They Put It All on Hold to Get the Gold : Volleyball: Members of Team USA sacrifice family, finances and lifestyle for a chance at Olympic glory. There is no guarantee their investments will pay off.

Allen Allen turned 24 last week, but three years ago, he became head of a family.

His father, Saleutogi, died after Allen’s junior year at the University of Hawaii. Allen, the family’s oldest child, assumed the fatherly duties and took care of his mother and seven brothers and sisters.

But when Allen joined the United States national volleyball team in 1989, he stepped away from that responsibility and from college, which he has yet to finish.

“Since I’ve had to move here, that left them all back there and my mom, Faliu, is carrying that burden,” Allen said. “That’s the toughest thing.”

That’s also the norm for members of Team USA, who step away from family and friends, careers and college for an opportunity to play on an Olympic team that might win a gold medal. And they make sacrifices with no guarantees they will be rewarded.

Had he not joined the national team, Allen might be teaching school or pulling down the big bucks on the beach or in Europe to support his family. Instead, he’s in San Diego, half an ocean away from his loved ones. He takes pleasure in the knowledge that few from American Samoa--or even Hawaii, where he had lived since he was 8--have taken part in the spectacle known as the Summer Games.

“Knowing that you’re getting better from something you enjoy, just knowing that I’m part of an elite group, that makes you feel special,” Allen said. “Knowing that I can be part of something that not many people get a chance to be a part of . . . makes it worthwhile. I’m just glad volleyball provided that avenue for me.”

Playing for the national team can seem like one long volleyball match criss-crossing the globe. That is a problem for Mark Arnold, who is married.

He and his wife, Jill, gave up full-time jobs in Los Angeles to begin anew in San Diego. His was a job at an accounting firm, and he has given up on the idea of becoming a certified public accountant until after the Olympics. Wed three years, he finds the two-week trips to be longer than he would prefer.

One of those trips begins after this weekend’s World League matches against Korea, tonight at the Sports Arena and Sunday at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center. Then the U.S. plays in the Soviet Union and Italy on successive weekends, have a week off, then play in Japan and Korea the following two weekends.

“Everybody I know, when I say I’m going on the road, they say, ‘Great, you’re going to be having so much fun,’ and it is great but it’s not all fun,” Arnold said. “Accommodations are not what we’re used to in the U.S., and we’re traveling on airplanes that aren’t built for people our size. You spend 13 hours on a seat made for someone six inches shorter than you. And it’s not like we’re a pro team. We fly coach.”

Scott Fortune, like Arnold a 6-foot-6 middle blocker, enjoys the travel but could see the world on his own if he had just signed his name on the dotted line a few years ago.

“I got an offer to play in Italy for $150,000 a year,” Fortune said. “That’s the biggest sacrifice I’ve made. I turned down a lot of money to stick with the team to win another gold medal in 1992.”

He already has one gold medal from the 1988 Games, but wants to win another and feel a greater sense of contribution. After the 1988 victory, Fortune returned to Stanford and completed his degree in economics. He knows the value of money.

“From a business point of view, it was probably stupid, but the money will probably get better and I can market myself better if we win another gold medal,” Fortune said. “But I could have a knee injury and end my career tomorrow.”

The players make little money. They receive a stipend from the United States Volleyball Assn. to cover the cost of living: rent, utilities, food, car insurance. When Fortune joined the program in 1986, he received $700 monthly. But none of the players are at liberty to say how much they make now.

“It’s not a lot,” said media relations coordinator Richard Wanninger, “but it’s not like they have to give plasma, either.”

Most of the players have an opportunity to earn much more money than they earn now. The top beach players earned $250,000 in prize money last year.

“It’s kind of frustrating to be 24 and call home to mom to get money,” said Bob Samuelson, who was asked to join the U.S. team the week before final exams at Cal State Northridge. He explained his opportunity to his professors, got little sympathy and took failing grades in his classes so he could begin his Olympic quest.

“I think of the money over in Italy and France when things aren’t going well here,” Samuelson said. “I thought about it a lot last year when I wasn’t playing much. You think about getting on with your life and getting some of the things that you want.

”. . . If I make that ’92 Olympic team, that’s something I’ll have the rest of my life. It makes all those sacrifices worthwhile.”

There is the harsh reality.

Not everyone on the team now will make the Olympics. Guesses vary on how many players from the 1988 team will return from the professional leagues to compete for the national team in 1992. There could be 10, there could be four, there could be none. But there were no guarantees that Javier Gaspar, who gave up dental school at Ohio State, will be one of the chosen 12.

