LAHAINA, Hawaii — Fans in red filed into the Lahainaluna High School football stadium, snacked on nachos and venison chili, watched the high school band sing “Sweet Caroline,” and exchanged long hugs with neighbors and classmates.
It’s a homecoming, and for many fans, coaches and players themselves, returning to the stadium is the closest thing to feeling home since the deadliest US wildfires in more than a century leveled their cities.
“I don’t know if I can put into words how much it means to Lahaina,” said linebacker Morgan “Bula” Montgomery, who has stayed in three different hotels with his family since their apartment building burned. “Just looking in the stands, you see all the old guys coming out, all the alumni and even the little kids — all excited, waiting for that first snap.”
Classes resumed last week at Lahainaluna High and at two other public schools that survived the Aug. 8 fire, and on Saturday night, Lahainaluna’s varsity and junior varsity football teams played their first home games, both therapeutic victories, giving the community a ray of hope in the midst of a tragedy that claimed at least 99 lives.
Tickets for homecoming at the 3,000-capacity stadium sold out in seven minutes, said Principal Richard Carosso — an indication of how much the community needs it.
Located on a hillside, the school gets its name from its location overlooking historic Lahaina: “Luna” means “above” in Hawaiian.
Lahainaluna High School students cheer for the varsity football team during their homecoming game at Sue D. Cooley Stadium, Saturday, Oct. 21. 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii.AP
Before the fire, fans in the stadium could see lights flickering from the neighborhood below. Now, when the sun goes down, there is darkness.
When Mary-Ann Kobatake arrived at the stadium to cheer on her son, No. 33 James Lukela-Kobatake, he refused to look at the devastated city, where his own home was among 2,200 buildings that burned.
“I don’t like looking over there,” he said in Hawaiian Pidgin, spoken by many in the crowd.
But returning to campus comforts the 1993 Lahainaluna graduate: “We still have a place we can come home to,” he said.
The Lahainaluna High School football team holds hands to thank the fans after the game Saturday, Oct. 21. 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii.AP
It’s also for Heather Filikitonga. A 2001 graduate and mother of a JV player, she could see the ruined remains of her apartment building from the stands.
“If they can get off the field and find normalcy in their lives,” he said of the players, “then I can do the same.”
Just like high school football in other small-town America, Lahainaluna’s powerhouse program is a source of pride. It won four state titles from 2016-2019. It’s an equalizer for kids of all backgrounds and something to do in a coastal town where country-reggae blares from lifted pickup trucks.
“Young kids dream about one day wearing red and white and representing Lahainaluna,” said Keith Amemiya, a Honolulu bank executive who spearheaded the Luna Strong fundraising campaign for the 450 student-athletes and coaches whose homes were destroyed.
Lahainaluna High School football fans cheer for the junior varsity team at Sue D. Cooley Stadium.AP
Tevainui Loft, a 17-year-old end and goalie, grew up watching Lahainaluna soccer in the stands overlooking his hometown. The game is always packed. “I remember going to sixth grade – the best time of my life,” she said.
A few days before putting on uniform No. His 9 in the home game, he contemplated a new view from the field.
“I’ve been training the last few days, just looking over the edge like at the water break, just looking at Lahaina — it’s all gone,” he said. “It’s very strange to me that it’s all gone.”
Lahainaluna High School football team players get ready in the locker room at Sue D. Cooley Stadium, Saturday, Oct. 21. 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. AP
His mother’s house burned down, but his father’s house, which was far from the fire zone, survived. He aspires to play Division I college football, and he is saddened by the possibility of the season being cancelled. “If there is no season, I don’t know what I will do with myself,” he said.
Amemiya knows the Lahainaluna football program well, having attended many coach-hosted parties over the years and having been in charge of Hawaii high school sports from 1998 to 2010. He urged the coach not to cancel the season.
“If they can have a football season, it will be an inspiration and a rallying point for the whole community,” he said. “In times of tragedy, sports can have a healing effect, not only for the community but also for the players and coaches.”
The Lahainaluna High School junior varsity football team takes on Baldwin High School at Sue D. Cooley Stadium.AP
After the fire, “football was the furthest thing from my mind,” said Garret Tihada, one of the coaches, a 1987 Lahainaluna graduate. The house he grew up in burned.
But a few days later he got a call from Amemiya. Tihada started talking to players, fellow coaches and community members: “They said, ‘We need football back. We need something to look forward to.’”
The team soon resumed training, first at a gym in Kahului and then at a park in Kihei, a community about 45 minutes away where high school students attend classes during the Lahainaluna shutdown.
Bula Montgomery, an offensive lineman, said it was hard to watch his mother, Tamara Montgomery, go through the devastation of the fire alone with four children. His father died in 2019 of a brain aneurysm at the age of 41. But knowing that many of his teammates are facing the same situation has helped: “It doesn’t feel like I’m alone in this.”
Bula isn’t sure what her plans are after high school. He wants to play football or wrestle in college. He is considering offering the University of Hawaii a full scholarship to every Lahainaluna senior.
Before the match, Water Priest Hironaka looks out from the arena to the ruins of the city.
“Players will fill the ‘puka’ of the heart, he said, using the Hawaiian word for “hole.”
Watching the junior varsity team beat Baldwin High School 16-10 and then his son’s varsity team win 28-7 helped Hironaka forget for a few hours about losing his home and the Japanese Buddhist temple where he was the resident minister.
After the homecoming halftime presentation, new princess Precious Pante joined her friends in the cheering student section, wearing her lavender gown and tiara.
“We’ve all been through hard times,” he said. “I think we need this.”
After the game, the varsity team held hands in a darkened locker room and sang the alma mater in Hawaiian. One verse describes Lahaina as “the leading star of the Pacific,” the “ever-burning torch that no strong winds can extinguish” for which the area is famous.
Coach Dean Rickard, a 1982 Lahainaluna graduate, sees hope in how resilient the players are.
“They represent the community well,” he said. “The lights will come back on and everything will be brighter from then on.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
