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Eric Fonoimoana:
 
Eric Fonoimoana
United States  
  
 
Vital Statistics
 

Photo: Ken Delgado
Birth Date June 7, 1969 (54 years old)
Home Town Manhattan Beach, CA
Resides Hermosa Beach, CA
Height 6'3"
College California-Santa Barbara
Web Site digforkids.com
  Best Finish Winnings
United States 1st (14 times) $815,935
   AVP 1st (13 times) $712,637
   BVA 1st $6,250
   NVL 17th $0
   USAV 3rd $6,875
   Bonus Money   $90,173
International 1st $184,875
   FIVB 1st $184,875
Overall 1st (15 times) $1,000,810
 
Bio Bits

Eric "The Body" Fonoimoana struck Olympic Gold at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and has been a dominant and consistent force on the AVP Tour since winning his first event in 1994. He won at least one tournament for seven straight years between 1998 and 2004, claiming titles with five different partners in addition to winning an individual event.

2002 proved to be Fonoimoana's year to shine - he reached the finals six times and won four titles with former partner Dax Holdren and was also named AVP's Most Valuable Player.

In 2005 Fonoimoana reached the top 10 in terms of all-time tournaments played, and is rapidly approaching the $1 million mark in career earnings.

A true community activist, Fonoimoana has dedicated much of his winnings and time off the beach to his foundation "Dig for Kids" which helps kids in inner cities excel in school and volleyball.


Fonoimoana grew up in
Manhattan Beach, California as the youngest of three brothers, Kirk, Scott and Toa and two sisters, Debbie and Lelei. Lelei was a swimmer in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Eric attended Mira Costa High School, the same school his parents attended, where he started his volleyball career. The volleyball team there now hands out an annual Eric Fonoimoana Commitment Award. Fonoimoana continued to play at UC-Santa Barbara where he was named MVP his senior year and graduated with a degree in Sociology.


His cousins, Al and Nick Hannemann, also played on the AVP Tour. Fonoimoana currently resides in
Hermosa Beach, California with his wife Eliza.

                               

Favorite Movie: CaddyShack... Favorite Band: Busta Rhymes... Favorite Show: CSI... Role Model: Michael Jordan... Sponsors: Nautica, Wilson, Oakley, Nutrition Express... Favorite Meal: Mexican

 

If you weren't playing professional volleyball, what would you be doing?

Real Estate


Olympics (one, gold, 5-0 Elimination, 5-0 Overall):
• Qualified for Sydney 2000 Olympics as the number nine seed with Dain Blanton. Won all five matches in bracket play, winning the gold medal, defeating Brazil's Ze Marco de Melo/Ricardo Santos in the finals.
 
 
Awards
 
  • CBVA Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame 2013
  • AVP Most Valuable Player 2002
 
Career Summary
 
United States
Season Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 9th Money Points Rank 13th 15th 17th 25th 33rd 41st
1991 AVP 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $500.00     0 0 1 0 0 0
1992 AVP 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 $8,265.00     5 0 3 0 0 0
1993 AVP 23 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 5 $41,025.75     6 0 6 0 0 0
1994 AVP 25 1 0 0 1 8 0 4 6 $85,091.50     3 0 2 0 0 0
1995 AVP 23 0 0 3 3 8 0 1 5 $103,057.00     2 0 1 0 0 0
1996 AVP 21 0 0 1 5 5 0 2 4 $89,175.00     4 0 0 0 0 0
1997 AVP 22 0 1 3 3 7 0 4 2 $112,091.75     1 0 0 1 0 0
1998 AVP 17 1 2 7 0 2 0 2 2 $101,856.00     1 0 0 0 0 0
1999 AVP 10 2 2 2 1 3 0 0 0 $64,600.00     0 0 0 0 0 0
1999 USAV 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 $1,875.00 68.0 29th 0 0 0 0 0 0
Season Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 9th Money Points Rank 13th 15th 17th 25th 33rd 41st
2000 AVP 6 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 $22,000.00     0 0 0 0 0 0
2000 USAV 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 $5,000.00 136.0 5th 0 0 0 0 0 0
2001 AVP 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 $14,975.00 504.0 17th 0 0 0 0 0 0
2001 BVA 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 $6,250.00 144.0 3rd 0 0 0 0 0 0
2002 AVP 7 4 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 $57,800.00 1,088.0 1st 0 0 0 0 0 0
2003 AVP 9 2 0 2 0 1 0 2 1 $28,422.50 1,132.0 7th 0 0 1 0 0 0
2004 AVP 11 2 1 1 0 1 1 3 2 $37,062.50 1,149.0 11th 0 0 0 0 0 0
2005 AVP 11 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 $12,050.00 824.0 24th 3 0 2 0 0 0
2006 AVP 14 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 $17,962.50 1,041.0 21st 3 0 3 1 0 0
2007 AVP 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 $6,050.00 488.0 45th 2 0 5 0 0 0
Season Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 9th Money Points Rank 13th 15th 17th 25th 33rd 41st
2008 AVP 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $575.00 54.0 91st 0 0 1 1 0 0
2013 NVL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00 64.0   0 0 1 0 0 0
2018 AVP 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $250.00 105.0 204th 0 1 0 0 0 0
Total
(Rank)
  230
(20th)
14
(34th)
11 22 13 39 2 28 41 $815,934.50
(18th)
6,797.0   30 1 26 3 0 0
 
