OKINAWA
Kadena players carry a heavy tire.

Kadena coach Sergio Mendoza leads the Panthers through a team-building concept, using a tire weighed down by water and players each representing a different aspect of the team. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Christina Kehe’s 2024 volleyball season could not have ended much worse.

The then-Kadena junior setter fractured her right wrist during a practice two weeks before the DODEA-Pacific Far East Division I Tournament, sidelining one of the key players for a Panthers team expected to make a title run.

Ten months later, Kehe on Monday joined about 40 Kadena student-athletes at the first day of conditioning for the Panthers, whose season opens on Aug. 30 against a Japanese team.

Read more at stripes.com.

The best stories from the Pacific, in your inbox

Sign up for our weekly newsletter of articles from Japan, Korea, Guam, and Okinawa with travel tips, restaurant reviews, recipes, community and event news, and more.

Sign Up Now