Karch Kiraly
Encyclopedia
Charles Frederick "Karch" Kiraly (icon; born November 3, 1960 in Jackson, Michigan
), is an American
volleyball
player who is the only person to have won Olympic
gold medal
s in both the indoor and beach
versions of the sport.
Dons beach volleyball team and his father Laszlo was instrumental in helping found the program. The Dons with Kiraly were runners-up in 1976 to San Clemente High School and won the CIF SS
title in 1978 over Laguna Beach High School
under coach Rick Olmstead.
under coach Al Scates
, he led UCLA to three NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship
s in 1979 (undefeated season), 1981, and 1982 (undefeated season). During Kiraly's four years on the team, UCLA won 129 matches and lost only 5.
Kiraly won Most Outstanding Player
in 1981 and 1982. He was inducted into UCLA's Hall of Fame
in 1993.
At UCLA, Kiraly studied biochemistry
and graduated cum laude in June 1983 with a 3.34 cumulative GPA.
in 1983. Team USA would win Olympic gold medals in 1984
and 1988
with Kiraly. He was team captain for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, wearing #15, and was also named by FIVB
(International Volleyball Federation) as the top player in the world in 1986 and 1988.
with Steve Timmons
(playing for Il Messaggero Ravenna
), he returned to the U.S. to play beach volleyball
full time on the AVP tour
. Kiraly has won 148 professional beach volleyball titles, and partnered with Kent Steffes
to win the first men's Olympic beach volleyball tournament in 1996.
Even in his mid-40s, he continued to compete effectively against far younger players. Kiraly recorded two AVP tournament victories with his partner Brent Doble in 2002 and 2003, and four more with Mike Lambert in 2004 and 2005. Kiraly's most recent victory came in August 2005, when he and Lambert won an AVP tournament in Huntington Beach, California
. In 2006, Kiraly partnered with Larry Witt, and in 2007, his partner was Kevin Wong
. Kiraly has won over $3 million in beach volleyball (which is a record ). Kiraly retired from the AVP tour after the 2007 season.
in addition to continuing color commentary for AVP on NBC broadcasts. Kiraly served as an analyst for NBC Sports
coverage of Beach Volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics
.
, with his wife Janna and two sons, Kristian and Kory. His father, Laszlo Kiraly, played for the Hungarian
national volleyball team.
The nickname "Karch" is presumably derived from the Hungarian "Karcsi" , which can be translated as "Charlie". It is a common derivative of Karoly, which is Charles. His last name, Kiraly, means "King".
He babysat Misty May-Treanor
when she was younger.
in 2001.
Kiraly has been named as one of 2009's inductees into the College Sports Information Directors of America (COSIDA)
Academic All-America
Hall of Fame
.
Jackson, Michigan
Jackson is a city located along Interstate 94 in the south central area of the U.S. state of Michigan, about west of Ann Arbor and south of Lansing. It is the county seat of Jackson County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534...
), is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
player who is the only person to have won Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
s in both the indoor and beach
Beach volleyball
Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....
versions of the sport.
High school career
Kiraly started for the Santa Barbara High SchoolSanta Barbara High School
Santa Barbara High School, "Home of the Dons," is situated on a beautiful campus in, Santa Barbara, California and is part of the Santa Barbara School Districts. One of the oldest high schools in California, it was established in 1875, and moved to its current site in 1924...
Dons beach volleyball team and his father Laszlo was instrumental in helping found the program. The Dons with Kiraly were runners-up in 1976 to San Clemente High School and won the CIF SS
CIF Southern Section
C.I.F. Southern Section is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation . Its membership includes most public and private high schools in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Mono and Inyo counties, as...
title in 1978 over Laguna Beach High School
Laguna Beach High School
Laguna Beach High School is a 4-year public high school located in Laguna Beach, California, United States. It is the only high school in the Laguna Beach Unified School District. It was established in 1934 and is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and as well as being...
under coach Rick Olmstead.
College career
Kiraly started for the UCLA Bruins volleyball team from 1979 through 1982. He was named All America all four years. While playing in UCLA's Pauley PavilionPauley Pavilion
Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams...
under coach Al Scates
Al Scates
Al Scates is an American former volleyball player and is the current volleyball coach of the UCLA Bruins of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation...
, he led UCLA to three NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship
NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship
The NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship is the tournament that determines the national championship of American college volleyball.The "Final Four" is a term used exclusively by NCAA Basketball but is commonly used to describe the Men's Volleyball Championship...
s in 1979 (undefeated season), 1981, and 1982 (undefeated season). During Kiraly's four years on the team, UCLA won 129 matches and lost only 5.
Kiraly won Most Outstanding Player
NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player
At the conclusion of the NCAA men's and women's Division I basketball championships , the Associated Press selects a Most Outstanding Player. The MOP need not be, but almost always is a member of the Championship team, especially since the third place game was eliminated after 1981...
in 1981 and 1982. He was inducted into UCLA's Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame
A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...
in 1993.
At UCLA, Kiraly studied biochemistry
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
and graduated cum laude in June 1983 with a 3.34 cumulative GPA.
