ROD OHIRA'S PEOPLE
Soccer dad reaches kids with humor
 |
| Guy Kaneshiro, right, is a volunteer referee for son's AYSO Under-6 "Grasshoppers" soccer team. Grant, 5, is running at far left.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser |
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
He's like an everyday Santa, sans beard and red suit, who has a natural gift for making young children happy.
Forty-year-old Guy Kaneshiro keeps them smiling at home, at AYSO soccer games, at church on Sundays and when they show up at his workplace. Children sense that there's nothing intimidating about the smiling, chubby man who speaks in gentle tones.
"I love kids," said the 5-foot-5, 220-pound mail carrier, who was born and raised in South-Central Los Angeles. "I try to grab their attention with humor so they'll listen, and then make things fun for them."
At his job, Kaneshiro enjoys escorting groups of young children on excursions around the Wai'alae-Kahala post office. He did 12 tours in February, mostly with preschool and kindergarten-age kids. He lives in Kaimuki.
"How does mail come from Los Angeles to Hawai'i?" he asks one group. "I say we use dolphins, whales and eagles."
"Nooo!" the kids respond.
With their full attention, Kaneshiro asks, "Then how does it get here?" He has pulled a toy airplane from a box of props so everyone can answer at once. He then shows them how mail gets from the post office to their homes. He has even created a few simple games to teach the children how to sort and case mail.
At the end of the tour, he gives every kid a treat, usually a bag of M&M's.
"Most tours are just walk-throughs, but I try to make it fun for them because I want them to have a good time and learn something," said Kaneshiro, who has spent his seven years with the
U.S. Postal Service at the Wai'alae-Kahala station, which offers tours by appointment, except November through January.
After the midmorning tours and a lunch break, Kaneshiro returns to his delivery duties. His daily route takes him anywhere within the 96816 ZIP code area.
For the past five Saturdays, Kaneshiro has been adjusting his lunch break around the soccer schedule of his 5-year-old son Grant's AYSO "Grasshoppers" team.
Kaneshiro serves as a volunteer referee for all of the Grasshoppers' games. His comical, animated style makes it hard to figure out sometimes who's having more fun, the referee or players.
"He loves doing it," said coach Curtis Nishiyama. "He calls all the kids (from both teams) by name, and gets them to talk and participate. He tries hard to make it a positive experience for the kids.
"One thing I've noticed is that when kids get down, after a goal is scored on them, he'll turn it around by telling them, 'Lets race to the center' (to start play again)," the coach said. "And he always loses."
Kaneshiro knew little about soccer until his son started playing this year.
"At a meeting, I found out that the three principles of AYSO are: make the game safe, make it fair and make it fun," Kaneshiro said. "Safe and fair is easy, because there are rules, but they never said how to make it fun. Some kids are shy, some gung-ho. I just gauge what I do to how they are feeling.
"I try to encourage them to kick the ball, keep running. When I see them smiling, I know they're having fun and I've met my objective."
Kaneshiro and his wife, the former April Look, also have a 3-year-old daughter.
"I think you have to train a child according to the Word, give them a solid home, show them love and always remember that they're only kids," said Kaneshiro, who worships at Word of Life Christian Center.
"Kids are the truth because they let you know how they feel. They can't give you material things, but they can give you smiles, hugs and thank-yous.
"All kids want to love and be loved. The way I show it is to have fun with them. There's a lot of joy when you see a child having fun."
It's not always easy to keep a smile on their faces, he noted.
"Playing with them is fun; raising them is a different story," he said. "I wanted a lot of children at one time, but I think we have enough. I have fun with my kids until I have to do homework with them."
On Sundays, he is a service leader for two classes, first- and third-graders he starts off with games or puppets. "I do hands-on activities to teach them," he said.
Kaneshiro's father, Brian, and late mother, Leonoia, lived in Wai'anae before moving to California. He attended Pilgrim School in downtown Los Angeles for 12 years. His mother and late brother became Christians in 1980 and Kaneshiro was baptized the following year.
"I wanted to get into youth ministry," said Kaneshiro, who attended Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Okla. It was there that he met his wife. The couple have lived in Hawai'i since 1990.
Kaneshiro attributes his ability to keep up with kids on the soccer field to his job as a mail carrier.
"You don't know how fast you can run until you're chased by a rottweiler," he said.
Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.
