Ka = The

Ulu = growth or development

Koa = bravery, courage; warrior

We are an organization that develops bravery and courage, or the warrior in young athletes through sports participation and education.

How did you come up with Ka Ulukoa?

All Hawaiian names seem to have a story, ours is no different. When Director Lee Lamb came to the islands and started coaching, he would go back to Delaware and host a team camp for his old school. In an effort to bring something back from the islands, he gave the athletes an opportunity to name the company he would use to train athletes. A list of names were given and by a clear majority, his former athletes chose the name Koa Volleyball. A training company was born.

After working under the direction of ARVC for 5 years, Lee decided that he wanted to pursue his own vision and start his own organization. Naturally, Koa would be a logical choice for the name of this organization. However, Lee felt that Koa was to masculine for a organization that included female athletes.

So Koa was out and he began to think about a word or phrase that would summarize his vision. Evolution quickly came to mind. It captured what he was trying to accomplish and the marketing possibilities were endless. Lee wanted to take training to the next phase of evolution by creating an organization that could provide athletes with some of the best training around while helping to remove some of the social and/or financial boundaries. Transforming our athletes for the better and watching them evolve right before our eyes. Lee felt he had found a perfect match. Unfortunately, there was already a volleyball club with the name evolution and trying to find a suitable and available domain name was near impossible.

Back to the drawing board. Was there a way to marry the two names? Evolution and Koa? So the search began for a translation of the word "evolution." After acquiring some much needed feedback, "ulu" was brought to light. Ulu is Hawaiian for development or growth. It seemed he had his match, Ulukoa. An organization that develops bravery and courage, or the warrior in young athletes through sports participation.

So where did Ka come from? Ka can be defined as "the" in the english language.

Necessary? Maybe not? but Ka Ulukoa rolls better off the tongue. ;) Try it.

If you were to literally translate the words, you would find the following definitions* below:

ulu
1. nvi. To grow, increase, spread; growth

koa
1. nvs. Brave, bold, fearless, valiant; bravery, courage. Cf. ho’onakoa, pu’ipu’i. A’o nō i ke koa, a’o nō i ka holo (saying, Kel. 45), learn bravery, learn to run [be brave but prudent in war]. Ho’o.koa Brave; to cause bravery. (PPN to’a.)

2. nvs. Soldier, warrior, fighter; military, hero, martial. Kānāwai koa, martial law. Ho’o.koa To act as a soldier; to cause to be a soldier.

* Definitions are courtesy of Hawaiian Dictionaries on www.wehewehe.org

Lee Lamb

Prior to moving to Hawaii, Lee lived in Delaware where he was a Test Lab Director for ILC Dover, Inc. While at ILC Dover, Lee worked on critical life items like the M40 Gas Mask and the NASA Spacesuit. (You can still see a picture of him here... hint: he's on the right in the Space Suits picture.) Primarily working on the spacesuit, Lee logged more than 750 man hours in the suit itself and led teams in the certification of various suit components. In his spare time, Lee helped launch a small Catholic High School volleyball program, St. Thomas More Academy. He coached STMA for four years, at which time they made the State tournament three times. During his tenure at STMA and ILC, Lee had often joked with his colleagues that if he ever had the opportunity to coach full time, he would. Little did he know... After meeting his then girlfriend, now wife, Veronica, they both decided to move to Hawaii to finish their degrees in engineering programs. To make a long story short, their efforts were never realized. Shortly after he came to terms with not being able to acquire his engineering degree in a timely manner, he began to wonder if his half-hearted joking could become a reality. Five years later, Lee has found himself doing what he had once thought would be impossible. Initially, Lee worked with Coach Luis Ramirez from ARVC. He coached at Iolani and also helped Luis Ramirez start Optimal Training. He is currently the Head Coach and Program Coordinator for the girl’s volleyball program at Maryknoll School, owner of Koa Volleyball, and founder of Ka Ulukoa. More about Coach Lee... Team Accomplishments while in Hawaii (as Head Coach Only) Club Boys 12u - USAV JOVC - 9th (Club Div.) Boys 14u - USAV JOVC - 11th (Club Div.) Boys 16u - USAV JOVC - 13th (Club Div.) Boys 14u Open Qual. in Anaheim - 2nd USAV JOVC - 5th (Open Div.) Girls 13u Reno Qual. - 5th Regional Bid - 1st 14 Regional - 2nd USAV JOVC - 23rd (National Div.) High School Iolani Boys Int. - 2nd Place ILH Iolani Boys JV - 3rd Place ILH Maryknoll Girls Vars. - 5th Place ILH