1980 U.S. Women’s Olympic Team Sets Reunion in Hawaii

Bill Kauffman
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: bill.kauffman@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 6, 2010) – The 1980 U.S. Women’s Olympic Volleyball Team will hold a 30th anniversary reunion between May 24 and May 31 in Kaua‘i, Hawaii.

Of the 12 members on the 1980 Olympic squad, five are scheduled to attend the reunion including:

• Sue Woodstra: 1980 and 1984 Olympian (silver medalist); 2008 Olympic Team assistant coach (silver medalist); head coach at Humboldt State University since 2002
• Debbie Landreth Brown: 1980 Olympian; 1988 Olympic Team assistant coach; head coach at University of Notre Dame since 1990
• Laurie Flachmeier Corbelli: 1980 and 1984 Olympian (silver medalist); head coach at Texas A&M since 1993
• Diane McCormick French: 1980 Olympian; 2008 Olympic Team Technical Coordinator (silver medalist)
• Laurel Brassey Iversen: 1980 and 1988 Olympian; head coach at University of New Mexico from 1983-2000

The five 1980 Olympians will also serve as clinicians for a volleyball clinic to be held for 150 Kaua‘i Club athletes and 40 coaches from any of the Hawaiian Islands. The Olympian’s Volleyball Clinic, in memory of teammate Flo Hyman and volleyball pioneer Pat McChesney, is limited by gym space and by clinicians, so it is targeting only young Kaua‘i Club volleyball players who have already made a commitment to the sport of volleyball. USA Volleyball is helping to support the clinic in the administration of the event. The Aloha Region, one of the 40 regions within USA Volleyball, is also sanctioning the clinic. Due to the great response of Kaua‘i residents and business owners who have been donating funds and other resources to the Olympians, the fee to attend the clinic will be nominal.

Over 30 years ago, the 1980 U.S. Olympic Women’s Volleyball Team was considered the favorites to win the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Moscow. However, the dreams of standing on the podium with medals around their necks were shattered when the U.S. Olympic Committee’s House of Delegates, at the urging of then-President Jimmy Carter, voted to boycott the 1980 Olympiad to protest the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

Tags: U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team