Let’s Go ’Bows! Behind the Scenes with University of Hawai‘i Sports Offers an Insider’s Look at a Championship Program
Let's Go 'Bows! by Melody Toth
Head trainer Melody Toth spent 30 years courtside—and behind the scenes—with the Rainbow Wahine, the basketball ’Bows and the other championship teams of University of Hawai‘i athletics. In Let’s Go ’Bows! Behind the Scenes with University of Hawai‘i Sports, she shares insights and inside stories of this remarkable legacy—the world-class athletes, the heartbreaking losses and the heady triumphs of victory on the national stage.
Toth speaks from a point of view that only a few have access to, having spent eight to 12 hours a day, often seven days a week, with the athletes. Her stories, adapted from her journals, reveal what sports writer Ann Miller of The Honolulu Advertiser calls “stolen moments you have never seen and rarely read.” In Let’s Go ’Bows! Toth shares funny and heartwarming stories fans never knew, and recaps some of Hawai‘i sports history’s most beloved and well-known names and games.
Photo Courtesy: Erika Wesby; L-R: Joselyn Robins, Jenny Wilton, Melody Toth; Borders Waikele, Sept. 2008
During her Hawaii book signing tour, many former University of Hawai‘i star athletes turned out to support “Trainer Mel.” Former volleyball players Joselyn Robins ('96) and Jenny Wilton ('95) joined Toth at local Borders bookstores to sign books and pose for photos. A few lucky fans also walked away with autographs from Nahaku Brown ('81) and Lee Ann Pestana ('83), also former members of Wahine volleyball championship teams who had come out to support Toth. 2008 Olympic silver medalist Robyn AhMow ('96), just back from Beijing, joined her former trainer at book events at Phiten Hawaii and Hukilau Honolulu.
Melody Toth, Paul Vaughn of Phiten Hawaii, Robyn AhMow; Phiten Hawaii, Sept. 2008
Melody Toth spent her career with the University of Hawai‘i, ensuring that her ’Bows got the best medical care she could provide. For 24 years, she served as the head athletic trainer for the women’s volleyball program, and another six were spent as the head trainer for the men’s basketball team under Coach Riley Wallace. Toth graduated from Indiana University with degrees in physical education and sports medicine and prior to her work with the ’Bows was athletic trainer for women at San Jose State University. She currently resides in Monroeville, Pa.
Let’s Go ’Bows! has been reviewed by The Honolulu Advertiser, ESPN1420, the Honolulu Weekly, Malamalama and MidWeek.
Let’s Go ’Bows! is available for purchase at your local bookstore and at online booksellers, including direct from the publisher at www.bookshawaii.net.
Author: Melody Toth
Softcover, 248pp.
Release Date: September 2008
ISBN: 978-0-9815086-4-1
$16.95 retail price
Tags: Jenny Wilton, Joselyn Robins, Let's Go Bows, Melody Toth, Paul Vaughn, Robyn AhMow, Sports, UH athletes, UH athletics, University of Hawaii