American national team
Kiraly was popularly called the "Thunderball in Volleyball." He went on to become a fixture on the national team through much of the 1980s as a passer/outside hitter in the "two-man" or "swing hitter" serve reception system created by Doug BealDoug Beal
Doug Beal is an American volleyball player and coach, the current USA Volleyball CEO, and a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.- Education :...
in 1983. Team USA would win Olympic gold medals in 1984
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
and 1988
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...
with Kiraly. He was team captain for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, wearing #15, and was also named by FIVB
Fédération Internationale de Volleyball
The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball , commonly known by the acronym FIVB, is the international governing body for the sport of indoor, beach and grass volleyball.. Its headquarters are located in Lausanne, Switzerland and its current president is Wei Jizhong .- History :The FIVB was founded...
(International Volleyball Federation) as the top player in the world in 1986 and 1988.
Beach volleyball career
After the 1988 Olympics, Kiraly retired from the national team. After a stint of professional club volleyball in ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
with Steve Timmons
Steve Timmons
Steve Dennis Timmons is a former volleyball player from the United States, who represented the USA at three consecutive Summer Olympics starting in 1984. In each tournament he won a medal: two gold and one bronze...
(playing for Il Messaggero Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
), he returned to the U.S. to play beach volleyball
Beach volleyball
Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....
full time on the AVP tour
Association of Volleyball Professionals
The Association of Volleyball Professionals, or AVP, is a beach volleyball tour which takes place throughout the United States. The summer tour starts in April and continues almost every weekend until the end of October....
. Kiraly has won 148 professional beach volleyball titles, and partnered with Kent Steffes
Kent Steffes
Kent Steffes is an American beach volleyball player. He was a gold medalist in the 1996 Summer Olympics along with Karch Kiraly. A graduate of Palisades High School in Pacific Palsiades, CA, he latter attended Stanford, and transferred to UCLA graduating with a degree in Economics...
to win the first men's Olympic beach volleyball tournament in 1996.
Even in his mid-40s, he continued to compete effectively against far younger players. Kiraly recorded two AVP tournament victories with his partner Brent Doble in 2002 and 2003, and four more with Mike Lambert in 2004 and 2005. Kiraly's most recent victory came in August 2005, when he and Lambert won an AVP tournament in Huntington Beach, California
Huntington Beach, California
Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 189,992; making it the largest beach city in Orange County in terms of population...
. In 2006, Kiraly partnered with Larry Witt, and in 2007, his partner was Kevin Wong
Kevin Wong
Kevin Kahn Wong is a professional beach volleyball player who currently competes on the AVP tour. In 2000, he placed fifth paired with Rob Heidger at the Sydney Olympics. Wong was named to People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" issue in 2000. He currently lives in Hawaii. He is 6'7" and...
. Kiraly has won over $3 million in beach volleyball (which is a record ). Kiraly retired from the AVP tour after the 2007 season.
Broadcasting
As of 2008, Kiraly still works as a broadcaster for ESPNESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
in addition to continuing color commentary for AVP on NBC broadcasts. Kiraly served as an analyst for NBC Sports
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. Formerly "a service of NBC News," it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games, the NFL, the NHL, MLS, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Triple Crown, and the French Open, among others...
coverage of Beach Volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Volleyball competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were held from 9 to 24 August 2008. Indoor volleyball events were held at Capital Indoor Stadium and Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium...
.
Personal
Kiraly resides in San Clemente, CaliforniaSan Clemente, California
San Clemente is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 63,522 at the 2010 census. Located on the California Coast, midway between Los Angeles and San Diego at the southern tip of the county, it is known for its ocean, hill, and mountain views, a pleasant climate and its Spanish...
, with his wife Janna and two sons, Kristian and Kory. His father, Laszlo Kiraly, played for the Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
national volleyball team.
The nickname "Karch" is presumably derived from the Hungarian "Karcsi" , which can be translated as "Charlie". It is a common derivative of Karoly, which is Charles. His last name, Kiraly, means "King".
He babysat Misty May-Treanor
Misty May-Treanor
Misty Erie May-Treanor is an American professional volleyball player. She has won more tournaments than any other female player with 107 career wins....
when she was younger.
Awards and honors
Kiraly was inducted into the Volleyball Hall of FameVolleyball Hall of Fame
The Volleyball Hall of Fame was founded to honor extraordinary players, coaches, officials, and leaders who have made significant contributions to the game of volleyball. The hall is located in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where volleyball was invented in 1895 by William G...
in 2001.
Kiraly has been named as one of 2009's inductees into the College Sports Information Directors of America (COSIDA)
Sports information director
A sports information director is a type of public relations worker who provides statistics, team and player notes and other information about a college or university's sports teams to the news media and general public...
Academic All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame
A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...
.
External links
- AVP Profile
- Beach Volleyball Profile at the Beach Volleyball DatabaseBeach Volleyball DatabaseThe Beach Volleyball Database is an online website that holds extensive information about international beach volleyball players, tournaments and history. News are frequently updated, and the site has results for continental and international tournaments...
- Karch Kiraly Volleyball Academy