HOMEGROWN REPORT
Colorado DT made right call
By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Reeling from the passing of his mother and sister, Lafaele "Vaka" Manupuna made a tough decision that ultimately proved to be the right one.
University of Colorado
The University of Colorado defensive tackle held University of Hawai'i football coach June Jones' number in his hand, ready to make the call that could bring him home.
Lafaele Manupuna thought of transferring to Hawai'i before his father convinced him to stay at Colorado.
"As soon as I had his number, I thought, 'Am I really going to do this?' That's when I called my dad instead," Manupuna said.
Manupuna had been questioning his presence in Boulder, Colo., preferring to be in Hawai'i with his father, Sione.
"It was me, thinking a lot about my dad," said Manupuna, who will be a senior in the fall. "What if my dad was next? I have another year left and I got worried and scared."
His mother, Hulita, died April 3, 2003, from a heart attack. Then, on March 21, 2004, his sister Mele, 28, died from leukemia.
Following Mele's passing, Manupuna called Ikaika Curnan and Tanuvasa Moe, his former Saint Louis School teammates who were linebackers on the UH squad.
"I had all their numbers listed down," Manupuna said. "At that point in time, I thought if I was going to do this, I was going to do it now.
"Before I did that, I did a lot of thinking."
Instead, he called his dad to talk about the possibility of transferring. Manupuna said his dad told him, "it was nonsense, that I was losing people and not thinking straight. He talked me into using my mom and sister's death as a motivation instead."
His mother's death came as a shock. Manupuna said he was walking to the school's athletic complex from a night class when one of his roommates told him that his family was desperately trying to reach him.
When he called home, he found out his mother had suffered a heart attack at work and died. She was 59.
"I lost it," Manupuna said. "A lot of stuff was going through my mind. The coaches came over to console me, my friends, players, people who supported me."
Manupuna
He was more prepared for Mele's death because he knew she "was really sick."
"She spoke with us when she was still alive," Manupuna said. "The week before she passed she told me to promise her to finish school.
"That helped me to make my decision."
Manupuna, a 6-foot-1, 290-pound defensive tackle from Ki'hei, Maui, is entering the fall as one of the Buffaloes' starters. Phil Steele's College Football selected him as a fourth-team preseason all-Big 12 Conference team member, ranking him as the No. 52 defensive tackle in the nation.
University of Colorado
Three other players from Hawai'i are on the Colorado squad. They are sophomore linebacker Jordon Dizon of Waimea, the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year last season; redshirt freshman linebacker R.J. Brown (Punahou), and redshirt freshman defensive end David Veikune (Campbell).
Colorado senior Lafaele Manupuna, who earned honorable mention all-Big 12 honors last season, will again start at defensive tackle this fall.
Manupuna played in all 13 games last season, starting 12 and earning honorable mention all-Big 12 honors from the Associated Press. He was named as one of 10 players to Colorado's prestigious Victory Club, earning the honor by recording a winning performance and/or productivity grade by the coaches in at least eight games.
The season after his mother passed away, Manupuna earned the Clancy A. Herbst Jr. Student-Athlete Achievement Award, given to student-athletes who overcame personal, academic, and/or emotional difficulties to succeed academically while participating in athletics.
"I felt pretty good," he said. "It felt like people out there that I didn't even know were acknowledging me."
Manupuna also was named the Most Improved Defensive Player by his coaches as a third-year sophomore just before his sister passed away.
He redshirted his freshman year, although he was the only freshman to make all the road trips.
"My coach wanted me to experience the traveling routine, so when I do play, I would be more focused on playing," Manupuna said. "He told me he just wanted to prepare me early."
That early exposure played a major role when he began receiving playing time. Last season, he helped Colorado advance to the Big 12 championship game against No. 2 Oklahoma, where it lost, 42-3.
If you know of any athletes deserving of recognition, give us their names, high schools and graduation years, colleges and sports. E-mail us at: homegrown@honoluluadvertiser.com or contact Leila Wai at 535-2457.
"When we got there it felt like it was a shock, so we pretty much choked," Manupuna said. "It was a good experience. Hopefully, this year when we get to that point again, it won't be as bad."
LET US KNOW
Colorado's success in 2004 was even more surprising considering head coach Gary Barnett had been on paid administrative in the spring while the school investigated a series of sexual assault claims against Colorado football players and recruits.
Manupuna called that "old news," and said "when the whole incident happened, people thought it was going to break us up individually and as a team, but we pretty much shocked the world with how far we got. It just got us closer, and we knew nobody was going to be there for us but us."
Manupuna is in Colorado, training with the team and taking summer classes. He is on schedule to get his degree in ethnic studies in December as the first in his family to graduate from college.
Having that to strive for helped him to get over the family's tragedy, along with advice his parents gave him while growing up.
"The way I was brought up, the way both my parents raised me, being true to my words and bringing God first," he said. "Never giving up and thinking about them back home and how they struggle to even put food on the table. I feel like I'm the last hope for the family, and I'm trying to do it so I don't see my family struggling anymore.
"I don't regret any decision I made. Deep in my heart I know my sister and my mom up there are really proud of me."
Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.
