Sports

Footsteps For Football

Friday, November 27th, 2009

There hasn’t been a high school football game on Molokai since 1961, but the possibility of ending that streak took a small leap towards reality last month. Mike Kahale, a physical education teacher at Kualapu`u School, recently received a $2,000 grant to purchase football equipment.

Kahale, who has been working to create a high school football team since moving to Molokai five years ago, said the grant from USA Football was a step in the right direction.

“It’s a huge step,” he said. “Getting the equipment was one of our biggest obstacles and the fact that we got it from a nationally recognized organization shows we are willing to look to outside sources to get this done.”

Kahale and his wife, Nichol Helm Kahale, presented a strategic five-year plan to bring football back to Molokai to High School Athletic Director Cami Kimball last year.

“We sat down at the beginning of the year last year and talked about possibly bringing it back to the school,” Kimball said. “It’s on our backburner, but I don’t want to give the impression that we will have a team next year.”

The cost of high school football is exponentially higher than most other sports and a good deal of money would still need to be raised to help pay for travel costs, field maintenance and additional equipment.

Starting a football program seems even more daunting as it comes on the coattails of major budget cuts for high school sports across the state. Supporters of the program will be looking to other outside businesses and organizations to help with funding.

Kahale said Molokai’s most famous football player, Kimo “Scooby” Von Oelhoffen, has offered to help fund the program, but the two have yet to discuss actual dollars and cents. Von Oelhoffen played football at University of Hawaii and Boise State before starting a 15-year NFL career, despite never getting the chance to play in high school.

Crazy Eights
The $100,000-plus price tag that comes with a traditional football team is a stretch at this point, but that doesn’t mean the sport can’t exist at all. In the past year, some of the Maui Interscholastic League’s (MIL) smaller schools have started to look into an eight-man football league.

Eight-man football – rather than traditional 11-man teams -- is played in many rural regions on the mainland and allows small schools with small budgets a chance to play football. MIL Executive Director Joe Balangitao and St. Anthony’s High School Athletic Director Charlie Pico have been working to develop such a league for Maui County’s smaller schools.

“An eight player league is way more suitable for us,” Kimball said. “There is no way we can do a regular league. For us to send that many players every will is just not a possibility.”

Kahale said they still hope to establish a full team in the future, but see the possibility of an eight-man team as good progress.

“It’s not exactly what we wanted, but right now it’s either eight-man or nothing and it is definitely better than nothing,” he said.

Moving Forward
Kahale said the next step is to inform other possible contributors and Balangitao about the new grant. The MIL requires commitments from only three schools to sanction a league.

“We just have to let everyone know we are headed in the right direction and get our plan into the hands of people who can help us raise the money we need,” Kahale said. “We should be afforded every opportunity that every other high school has in Maui County.  Our kids deserve it.”

Winter Sports Preview

Friday, November 27th, 2009

The rains are starting to fall, turkeys are in the oven and Christmas decorations are not far away, which means that it is almost time for Molokai High School to kickoff its winter sports seasons. This year the Farmers will compete in seven winter sports and all of the teams are entering their season with high hopes.

Basketball
The Lady Farmers come into the new season with high expectations after capturing last year’s Div. II state championship. Molokai returns nine of its ten players from the championship squad and appears poised to make another long postseason run.

Seven players on this year’s team put in serious minutes on the court last year and are expected to do the same with another year of experience under their belt.

, and I intend to build on those,” she said.

Megan Stephenson also contributed to this story.

Cream of the Crest

Friday, November 20th, 2009

Surfing takes Molokai boy around the world and to the top of the NSSA leaderboard.

Ka`oli Kahokuloa didn’t stand up the first time he was on a surfboard, but then again most nine-month-olds can barely stand up at all. A few months before Ka`oli’s first birthday, his dad took him out to the waves of Rock Point on Molokai. He’s been in the water ever since.

“Everybody was worried,” Ka`oli said of his first surf session. “They all thought my dad was crazy, but ever since then, I guess I’ve really loved the ocean.”

“It was kind of a lot like Hawaii but a lot crazier,” Ka`oli said. “There’s a lot really old buildings that people still live in and mopeds speed past you on the streets.”
Ka`oli was in Bali for a photo shoot with three other boys from Australia, Italy and France. The resulting photos from the trip are set to be released in Europe this year.

“It’s a lot of fun to meet boys from all over the world and hear them talk different languages and try to understand them,” he said. Ka`oli said he is hoping his next trip will take him to New Zealand, but no date has been set yet.

Between his home-schooling, surf competitions and traveling the world, Ka`oli has a very busy schedule. He and his family moved to Oahu a couple of years ago to make their lives a little simpler. Ka`oli said he has not been back to Molokai in almost a year, but still considers it home.

“I wished I live there again. Everybody in my home wants to go back,” he said. Despite having surfed waves thousands of miles away, he still considers Rock Point to be one of his favorite spots in the world.

Bombs to Beauty

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Ilio Point on Molokai’s northwestern tip has seen its share of earth shattering events – literally. Acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1940 as an aerial bombing range, the area still has so many unexploded ordinances that access is prohibited. Ilio Point, despite the devastation, is rich in rare plants and animals, cultural sites and archeological specimens. Because of that, the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Natural Area Reserves (NARS) Commission has recommended the area for designation as a Natural Area Reserve.

