This was not, perhaps, the sort of off-season football camp Vaihi Kaonohi had anticipated.

The rising freshman offensive guard for Kahuku High School sat on the floor of the Aloha Stadium mauka locker room on Monday, elbow to elbow with some of the top prep football players in the state, listening to California-Berkeley linebackers coach Tosh Lusoi break down statistics that put Kaonohi's dream of playing professional football in proper perspective.

On a blackboard wiped free of X's and O's, Lusoi had written a set of numbers in descending order:

1,071,775: The number of student-athletes playing high school football.

306,221: High school seniors still playing football.

61,252: NCAA football players.

17,501: NCAA freshman roster spots.

13,612: NCAA football players who make it to their senior year.

253: Positions in the NFL draft.

The descent continued with the percentage of high school athletes who end up playing for collegiate teams (5.7) and the percentage of collegiate athletes drafted to the NFL (1.8).

It ended not with a whole number, but a sobering fraction:

0.06: The percentage of high school athletes who make it to the NFL.

"That's what you need to think about," said Lusoi, who played for Cal and holds a B.A. in American studies and an M.A. in education.

But Lusoi and the 20 or so other coaches on hand for the fifth annual Game Plan Football Academy didn't sign up to be dream killers. Rather, drawing on their experiences as coaches, players and parents, they spent the day trying to arm their eager young charges with the skills and understandings necessary to defy the percentages.

"You're the one who has to take the initiative to do what it takes," Lusoi continued. "You can't blame it on, 'Nobody told me,' or 'I couldn't get a ride,' or 'I just did what my brother did.' That's all baloney after today. It's up to you."

For Kaonohi, the experience was an eye-opener.

"It surprised me," he said. "This is helpful because it gets you ready to become a student-athlete. I can use it when I get to high school so I can get ready for college."

The clinic, which ends today, was founded by Kamehameha Schools graduate and Brigham Young-Hawai'i assistant dean Asai Gilman, himself a collegiate football player at Southern Utah, to provide both intensive football instruction from NCAA Division I, II and III coaches and a crash course in the recruiting process, the NCAA Academic Clearinghouse, scholarships, school selection and other off-field essentials.

In addition to the football academy at Aloha Stadium, Gilman also conducts a student-athlete academy at BYUH, a junior academy, also at Aloha Stadium, and a host of related workshops and activities.

"We're here to help families get motivated to help their kids go to college, and, more importantly, to give (student-athletes) the confidence not just to go to college but to get a degree," Gilman said.

Gilman said his pet peeve is watching high school students sitting in the back row, feet up, asking what the minimum requirements are to pass.

"Mediocracy is out the window," Gilman said. "The paradigm has to change and parents have to help with that. They shouldn't expect their kids to come home with less than a C, or a B for that matter."

For Gilman, terms like "student-athlete" or even "football academy" should be synergistic, not oxymoronic.

"I always tell them that student-athletes make great leaders because they know what teamwork is, they know what it takes to sacrifice and commit, and to then persevere and apply themselves," he said.

University of Hawai'i head coach Greg McMackin, who made it a point to appear despite having arrived back in Hawai'i at 5:30 a.m. from another camp in American Samoa, set the tone early with his keynote address to the assembled athletes.

The players sat rapt as McMackin exhorted them to pay no attention to those who would place obstacles in their way.

"Don't let anyone tell you you can't be who or what you want to be," he said. "We were No. 7 last year. After the Sugar Bowl, we were No. 17. This year, they have us at No. 77. Do you think this team believes that? Don't let anyone tell you you can't do something — including me."

But when the topic shifted to academic responsibilities student-athletes take upon themselves, McMackin noticed the players' attention dissipating just a bit.

"Don't yawn — look at me!" he scolded. "When I'm talking football, you're all paying attention. But when I start talking about academics, you look away. This is more important than athletics."

Despite two straight days without sleep, McMackin stuck around to greet as many players as he could and to reinforce the lessons of the camp.

"It was important for me to be here because I wanted them to understand how important it is for these guys to get good grades, good SAT scores, in order to have an opportunity to pursue their dreams."

The message resonated with Kaimuki senior Justin Paderes, who, despite his diminutive stature, was one of the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's most prolific rushers last season.

"I've got to get my grades up," Paderes said. "I want to play in college — definitely."

Coleson Pukahi, a senior middle linebacker at Kahuku, spent his morning learning how to stay low and how to help on redirections. He also paid close attention to the larger messages of the academy.

"It's been really good," he said. "What they've been telling us is going to help us excel in the classroom and on the field."

UH defensive tackle Rocky Savaiigaea said the lessons he learned as a high school senior attending the very first Game Plan Football Academy have stayed with him through his college career.

Savaiigaea, a family resources major who earned a 3.5 grade point average last semester, served as head counselor and head mentor at this week's camp. He was joined by fellow UH players Blaze Soares, Brashton Satele, Tuika Tufaga and Keith Ah Soon.

"If you don't have the grades, it doesn't matter how good of a player you are, you're going nowhere," Savaiigaea said. "That's why I come back here. When I was a senior in high school, I didn't even know there was a clearinghouse. I always think back and I appreciate the fact that without this program, I wouldn't have made it to college."

Sitting alone in the stands, enduring the same blazing sun under which the athletes toiled, Joy Tomas looked on with obvious approval.

She had brought her son, Vaughn, a junior at Farrington, along with three of her nephews — Farrington juniors Henry Tuimaseve and Alvin Faamausili, and Farrington senior Isiah Iuta — to learn at the feet of experienced college coaches and athletes.

Tomas is the rare and coveted parent who enters the process with no illusions, and who actively pursues the knowledge she and her son will need to navigate the recruiting process.

She regularly visits Doris Sullivan's Pacific Islands Athletic Alliance to make contact with prospective college coaches, organizes her own fundraising efforts to pay for her son and some of his teammates to attend camps, makes sure Vaughn gets the help he needs with tutoring and after-school programs, and never lets the teens she helps forget that their future is in their own hands.

"Vaughn wants to go to USC, but I told him he has to get USC grades first," she said. "I spoil him because he's my only son, but I also tell him he has to be prepared because I won't be there when he's in college."

For UH defensive coordinator Cal Lee, who spent the day helping young linebackers refine their skills, the experience of working with high school athletes elicited fond memories of his days as head coach of Saint Louis.

"I see a lot of energetic, enthusiastic kids who want to learn the game of football, and you've got to love that," Lee said, smiling broadly. "You can see from the fire in their eyes that they want to learn, and that's what we're here for. They want to be out here, and that's why this is such a joy."