Sentimental Journey : Loss of Brother Spurred Julia Celotto’s Return to Athletic Competition

Two decades after being named Royal High athlete of the year, Julia Celotto (nee Lendl) has resumed her competitive athletic career at no small sacrifice.

At 37, she is one of the oldest members of the pro beach volleyball tour and far from one of the best.

She left her family behind in Eureka, Calif., follows a grueling training regimen that includes killer workouts on Manhattan Beach, and travels around the country four months a year for virtually no pay.

Despite the hardships, she is pursuing athletic competition because of a family tragedy that reminded her of the preciousness of life. She joined the pro beach tour in 1994, a year after cancer claimed her 40-year-old brother.

The devastating loss made Celotto realize she should enjoy life to the fullest, and that meant returning to competitive sports.

“This had great purpose in it,” Celotto said. “I’m not doing it for the money. I’m doing something I love, something I’ve wanted to do.”

In many ways Celotto believes she is getting a second chance as an athlete since her college career at USC ended in frustration in 1980.

Not only did she sit out the volleyball season as a senior because she didn’t get along with the coach, her track season was ruined after an assault near the USC campus. She suffered a broken ankle--among other injuries--when she was thrown down a flight of stairs by a man who followed her to her apartment and later robbed her.

The attack left emotional scars as well.

“I could see him behind me and the next thing I know he was choking me,” Celotto said. “My ankle really hurt and it was really frustrating later on when I had to work out.”

Celotto can only wonder how high she could have jumped had she been healthy. In college she never bettered her high school mark. At Royal High in Simi Valley, Celotto was a most valuable player in track, volleyball and basketball, and still holds the school’s high jump record of 5 feet 7 inches.

As a junior at Royal in 1975 she was the Southern Section high jump champion, and the Highlanders won the section title.

As a senior, Celotto placed second in the Southern Section and fourth in the state.

“She had a whole lot of God-given natural ability, but she also had a killer instinct,” former Royal track Coach Sandy Williams said.

Celotto’s athletic accomplishments didn’t go unnoticed by Division I colleges, but things were different in the 1970s for female athletes.

“It wasn’t a big thing to offer girls scholarships in those days,” Celotto said. “So it’s not like all these schools were after me.”

Still, she attended USC on a partial track scholarship and met Mario Celotto, a Trojan linebacker who played with the Buffalo Bills, Oakland Raiders and L.A. Rams.

They were married after Julia graduated USC with a degree in physical education. She then quit competing to follow her husband around the country, even though she had qualified for the U.S. national championships in the high jump twice while in college and felt her best was yet to come.

“I didn’t think I could continue competitive sports because I became a wife then a mother and that’s how it was in those days,” Celotto said. “I didn’t get the competition out of my system.”

Since 1987, Celotto and her husband have owned and operated a restaurant and brewery in Eureka, where the couple lives with their sons, ages 9 and 6.

Celotto became interested in beach volleyball in 1993 while visiting her in-laws in Rancho Palos Verdes. During the visit Celotto ran into a college track and volleyball teammate, Anna Biller-Collier, who coaches several top women pro beach volleyball players.

Biller-Collier suggested Celotto give it a try.

“I remember what a great athlete she was and what a great vertical jump she had and that’s what you need in this game,” Biller-Collier said. “And she’s stayed in great shape throughout the years. It’s almost as though she never missed a beat.”

For the past three years Celotto has lived in Southern California from February to August while training with the sport’s top players and coaches. She travels back and forth between the homes of her in-laws in Rancho Palos Verdes and her parents in Simi Valley.

“It’s hard on the kids and my husband,” Celotto said. “They miss me a lot and I know he prefers to have me up there with him.

“It’s like having two lives and I enjoy both, but it’s difficult for my family to understand it.”

Still, even if she returns to her job as a restaurant manager, sports will always be a part of her life.

“I’ve been an athlete all my life,” Celotto said. “It’s what I am and it keeps me healthy, mentally and physically.”