The proposed area consists of 261 acres of state land that is not designated to any specific department. The state’s deed on the land currently prohibits access because of the unexploded ordinances, and the NARS designation would not change that, or affect native gathering rights, according to Emma Yuen, NARS Enhancement Coordinator.  However, part of the goal of the NARS designation is to remove safety hazards from the area.

Ilio Point is home to seabird species, the endangered Hawaiian monk seal and many native and rare plants. Fossilized goose bones and snail shells of now-extinct species have also been found in the area.

If designated, the land would be preserved in perpetuity, according to Bill Evanson, District Natural Area Program Manager. Final approval of the NARS designation is up to the Governor.

“It needs to be protected,” said Molokai resident and Hawaiian plants specialist Bill Garnett. “It’s one little place on Molokai where it still is what it used to be.”

Garnett and others testified at a public hearing about the proposed Ilio Point reserve held on Molokai last week.

Resident Halona Kaopuiki explained his family’s history in the area and the cultural important of preserving access to Ilio. 

“We’re talking about access. We have burials out there,” he said.

Yama Kaholoaa, Sr. expressed apprehension about the plan because it is not community initiated. He testified about the knowledge and resources of Molokai residents that are left unused, and said he hoped a plan for Ilio Point would be developed in close communication with the community.

“It should be the native Hawaiians that take care of the native species,” Kaholoaa said.

There are two other Natural Area Reserves on Molokai already – Pu`u Ali`i and Oloku`i on the island’s north central shore. The last NAR in the state was designated in 1991.

Another public hearing will be this Wednesday, Nov.. 18 from 6-8 p.m. at the Mitchell Pauole Center.

First Time’s The Charm

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Molokai Girl Wins Kayaking Championship

Pualei Lima is a quick learner and an even quicker kayaker. Lima, a junior from Molokai at Kamehameha Oahu, took home the Interscholastic League of Honolulu (ILH) kayaking championship in her very first year competing in the sport.

Lima competed in the sprint races in her debut season and saved her best time of the year for the championship last weekend. She sped through Ala Wai Canal course in 1:06.58 to beat her teammate and second place finisher Rhaynedel Oclit by more than three seconds. Punahou High’s Christina Lighter rounded out the top three with a time of 1:10.05.

Eighteen girls raced from six different ILH schools. While the race was not technically a state championship, it was the equivalent because ILH schools are the only schools in the state that offer kayaking as a sport.

“It felt really good,” Lima said. “It was good to feel accomplished and beat other people who were a little more accomplished than I was.”

Lima, who was born and raised on Molokai, has been paddling since she was six years old but never went solo until this year. She joined the paddling team at Kamehameha in her freshman year and said she decided to kayak this year to get in shape for the winter season.

She certainly appears to be in shape as the paddling season gets under way, but Lima said the technique is completely different.

“It’s way different kayaking, you need more balance and the technique is harder to pick up. With paddling, I guess I am just used to it,” she said.

It’s not surprising she’s so comfortable with the sport. Lima was in a canoe before she was even born. Her mother, Tania Kaholoaa, coaches the girls’ Waakapaemua Canoe Club team and said she used to paddle when she was pregnant with her daughter.

“She was always in the boat with me,” Kaholoaa said. “I’ve been a coach for about 20 years and paddling has always been a part of her life.”

Lima’s experience with her mom at Waakapaemua got her used to the taste of victory. The Molokai team has finished in the top three spots in each of the last three state tournaments during the summer. In 2007, they won it all.

After a lifetime in the wa`a, Lima said she was starting to get tired of paddling and didn’t like competing at Kamehameha as much as she used to enjoy the races on Molokai. But, after her quick surge to the top, Lima said she plans on staying in the kayak for a while.

Double Duty

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Kualapu`u School students compete in biathlon.

 All 51 Kualapu`u fifth graders crowded around Kaunakakai’s Cooke Memorial Pool last Thursday morning to cheer on their classmates at the start of the school’s second biannual biathlon.

Each student was required to swim four laps in the pool (100 meters) and run a mile. Kualapu`u Physical Education teacher Mike Kahale said this was the second year he has brought the students to the pool for the biathlon.

“We’re trying to expose the kids to different things, trying to challenge them physically and mentally,” he said. “We’re trying to make these things routine for them so they will expect it.”

The fourth, fifth and sixth graders at the school also have to run a mile every Friday at school in addition to their weekly gym class. Kahale said Kualapu`u is lucky to be the only Molokai elementary school that hires a full-time P.E. teacher. His position allows him to create special events like this one to keep kids in shape.

Kahale Ramos won the fifth-grade race this time around with a time of 12:01. Yasemin Soares blew away the competition on the girls’ race winning by nearly three minutes with a time of 14:41.

The sixth-grade class ran their biathlon last Monday and Kaimana Kahale was the first to finish in a few seconds under 10 minutes. Brooke Ka`awa won the sixth grade girls race in 13:36.

After the hard work is over, the kids are rewarded by getting to play in the pool.

“I got tired and side pains, but the fun part is afterwards we get to go swimming,” said fifth-grader Peni Tilini.

Kanilyn Nishihira-Aki said she likes to run the race because it helps to get her into shape.

“It’s fun,” she said. “I finished in 17:13, but I think I can beat that next time.”

Kanilyn and her classmates will get a chance to beat their times at the end of the school year when they run and swim again.