Fullerton : U.S., Japan Seniors Play Goodwill Match

They lost, 15-8, 15-9 and 15-5, but the city’s new senior citizens’ volleyball team was jubilant anyhow.

“This promotes goodwill,” said Bernie McKinley, 69, one of the players in a match Tuesday against a team from Fukui, Japan, Fullerton’s sister city.

Teammate Yo Hansler, 68, said: “We didn’t know a lot about the Japanese. . . . But people are people, you know.”

The Fukui team, which paid its own way to the match, shared that sentiment.

“Through volleyball, we foster better relations and communication,” Noriko Urushizaki, 60, said through a translator.

Her 4-year-old team is ranked first in Fukui among senior citizen volleyball teams.

The Fullerton team was organized by the Fullerton Senior Center two months ago and has been practicing twice a week in preparation for Tuesday’s international match, which was held at the Boys and Girls Club.

Pat Trotter, director of the senior center, said volleyball coaches from Cal State Fullerton volunteered to work with the Fullerton team, which could be the first of many.

Orange County For Fitness Over 50--a coalition of Cal State Fullerton’s Ruby Gerontology Center, the Orange County Area Agency on Aging and the Orange County Senior Citizens Directors Assn.--plans to start similar groups countywide, Trotter said.

Marjorie Pogue, president of Fullerton’s Sister City Assn., declared the volleyball match a victory from a diplomacy standpoint and admitted to having cheered for both teams.

“This is a lot of fun even though they beat us,” Pogue said.