A former Association of Volleyball Professionals member, Carlucci has been residing on island for the past few weeks and is active in the Northern Marianas Islands Volleyball Association’s ongoing clinics at Fiesta Resort and Spa.
“Saipan’s been amazing so far,” the 36-year-old California native said in an interview.
“I moved here about two weeks ago. I loved it so much when I came here for the first time, I figured I could live out here.”
This is Carlucci’s second time to visit Saipan since joining the 2009 Marianas Cup, where he won fourth place with partner Chris Nelson.
Carlucci has been involved in weekend clinics with Coach Russ Quinn and CNMI National Team players Tyce Mister and Nelson.
“Russ and Tyce are both amazing guys and they’ve been out here coaching these kids. I’m just gonna try and help them keep grooming the kids for the future,” he noted, shortly after helping with a clinic on Saturday.
“I’m just trying to inspire them to do the same thing and to exercise. It’s really exciting to see what’s happening. There are so many kids that are interested volleyball.”
Though open to all participants, the NMIVA’s free weekly clinic is mainly occupied by teens and children seeking to learn beach volleyball.
“A lot of the stuff we do out here is skill-oriented to try to help them get better, but at the same time I’m trying to get the kids to cheer and support for each other,” he added.
“There are some kids with some really good skills. There are some promising teams that we could build out of the athletes that are here.”
“What I would like to reinforce is overall fitness and I would like to help some kids with diet and nutrition.”
He mentioned his plans for hosting clinics in schools and helping indoor teams on island.
Carclucci wasn’t introduced to the sport until his senior year in high school. In almost no time, he led his team to a division title and was selected MVP.
He attended the Junior Olympics and joined the Junior National Team before winning back-to-back state championships for Golden West College. There, he was voted MVP in both the league and state tournament.
Carlucci started competing in 1998 — by 1999, he was a second ranked amateur. He played as a professional and joined the AVP in 2000. He retired from pro beach volleyball after the AVP’s bankruptcy last year.
The NMIVA’s clinic is ongoing every Saturday from 8 to 10 a.m. until December 17.
