Family affair on, off field

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Barits, headed by father Lincoln, front, is on the go during football season. From left, Keoki, Jacob, Justin and Chaz, who all play or coach for different schools. "Sometimes, I don't get to see everybody," mother Ku'ulei says. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

It begins with mom Ku'ulei, who awakens at 3 a.m. to get ready for her commute to Pearl Harbor, where her workday begins at 4. Then at 4:30, dad Lincoln and sons Chaz, 16, and Jacob, 14, crawl out of bed and prepare to leave the house by 5:30.

Lincoln will drop off Chaz in Wahiawa, where he either will catch a ride with a family friend or board the school bus to Kamehameha. Lincoln then will drive to his Hawaiian Electric job in Waiau to start at 7, unless it's his turn to take Jacob to school at Saint Louis. On other days, Jacob will catch a ride with other North Shore kids who attend private school in Honolulu or with brother Keoki, 21, who has 8 a.m. classes at the University of Hawai'i.

Justin, 17, is the lucky one who gets to sleep in until about 7:30. He is a senior at Waialua High School — about "a two-minute walk" from home.

"But sometimes," Justin said, "I still go late."

The family's weekdays are long, especially during football season. That's because Lincoln is Waialua's varsity head coach, Keoki coaches the Bulldogs' JV linebackers, Justin is a Waialua linebacker, Chaz is a junior defensive lineman for Kamehameha and Jacob is a freshman linebacker on Saint Louis' intermediate team.

For Chaz and Jacob, returning home every day can be as much of a challenge as getting to school. Jacob often catches a ride with his grandma or an assistant coach who lives in Wahiawa, and Chaz will ride with an aunt.

The family finally reunites at around 8 p.m., on a good night.

"Sometimes, I don't get to see everybody," Ku'ulei said.

But they are used to it by now, because the Barits have seemingly always been centered on football.

"When they were playing Pop Warner, it was a whole day event on Saturdays — one game after another," Ku'ulei said. "But it's worth it, as long as they love the sport and have fun."

Playing for pride

That love of the game mostly shows through with Lincoln, Keoki and Justin, who are enduring a winless (0-7) season so far at Waialua. The Bulldogs have one last chance for a victory when they play Kalani (0-6) on Saturday at Kaiser.

In its 33-6 loss to Kaiser last weekend, Waialua suited up only 20 players — including four pulled up from the JV — and four got hurt during the game.

"Right now we're just playing for pride," Justin said. "We don't have the luxury of 100 guys, and we're not on TV or anything. But I still think I could hang with those other guys."

Chaz, a junior, is one of "those other guys." He is a key defender for Kamehameha, which is 6-0 and ranked No. 1 in The Advertiser's statewide poll of media and coaches.

"We're thankful," Chaz said of the Warriors. "We know we're spoiled a lot to be where we're at, so everybody's humble."

That does not mean ragging isn't allowed in the Barit home, especially between Chaz and Jacob.

"After Kamehameha beat Saint Louis (on Sept. 14), we heard from (Chaz)," said Keoki, who was an all-star linebacker for Iolani four years ago. "Jacob heard a mouthful. But in our house, it's all about competition."

That, however, is not why the four Barit sons were sent to different high schools. They all went to Sunset Beach Christian School except for Chaz, who "got straight A's from Day 1" at Waialua Elementary, according to Ku'ulei.

Lincoln and Ku'ulei both graduated from Waialua and so did daughter, Ashley. But since Keoki, Chaz and Jacob were accepted at Iolani, Kamehameha and Saint Louis, respectively, they got the green light from their parents to go.

"It can get expensive, but to us there's no price on education," Lincoln said.

Giving back

As busy as he was shuttling kids all over the island, Lincoln could not turn down the opportunity last year to take over Waialua's program. A former Bulldogs linebacker who was born and raised in the small plantation town, Lincoln started coaching there in 1981 and was defensive coordinator on Waialua's 1992 O'ahu Interscholastic Association Blue Conference championship team.

When the boys began playing football, Lincoln went back to coach Pop Warner and started the Junior Pee Wee program.

"That's all the same kids who are playing (for Waialua) now," Lincoln said. "I knew all the kids and their families, and I went to school with some of their parents."

So when varsity head coach Don "Chico" Capello stepped down after last season, Lincoln stepped up from his position as JV coach. Then he enlisted Keoki to help with the linebackers.

"My parents made a lot of sacrifices for me, so when my dad asked me to help coach I said I'd do whatever I can," Keoki said. "It's hard, sometimes we don't get home till 7 or 8 at night. But there's a lot of talent in Waialua, and I want to give back."

It's no coincidence that all four Barit boys played linebacker at one time. Lincoln, after all, is a former linebacker himself.

"I trained them to play that position," Lincoln said. "That's where all the action is."

The boys play or played other sports — Keoki played basketball at Iolani, Justin wrestles, Chaz runs track and Jacob plays baseball — but there is no question which sport dominates the household.

"My dad gets real emotional when it comes to football," Keoki said.

Lincoln said that even on Sundays when there are no high school games to play, coach or attend, he and the boys are still attached to the gridiron.

"We watch it on TV," Lincoln said. "That's all we do ... watch football."

Coming together

The toughest day of the week for the Barits usually is Friday, when Waialua and Kamehameha usually play on the same night.

Sometimes Keoki will sneak out after the JV game to go watch Chaz play, but Ku'ulei often is stuck helping with the concession stand if it's a home game.

Jacob's intermediate games are on Saturdays.

All the game schedules are posted on the refrigerator door, and Lincoln said he finally bought a day planner to keep track of who is practicing when and where.

But he said the real credit goes to Ku'ulei, who spends up to $300 a week on groceries to feed her three hungry football players.

"Without her, we cannot function," Lincoln said. "You ask almost any coach, and they'll say the same thing about their wives."

Ku'ulei said it's worth the effort, especially since football has seemed to unite the boys.

"When they were young, they were always on each other," Lincoln said. "But once they got to high school, that's when they starting coming together."

Ashley, now attending college at UNLV, also could not escape football's stronghold on the family. A former soccer player, she contributed by keeping stats for the Waialua football team.

"She used to get mad," Ku'ulei said, laughing. "She'd say, 'Ughh! Everything is football.'"

At this time of year, the Barit boys couldn't argue with that.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456.