“The chance to go to the Olympics is a once-in-a-lifetime chance,” said Gaspar, the setter who lives with the thought of the best setter in the world, Jeff Stork, returning to the team. “You can always go back to school and do what you want. I really miss my parents, my sister and my friends (in Puerto Rico). People think these guys have it easy, that they travel the world and play volleyball. What they don’t see is that you’re being away from your family and, for me, a solid professional career as a dentist. But I had a dream. I wanted to be in the Olympics and I want to live out that dream and, hopefully, I’ll be able to do it next year.”

Most of those players who would eliminate players on the bubble would join the national team in March, Fortune said, prompting a valid concern.

“A lot of times, there are players who make the same sacrifices yet they aren’t going to experience the rewards,” Fortune said. “If that happens, if you have someone who’s been on the team for two or three years and that’s their main goal, and they put their life on hold and then they don’t actually achieve it is real difficult, very frustrating. If that happens, it makes you wonder what the college players in 1992 are going to do.

“The question is, is our program going to be a year-round program or an all-star team that we put together over the summer? And if that happens, I don’t think we can be as good as we have been in the past. That’s our bread and butter. That’s how we became so successful.”

Fortune has been in the program since 1986, longer than anyone on the team. He is one who has certainly put his life on hold.

“Relationships are real trying,” he said. “You’re gone two, 2 1/2 weeks per month. It’s real difficult. That’s why a lot of guys like Karch Kiraly and Steve Timmons hold off on having kids. You travel so much and it’s unfair to have a baby like that and just watch it grow up.”

Bryan Ivie, 22, a two-time NCAA player of the year at USC, has played with the team the past two summers but has been with the team full-time for four weeks.

“We’re so restricted on what we would like to do because of our schedules,” he said. “I haven’t gotten to the stage where I’ve gotten in a marriage relationship where it puts a strain on a lifestyle.

“Hobbies are not an option because you don’t have the time and you can get so tired from the playing and travel that you don’t want to pursue other aspects.”

The players must be at the gym no later than 7:15 a.m. to begin their individual stretching programs. Some get their earlier to receive treatment. At 8 a.m., they stretch as a team. They have drills from 8:30 to 10 a.m. and intense game-like situation drills from 10 to noon. Twice a week, they have jump training for 15 minutes and a sprint program the other days. Three times a week, they lift weights for about 90 minutes at local gyms. They are supposed to stretch for 30 minutes in the evening when they get home.

Ivie, a two-time NCAA player of the year from USC, has put his education on hold and his hobbies as well. He has given up surfing, skiing, mountain-bike riding and hiking.

“My friends will go out and play a pick-up basketball game, but I won’t do it because of the risk factor,” Ivie said.

“Your whole schedule is designed around the national team,” he said. “You can’t plan a vacation when you want to. We’re not going to be around for the Fourth of July. I don’t think we’ve ever been around for the Fourth of July.”

This year they celebrate Independence Day in Korea, but Allen won’t mind.

“It’s a passion that I’m going after.”

WORLD LEAGUE VOLLEYBALL

Opponents--United States vs. Korea.

Site--San Diego Sports Arena.

Time--7:30 p.m.

Records--United States is 3-1 in Pool B. Korea is 0-4.

The U.S. Team--The U.S. is coming off an upset of World Champion Italy in Irvine, 3-15, 15-11, 15-10, 3-15, 15-10. The Americans overcame a string of 18 consecutive points scored by the Italians in the first two games. Dan Hanan came off the bench and saw his first action of the season. He posted 14 kills and five blocks. Allen Allen, in his second game since coming back from an injury, had 19 kills, and Scott Fortune had 19 kills and 10 digs. The U.S. has an opportunity to pull into a first-place tie if it can sweep the winless Koreans.

Korea--The Koreans have lost four matches, two each against the Soviet Union and Japan. Korea has won only three games. Outside hitter Nak-Gil Ma tops the World League with 3.47 digs per game and is second in kills (7.67).

U.S. schedule--The U.S. plays Korea at Irvine’s Bren Event Center on Sunday. The U.S. then begins its world tour, playing in the Soviet Union (June 14-16), Italy (June 21-23), Japan (July 6-7) and Korea (July 12-14). The U.S. completes its season at home against the Soviet Union (July 19-21).

Standings--Pool A: Cuba (4-0), France (3-3), Brazil (2-2), Holland (2-2), Canada (1-5). Pool B: Soviet Union (5-1), United States (3-1), Italy (2-2), Japan (2-4), Korea (0-4).

Tickets--Tickets are $6, $10 and $12 for all matches. They are available by calling the Sports Arena box office or Ticketmaster (278-TIXS). For matches in Irvine, call the Bren Event Center or Ticketron (714-856-5000). Group discounts are available.