Posted on: Thursday, May 29, 2003

ISLE FILE
Taaca retires from Wai'anae High

Advertiser Staff

Leo Taaca, retiring after 32 years at Wai'anae High School, says what has given him the most pride is not the football championships he won as head coach or the last three years as athletic director running a program of two dozen teams.

Taaca, 57, says he is most proud of being a member of legendary football coach Larry Ginoza's staff. "He gave me my first job," Taaca said.

"Glenn Higa, Ben Yamada and I all graduated from Wai'anae, went to college, came back and coached for him for many, many years.

"A key to the Wai'anae mystique was the way coach Ginoza made us feel very special," Taaca said. "We were backing our school."

"Higa, Yamada and I coached JVs and started a 48-game winning streak of league games. With preseason it was even more."

Ginoza and Wai'anae won six O'ahu Interscholastic Association championships with Taaca on the staff, and Taaca won two more of his own in 1996 and '97. Taaca coached from 1995 through '99 and went 47-15-1.

Taaca reluctantly resigned when the state ruled that athletic directors could not coach.

While Taaca is "retiring completely" from the Department of Education, his wife remains acting vice principal at Wai'anae Intermediate School.

— Dennis Anderson

BASKETBALL

• Pete Smith camp: The 6th annual Pete Smith Basketball Camp is scheduled for July 21-23 at Kalaheo High School gym.

The camp for boys and girls ages 8 to 18 will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

Smith, former Kalaheo boys basketball coach, will be assisted by his son, Alika, a former University of Hawai'i player who is now an assistant coach at UH-Hilo. Chico Furtado, the Mustangs' girls coach who will succeed Smith as boys coach, will also assist at the camp, along with high school coaches and former college players.

Cost is $125 with a $10 discount per player for families of two or more.

For details call 597-8212 or e-mail lei@professionalresults.com.

RUNNING

• 5K benefit: The Mango Days 5K Run/Walk, a benefit for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, will be held June 29 at Ala Moana Beach Park.

The run/walk begins at 6:30 a.m.

Entry fee is $18 before Sunday and $23 thereafter.

Compadres Bar & Grill in Ward Centre will host the awards ceremony.

Packet pickup is June 28 at Niketown between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

For information, call 488-1391.

MARTIAL ARTS

• Tournament coming up: The Global Martial Arts Tournament will be held June 22 at Kamehameha Schools' Kekuhaupi'o Gym.

The tournament focuses on safety and fun and will offer students of all striking martial arts an opportunity to test their skills in a highly regulated, recreational environment.

All competitors must wear headgear, a mouth guard, gloves, shin guards and a padded chest protector.

The tournament is scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission will be $5, with children under 12 admitted free.