Elissa Sato. All were athletes in high school. Five played volleyball in college, three played on U.S. National volleyball teams, two played in the Olympics, one was a coach for three different Olympic teams and two just finished coaching their high school teams to CIF championships. On Tuesday, Sato siblings Gary, Liane and Eric were invited to Olympics Day at Palisades Elementary to share their thoughts on competition, teamwork and the value of family and sports. Gary, the oldest child, started the volleyball tradition in his family. He played on the U.S. National team for many years and went on to coach at Pepperdine University where he led the Waves to an NCAA championship. Gary was the assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s National team and traveled to three different Olympics. His teams won a gold medal in Seoul, Korea, in 1988 and a bronze in Barcelona, Spain, in 1992. “There’s a high percentage that some of you will be in the Olympics,” Gary told a captivated audience of kindergarten through fifth-grade students. He then listed a number of Palisadians who have competed in the Olympics. Later Gary explained what makes a good competitor great. “An athlete needs to study the game, study their opponents and study themselves.” “A competitor looks to see what previous people have done and looks for common threads,” he continued. “They put in the hard work and use different training techniques. An athlete needs to evaluate his or her own strengths and weaknesses, but also has to be aware of “paralysis over analysis,” which means at a certain point they have to get out of the brain and let the body take over.” Liane is currently the head coach for boys and girls varsity volleyball at Santa Monica High, where the boys just won a CIF title. Her “boys” asked her if their win was better than when she won a bronze medal at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona. “At this time in my life, it’s better than the Olympics,” she told them. “I think playing has helped me become a better coach,” Liane told her attentive audience. “It gives me insight into the athlete.” Liane also played in the Seoul Olympics and on the U.S. national team for six years as well as playing pro volleyball. “Sports helps provide responsibilities that prepare you for life,” she said. “Sports also teach one of the most important things–how to be a gracious winner and loser. “To be successful in life you need to be responsible, surround yourself with positive role models and have a supportive family,” Liane said. The youngest of the Sato siblings, Eric credits his sister with the advice she gave him in seventh grade: “Choose your friends wisely.” He cited his family as his role model growing up. In the 1988 Olympics, Eric’s jump serve scored the point that clinched the gold medal for the U.S. He also played in the 1992 Olympics and won a bronze medal. He is now the head volleyball coach at Francis Parker High in San Diego, where both his boys and girls teams won CIF championships. “There was always competition in the Sato household,” Eric said. “My siblings taught me how to compete.” Gary was Eric’s Olympic coach, which both agreed can be tricky because they had to figure out how to put the sibling issues aside. “Make good choices, surround yourself with good people and when you fall, get back up and try again,” Eric advised the students. The other Sato siblings are Tedi, Glenn, and Scott, who lives in the Palisades.
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