Alstrom earns honor

Newport Beach resident John Alstrom was honored by USA Volleyball as one of its two Thomas Haine All-Time Great Player Award recipients at the 66th annual Dorothy Boyce Awards and Recognition Banquet in Dallas.

Alstrom earned many accolades during his playing days. He led an unseeded Fresno Volleyball Club to the gold medal at the 1967 USA Volleyball National Championships and he won the gold with the U.S. men at the Pan American Games.

Alstrom finished second at the USA Volleyball National Championships in 1968. That same year, he won the AAU title as part of the Outrigger Canoe Club, teaming up with John Lowell and Jon Stanley.

At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, he was part of the U.S. team, which beat defending champion Russia, 11-15, 15-10, 10-15, 15-10, 15-6, in a match.

Alstrom left the U.S. national team after the Olympics and moved to Los Angeles, where he won the gold with the L.A. YMCA at the 1969 USA Volleyball National Championships. He placed second in 1970 with the Balboa Bay Club.

He won silver and gold medals with Chart House in 1971 and 1972, when he earned the MVP award at nationals.

Alstrom played in the International Volleyball Assn., the first professional co-ed league in the U.S. The L.A. Stars drafted Alstrom in 1975 and the team went on to win the league’s first title.

Alstrom has played with the Legends of Volleyball Club for the past 15 years. During that stretch, he has won many USA Volleyball Open National Championships and World Master Games Championships.

Alstrom is a member of the Fresno High School Wall of Champions, the Central Valley YMCA Hall of Fame, the BYU Volleyball Hall of Fame and the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame.

— From staff reports