Slotback piloting his own course at UH-Manoa
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Yes, as a matter of fact, his mother does wear combat boots.
"I'm really proud of her," University of Hawai'i football player Britton Komine said of his mother, Master Sgt. Bridget Komine, a recruiter for the Air Force Reserve. "She's an inspiration to me."
The elder Komine laughed, then said, "I always tell him the United States military paid the bills. Now he gets to wear the boots."
Komine, a redshirt freshman and Maryknoll School graduate, also is pursuing a military career. He is a member of the UH ROTC, receiving a four-year scholarship that pays for tuition and books. In return, Komine will go on active duty after he graduates.
His dreams are written in the sky. "I want to get into flying," Komine said. "And this," he said of ROTC, "is a way to pay for school."
Komine, who lives in the dormitory, receives a monthly stipend from ROTC. He works at the Hickam commissary on weekends to help pay for his meals. His parents — his father, Howard Komine, was a Pac-Five football player — also help him out financially.
Bridget Komine said her son had other college opportunities on the Mainland. But, she said, "he wanted to play for Coach (June) Jones. I wanted to discourage him from staying home. I said, 'College isn't just about football.' But he said he really wanted to play for Coach Jones, and that was that."
While Komine earned all-state football honors as a Maryknoll senior, he did not receive a football scholarship offer from UH. His parents offered to pay his way to school, but instead, Komine decided to accept the ROTC scholarship.
"He wanted to do it his way," Bridget Komine said.
Komine, who attends a weekly two-hour ROTC class and participates in morning workouts with the other cadets, always has been an efficient time manager. Bridget Komine remembers her son practicing football after school, doing household chores and then studying late into the night.
"He wasn't one of those kids you had to ask, 'Do you have any homework?' " she said. "He's been easy to parent. As much as he looks up to us, from a parental perspective, I admire him for his focus. He's a real focused individual."
Komine adhered to his goal of playing college football, despite taking the circuitous route to UH. He was born in Texas, and has lived in Colorado, California and Panama. His first language was Spanish.
Komine has quickly progressed on the football field, drawing raves for his play at slotback. UH assistant Ron Lee, who coaches the receivers, said Komine is pushing starting slotbacks Craig Stutzmann and Channon Harris for playing time.
Still, Bridget Komine said it was difficult to realize how much her son, who turned 18 last November, has grown. As a recruiter, she has watched hundreds of young men enlist for military duty. But she admitted when Komine made his military commitment last fall, "it was tough. ... But I think he's turning into every bit the young man I anticipated."
Running out of time: The chances appear even slimmer that running backs Avion Weaver and Afatia Thompson will receive a fifth year of playing eligibility.
The NCAA recently rejected Weaver's appeal, although he plans to file another one. The NCAA allows a player five years to play four seasons. Weaver, who has never redshirted, apparently used his fourth season by playing in four games last season before suffering a knee injury. The NCAA considers a season to be more than three games.
Thompson, who did not meet all of the academic requirements necessary to play as a college freshman, is seeking a special exemption. The NCAA allows a nonqualifier a fifth year if he graduates in eight semesters or less. Thompson enrolled at UH in January 1997, and his eighth semester ended last December.
But UH president Kenneth Mortimer admitted Thompson under special circumstances, and not as a "nonqualifier." Thompson's grade-point average had slipped considerably at Punahou School following the death of his brother. UH officials hope Thompson will be granted a special exemption, although the odds appear to be slim.
