Team spirit helps unite Kapolei
This is the first in an occasional series of stories about a growing town rallying around its new football team.
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward Writer
The morning after the Kapolei Hurricanes' 38-7 victory over the Moanalua Menehune earlier this month, a busload of Kapolei players wheeled into the Ko Olina Resort and Marina shortly after 9 a.m. to help set up for The Taste of Kapolei, a culinary event featuring about two dozen restaurants.
Photos by Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
It was the team's way of saying thanks to the event sponsor, the Rotary Club of Kapolei, for its financial support of the high school.
A school bus on Farrington Highway passes rows of homes in Kapolei. The planned city begun in the 1990s just got its first high school football team, which is helping cement a sense of pride in the community.
Among the players stepping off the bus was junior Michael Chism, who had been rushed to the hospital the night before after being gouged in his right eye during a fight that broke out in the third quarter.
Certainly, no one expected Chism to show up at Ko Olina the next morning to do heavy lifting. But less than 12 hours after the incident, there he was, right eye swollen shut, hauling tables, toting chairs and moving equipment along with the rest of the Hurricane offensive line.
It was one of those small but defining moments that has connected a young town with its first-year varsity team. And in its own way, it has helped transform Kapolei from a planned city dropped on the 'Ewa Plain in the 1990s to a living, breathing community filled with human aspirations, triumphs and tragedies.
Chism, who had undergone five surgeries for a detached retina on his right eye even before the fight, shrugged off his turnout at the community event.
"It's really not so bad," Chism said. "My cornea is scratched a little. But I wanted to be here today to support the team and the community."
The Kapolei Hurricanes football team runs drills at Kapolei High School. The team's success, even without senior players, has brought new pride to the community.
The community already has showed up to support the team, even in the trying times of its inaugural season, starting with a huge crowd that traveled from Kapolei to Wai'anae on Aug. 23 only to watch the team get shut out 28-0 in its first varsity game.
Since then, the team has defeated Moanaulua and Kaiser and now has a 4-2 record.
The town, in turn, has won with the team. The third annual Taste of Kapolei on Oct. 5 was a sellout, and the team helped make it that way, said Van McCrea, president of the Rotary Club of Kapolei.
"Best ever," said McCrea, who has seen his service club more than double in the last year, from 37 to 80 members.
"The football team helped a lot," he said. "The offensive team was here the first day to set up, and the defense showed up the next day to tear it down. That was important, because a bunch of us are old guys."
The relationship between Kapolei High and the local Rotary is an example of the growing ties between the Hurricanes and the community.
Kapolei football coach Darren Hernandez, left, sits with some of his players at Zippy's Restaurant in downtown Kapolei. Next to him are Solomon Morales and Drake Kula, and waitress Lynn Kelley. The new community lacks a soda fountain or drive-in for post-game celebrations.
Proceeds from The Taste of Kapolei go to benefit local education programs, including those at Kapolei High. So school principal Al Nagasako has rolled out the welcome mat to the club, which holds regular meetings at the school.
Still, Kapolei is struggling to find its character, said Francine Stevens, an education assistant at Makakilo Elementary whose son, brother, nephew and cousin are members of the Kapolei varsity football team.
The town hasn't had time to establish the customs and gathering places associated with other older communities, she said.
"Kapolei is too young to have a hangout," said Stevens, adding that team members usually go home with their parents after football practice. The team has no seniors, and most of the juniors are too young to drive.
Sometimes, after a game, team members and their parents celebrate at the local Zippy's. But the notion of a soda fountain or drive-in packed with rambunctious students is a fantasy for a town that has yet to open a bar, arcade or even a café with a jukebox.
There have been inroads. Hurricane coach Darren Hernandez said the school doesn't have a football field on which to play a home game or an auditorium to hold a pep rally, but it still managed to throw a homecoming celebration Sept. 19, the night before losing a 7-6 heartbreaker to Kaimuki.
"We held the pep rally outside because we have no place else to do it," Hernandez said. "We did it at night. We even had a parade around the school grounds. Instead of having floats, we decorated golf carts."
Hurricanes player Michael Chism suffered an eye injury when a fight broke out during a recent game against Moanalua.
Meanwhile, residents with the 96707 ZIP code are beginning to get used to saying they're from Kapolei, not just one of its established neighborhoods such as Honokai Hale or Nanakai Gardens. Until 1998, Francine Stevens told friends she lived in Makakilo.
"Now I'm a big Kapolei booster," she said. "I tell them I'm from Kapolei and Makakilo."
The fact remains that many people associated with Kapolei don't live there. Coach Hernandez, for example, lives in Pearl City. Mike Nishizawa, who just opened the new Ba-Le Sandwich Shop in Kapolei, commutes daily from his home in Kane'ohe. Even the local Rotary Club has members from as far away as Kailua, McCrea said.
But Rob Lawson, who has served drinks at Chili's Grill & Bar in Kapolei since it opened last year, said his typical crowd comes from all over Leeward O'ahu: " 'Ewa Beach, Wai'anae, Nanakuli and, of course, Kapolei."
Occasionally, Lawson said, he hears patrons talk about the Hurricanes.
"People know they're the new varsity football team," said Lawson, who does live in Kapolei. "And right now they're excited about next year — because next year, when the team has seniors, it'll be awesome!"
Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8038.
Francine Stevens, an education assistant at Makakilo Elementary School, gets a hug from her son, Jimmy Stevens, during practice at Kapolei High School. Her cousin Michael Chism is at left, and her nephew Stephen Travis at right — all members of the Hurricane team.
The Kapolei high school team jokes around during volunteer work in preparation for the upcoming Taste of Kapolei.
Hurricane coach Darren Hernandez talks to his players at the end of a practice game.
The Kapolei High football team runs drills after school practice.
Kapolei head coach Darren Fernandez watches his team during practice.
Kapolei players Roland Mason and Jimmy Stevens volunteer to set up trash cans for the upcoming Taste of Kapolei.
Head coach Darren Fernandez makes a point during a team meeting.
A player goes head over heels during one game.
A Kapolei player relaxes where he can in a locker room.
Correction: Michael Chism is a junior at Kapolei High School. Information in a previous version of this story was incorrect. Also, the rows of Kapolei homes in a picture yesterday are several years old. A previous version of the photo caption was incorrect.
