Allen Allen hasn't served or spiked a ball in competition in almost 10 years, but volleyball continues to dominate his life.

The charismatic, three-time University of Hawai'i All-American — once chosen as one of the top 50 indoor volleyball players of all time by Volleyball Magazine — spreads his passion for the sport around much of the Pacific Rim.

From his home base in San Diego, Allen this summer took his clinics, called the "Allen Allen Experience," to American and Western Samoa, Maui, Kalihi and Kane'ohe on O'ahu, Anchorage, Seattle, Lana'i, Las Vegas and Chicago. He finishes his clinic tour every year on Thanksgiving weekend in Kohala.

"We have a pool of 25 sites and we go to 12 to 15 each year," he says. Kane'ohe, where Allen grew up, Samoa, where he was born, and Kohala are always on the schedule.

"Our mission is to help young volleyball players reach their maximum potential," Allen says on his Web site: www.allenallenvolleyball.com.

"We are looking for players who are passionate about improving ..."

Fees range from $50 to $125 a head — Kalihi costs less than Coronado, Calif., or Seattle. A few need-based scholarships and "deep Hawaiian discounts" are available to the clinics in Hawai'i, Allen said.

During the school year Allen teaches remedial reading at Hoover High School in San Diego and — from December to June — he coaches Allen Club Volleyball, one of 26 age-group clubs in San Diego and Coronado.

Allen Club Volleyball will have three 12-and-under, two 14-and-under and one 16-and-under team for its fourth year. It grows larger as the players grow older.

The kids pay for the privilege of learning from a former USA national team member and beach pro.

But one senses that paying the rent is not Allen's prime motivator.

"Seeing other people succeed and knowing you had a part in that success is one of the best highs that one can experience," Allen told The Advertiser in an interview recently after a brief stopover on O'ahu.

When he was at Castle High in the early '80s, Allen dreamed of playing football for the Oakland Raiders, but that door appeared to close after his appendix was removed before his sophomore year and his parents set him on a path toward the ministry.

"As the oldest child in a Polynesian household, I had a lot of responsibilities," Allen said.

His family moved to Hawai'i when he was 8. "We were expecting a land of milk and honey," Allen said, but found themselves in public housing in Waipahu, speaking no English. "It was a rude awakening."

Eventually the family got to Kane'ohe and he graduated from King Middle School and Castle High.

Boys' volleyball was reinstated at Castle in Allen's senior year, 1983-84, and he played for the first time.

But he didn't get into volleyball until Team USA came to Blaisdell Arena to play an exhibition match against Japan.

Castle coach Pat Gomes-Woolsey got tickets for her team. "That changed my view," Allen said. "I thought, 'that's pretty impressive, that's not park style.'

"I fell in love with the game and I became a volleyball gym rat — I played anywhere and any time I could."

A mutual friend invited Chris McLachlin to evaluate Allen at a tryout at UH and McLachlin encouraged him to pursue the sport, Allen said.

"My college years were so memorable — super years of my life," Allen says. "We had a homegrown team." Mike Among, Damien Hardy, Brian Poppinga and Lyman Lacro — all of whom became high school coaches in Hawai'i — were among his teammates.

Allen was an All-American in 1987, '88 and '89.

It was at UH that sportscaster Jim Leahey nicknamed him "A-Bomb Allen." The name has stuck with him since.

Earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Hawai'i was delayed by four years and 200 matches with the U.S. National Team from 1989 to 1992, followed by six years of pro beach volleyball and a year of the professional indoor game in Slovakia.

He decided to retire after failing to qualify with his younger brother, Masui, also an All-American at Hawai'i, for the first Olympic Games beach volleyball event.

"I had played year-round for 15 years," Allen said.

But the shining moment of his entire career, Allen says, did not come in a match. It was during a luncheon of teams entered in a major tournament in Italy.

Each team in turn was expected to entertain. Most sang their countries' anthems. But Team USA was hesitant.

Allen seized the moment. He jumped onto the table, stripped off his shirt and performed a Samoan slap dance. The crowd erupted in cheers.

Allen's next big volleyball project will be putting on the Allen Allen Cup, a tournament of high school all-stars in Pago Pago, American Samoa. "Finances are a challenge there and we will try to take a lot of donated balls and nets with us," he says.

"We are trying to push kids, especially girls with all the Title IX scholarships available, to look beyond high school," he says.

Allen's sister, Delores, and brothers, Masui and Stahl, live in Anaheim, Calif. Another sister, Margie, lives in Waimanalo.

His son, Justin, 18, entered UH this semester. His daughters, Pale (short for Palefuiono), 5, and Teila, 3, live with Allen in San Diego. Justin is not a volleyball player.