International
Season Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 9th Money Points Rank 13th 15th 17th 25th 33rd 41st
1995 FIVB 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 $7,500.00 21.0 92nd 0 0 0 0 0 0
1996 FIVB 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 $5,750.00 150.0 74th 0 0 0 0 0 0
1997 FIVB 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 $6,750.00 195.0 61st 0 0 0 0 0 0
1998 FIVB 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 $25,950.00 578.0 37th 2 0 0 0 0 0
1999 FIVB 9 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 2 $24,750.00 637.0 30th 1 0 1 1 0 1
2000 FIVB 11 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 5 $25,500.00 766.0 22nd 2 0 1 0 0 0
2001 FIVB 9 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 2 $34,250.00 668.0 22nd 1 0 2 0 0 0
2002 FIVB 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 $11,800.00 360.0 45th 0 0 1 0 0 0
2003 FIVB 7 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 $21,000.00 551.0 36th 0 0 4 1 0 0
2004 FIVB 9 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 $21,625.00 551.0 42nd 2 0 3 0 1 0
Total
(Rank)
  63
(250th)
1
(206th)
2 1 4 7 0 4 20 $184,875.00
(140th)
4,477.0   8 0 12 2 1 1
 
 
 
 
Overall
Total
(Rank)
  293
(12th)
15
(55th)
13 23 17 46 2 32 61 $1,000,809.50
(25th)
11,274.0   38 1 38 5 1 1
 
Red denotes ranked 1st
 
Victory List
 
Victory Date Assoc Location Partner Seed Winnings
1 6/26/1994 AVP Baltimore Scott Ayakatubby   $7,500
2 3/15/1998 AVP Las Vegas Various 9 $72,000
3 5/2/1999 AVP Clearwater Dain Blanton 5 $10,000
4 8/22/1999 AVP Cleveland Dain Blanton 2 $9,000
5 5/28/2000 AVP Santa Cruz Dain Blanton 4 $8,000
6 9/26/2000 FIVB Sydney Dain Blanton 9  
7 5/27/2001 BVA Oceanside Dain Blanton 1 $2,500
8 5/26/2002 AVP Huntington Beach Dax Holdren 3 $7,250
9 8/11/2002 AVP Manhattan Beach Dax Holdren 1 $10,000
10 8/25/2002 AVP Chicago Dax Holdren 1 $8,700
Victory Date Assoc Location Partner Seed Winnings
11 9/7/2002 AVP Las Vegas Dax Holdren 1 $15,000
12 4/6/2003 AVP Fort Lauderdale Dax Holdren 1 $7,250
13 8/10/2003 AVP Manhattan Beach Kevin Wong 7 $8,700
14 7/25/2004 AVP Hermosa Beach Kevin Wong 9 $10,000
15 10/17/2004 AVP Santa Barbara Mike Lambert 2 $7,500
 

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