Kane'ohe Canoe Club will depend on its youth

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Tricks are not for kids at the Kane'ohe Canoe Club.

The Kane‘ohe Canoe Club is hoping its youth will be served at tomorrow’s Na ‘Ohana O Na Hui Wa‘a Championship Regatta at Ke‘ehi Lagoon. Lokahi also should contend for the title. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

Yet the youth crews of Kane'ohe have become special.

At tomorrow's Na 'Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a Championship Regatta at Ke'ehi Lagoon, much of Kane'ohe's overall success will ride on the performance of its youth crews.

During the regular season, Kane'ohe won three regattas. Perennial power Lokahi won five. Those are the only two clubs expected to battle for the overall Hui Wa'a championship tomorrow.

"Everybody knows our strength is our kids, and Lokahi comes back with the adults," Anderson said. "But the hard part for our kids is that other clubs have strong kids, too. We know our kids can not win every race, but we need them to score points."

A perfect example came two weeks ago when Kane'ohe won the Koa Kai Regatta. Kane'ohe's 13 youth crews accounted for 42 of the club's 80 points.

"We actually had a small turnout this year," Anderson said. "I promise, I didn't expect us to be even as good as we are right now. A lot of the credit for that has to go to the kids."

According to Anderson, Kane'ohe's success in the youth divisions has come through simple, old-fashioned methods.

"Hard work, that's all," he said. "We focus hard on their technique, but we don't do anything different. What we're teaching now is the same things we were teaching 20 years ago."

Practices often last for less than one hour, although paddling against fierce Windward O'ahu winds can make up for it. Running — sprints, mostly — takes place only once a week.

The key, Anderson insists, is "bonding."

"It's a challenge to get kids to unite," he said. "But that's where it starts, that's how you get the canoe to move."

Last weekend, when Kane'ohe chose not to enter the Waikiki Beach Boys Regatta at Waikiki, the coaches, youth paddlers and their parents paddled out to a sandbar off He'eia and had a picnic.

"Kids are kids, they need to go out and have fun sometimes," Anderson said. "We try not to forget that."

At the same time, the youth paddlers are learning — and growing — fast. Some of the "older" youths are even beginning to learn coaching methods.

Treasure Watanabe started paddling for Kane'ohe seven years ago. Now 16, she is a paddler for the girls 16 crew and an assistant coach for the boys 12 and girls 12 crews.

"I hurt my back at the beginning of the year, so I asked if I could still help and they said to coach the young kids," she said. "My heart is in paddling. I enjoy being around it that much."

The boys 12 crew went undefeated during the regular season; the girls 12 crew never placed lower than third.

"They give me a hard time, but I learn from them as much as they learn from me," Watanabe said.

Throughout the season, the youth paddlers have discovered their importance to the club, even if the coaches never really relayed it to them.

"We always hear the adults talking about how we gotta score points to beat Lokahi," said Kainoa Ibarra, a paddler on the mixed 12 crew. "We just train hard and try our best in the race."

Alika Kalopodes, a paddler on the undefeated boys 12 crew, added: "I get butterflies in my stomach at the start of all the races because I think that we have to win. But it makes me paddle harder."

• OHCRA: The only certainty about Sunday's O'ahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association Championship Regatta is the uncertainty of a favorite.

Kailua won the season-opening regatta. Lanikai won four consecutive regattas after that, but scored a season-low 50 points last week. Outrigger won its first regatta of the season last week with an impressive 97 points. Hui Nalu and Hui Lanakila have been contenders all season.

"There's going to be a lot of strategy involved this week because we all want to win, but this is also our last chance to qualify crews for (the state championship regatta)," said Lanikai head coach John Foti. "Depending on how things play out, just about any club can win the whole thing."

The coveted senior races should also provide dramatic showdowns. In the women's senior race, Hui Nalu and Outrigger have traded victories all season. In the men's senior race, perennial power Lanikai has been defeated by Hui Lanakila and Hui Nalu this season.

"It makes it exciting for everybody, including us," Foti said. "Really, nobody knows what's going to happen in any race."