ROD OHIRA'S PEOPLE
Losing ball players end up winners

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

Far removed from contenders for league and state championships this time of year, the McKinley High School girls' softball team nevertheless had an inspiring and remarkable season, despite not winning a single game.

Malina Okuda gets a hug from a teammate on the McKinley High School Tigers. The spirit that grew around Malina, who is developmentally disabled, was among the triumphs during the season for her aunt, Coach Leilani Okuda. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

The experience they gained from accepting

responsibility, helping each other and not giving up is worth more than victories for team members Jamie Kawamura, Nicole Figueroa, Dawn Yara, Shantell Morales, Cassie Oda, Ciria Guisadio, Emily Kaleb, Safia Mareko, Tita Cabuyaban, Vinesa Fiu and Malina Okuda.

Okuda, the coach's niece, has Williams syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes medical and developmental problems.

"This season was really about helping each other and having fun," said Jamie Kawamura, a 16-year-old junior shortstop, one of the few on the team with previous softball experience.

When four players were declared academically ineligible last October, Coach Okuda challenged her team "to take ownership" and do whatever it took to make the season happen.

An after-school study hall from 2:30 to 6:30 became more important than daily softball practice, which lasted about 30 minutes. During the study hall, players who were making good grades tutored those who were struggling.

Coach Okuda, who got used to championship hunts and postseason play while coaching at Kaiser High, said an at-risk student raising her grade-point average from 0.8 to 2.2 is the only win-loss record that matters to her.

"If it wasn't for coach, I'd be on the street," said Fiu, a 15-year-old sophomore outfielder. "I wasn't coming to school, doing homework and I was always getting into lots of fights. I never played softball before .... Making me go to study hall raised my grades, and I learned that being on a team, you have to help each other out."

Malina Okuda cannot catch or throw a ball and has difficulty running. But she played an important role in an incredible season of achievement. "I had fun," she said.

A student in McKinley's Community Based Instruction program for cognitive and physically impaired children, Malina's has limited interaction with the school's general population. "Mentally, Malina is 16, but she operates at the level of a 6-year-old," her aunt said.

"She turned out to be one of our blessings," Coach Okuda said. "There were times when we needed her as the ninth player (to start a game), but she was valued more because she was so quick to cheer up her teammates. I believe she taught us all to look at life in a different light."

For Malina, softball was not about balls, strikeouts and runs.

"Her outlook is she's spending a nice day with friends on the softball team, playing a game she loves, cheering and telling her teammates 'good job' and singing the alma mater and (school spirit song) 'Black 'n Gold' on the bus ride home," Okuda said. "She doesn't know who won or lost. All she knows is she is Tiger No. 4 and she had fun.

"Can you imagine sports being this simple? This is why I feel nurturing the human spirit is more important than anything else."

For safety reasons, Okuda positioned Malina farther back than usual back in right field. The girl played in three games and batted once. Whenever she had to use nine players, Okuda skipped Malina's turn in the batting order, giving up an out.

"She went to bat in the first game and struck out," the coach said. "After that, she'd always ask me when she was going to bat again."

"Malina has a positive attitude about everything," said Oda, a freshman infielder. "What I learned from her is you can enjoy life no matter what."

Figueroa, a junior catcher, added: "To me, if Malina is trying something that is difficult for her, I should be able to give 100 percent or more. A lot of people had to do a lot to make this season happen for us."

When she's on the field, Malina is instructed to chase down a ball hit to her and toss it to the closest teammate. The centerfielder normally runs down the ball, but once Malina got to the ball first.

"She ran after it and got it," said Coach Okuda, who saw it as one of the season's many small victories. "One time, in the middle of a game, I had tears in my eyes. A player who hadn't (contacted) the ball all season got a hit. Another girl who had zero batting average last season hit .272 this year.

"It's important that all of them succeeded, no matter how small. Most of our players don't belong to anything else in school. For many of them, this was their first experience at doing something together."

Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Correction: Jamie Kawamura is the 16-year-old junior shortstop quoted. Her name was omitted in a previous version of this story.