King Kekaulike's football team will go from Upcountry to Gator Country in a couple of weeks.

Na Ali'i are believed to be the first high school team from Hawai'i to play east of the Mississippi River when they visit Bay High of Panama City, Fla., Aug. 29. Then the team from Maui will watch the Hawai'i Warriors play nationally ranked Florida the next day before enjoying the next four days as tourists at the state's famed theme parks.

"Our main thing is to get them to bond as a team," said Kekaulike's third-year coach J.W. Kenton. "Watching UH play is like icing on the cake. The theme parks are extra stuff. The goal is to enlighten them a little bit. Some of (the players) are so afraid to go off to college by themselves, so hopefully this breaks the ice. I'll take them around the (Florida) campus and explain how things work."

Everything just seemed to fall into place for Na Ali'i. They originally were to go to Japan to play Kwansei, a school they hosted (and lost to, 46-20) last year, but economic issues had them worried. At a booster club meeting, the usual trips common for Hawai'i teams to California, Utah and Nevada were suggested. But Kenton, a Floridian and Gators alumnus, mentioned Florida. With the Warriors in the vicinity, the decision wasn't difficult.

Na Ali'i will have a 54-member traveling party. There will be 34 players, six coaches, counting Kenton, and a trainer. The rest are either parents or coaches' spouses. Two players are unable to attend because of prior commitments, Kenton said. The group-rate plane fare was $999 per person. Most of the players shaved off the total amount with fund-raisers; one player managed to wipe out the entire cost, Kenton said.

"It's a neat little trip for the kids," Kenton said. "Maui is much smaller than O'ahu. At a parents meeting (Monday night), the itinerary has a big map of the (Gators') stadium. I tried to explain to them it's like the entire island of Maui meeting at the same spot. That's 90,000-plus (people)."

Maui's population was listed at 141,000 in the 2006 census; Ben Hill Griffin Stadium's listed capacity is 88,548.

Kenton said UH coach Greg McMackin invited his team to the Friday walk-through, but Na Ali'i's game is on that night. After its game with Bay, which is in Panama City and on the Florida panhandle in the Central time zone, King Kekaulike will take about a four-hour bus ride to Dixie County High in Cross City (about 50 miles west of Gainesville), where they will stay overnight. After the UH-Florida game, the team will visit theme parks in the Orlando area the next four days. Na Ali'i will have ample time to recuperate because their next game is Sept. 20 against Baldwin.

As for their opponent, Bay is "pretty similar to us," Kenton said. He added the Tornadoes will have more speed, "but they're not as big as us."

Like the Warriors, Na Ali'i will have to endure Florida's humidity. Kenton has had the players do their offseason circuit weight-training with the windows and doors closed.

"But no matter," Kenton said. "I was born in Florida. There's no way you can actually recreate (the humidity). I tell our boys it's just part of the game. The only way we can deal with it is to keep them hydrated."

But like most school field trips, this one should be a good learning experience.

"There's going to be culture shock," Kenton said. "But it's good for them."