By KEVIN JAKAHI
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
Aunty Maile Mauhili loves tradition, even if it costs a small fortune during the Moku O Hawaii Outrigger Canoe Racing Association season.
Her club, Kailana, is the definition of the B division (1 to 14 events). She has only four crews: boys and girls 13 and 14. Last year, she had nine crews.
That’s a really small source to generate cash flow when it’s time to host a regatta, which runs in the neighborhood of $3,000. Host clubs are responsible for buying gold, silver and bronze medals for each of the 40 races, as well as trophies for the Division A (15-40 events) and Division B champions.
The three official boats aren’t free. It’s $250 and that’s for each boat on race day. To set the flags, a boat bill runs $100 bucks for maybe one hour’s work. That’s already $850 before writing a check for medals.
“It costs way less to host a long-distance race,” Aunty Maile said. “You don’t have to pay for all those medals. It costs around $1,500. If you don’t host anything, you have to pay $1,500 to Moku O Hawaii as penalty.”
The one consolation is a club gets to run a concession and keep the money. But she acknowledges the goal is to break even. Aunty Maile could spare herself a headache and host a long-distance race, but money woes are secondary when she thinks about the past.
In 1986, she moved from Keaukaha to Wailani, a request made by Al Kahili because the club was in the process of going inactive. At the time, there were three Hilo clubs: Keaukaha, Wailani and Prince David Kawananakoa.
The club changed its name from Wailani to Kailana in 1996. Kahili and Jenny Awai were club members who urged Aunty Maile to continue the small club.
“About 10 years ago, I thought about dropping the regatta,” she said. “But I promised brother Al folks that I would continue to host the regatta. It’s tradition.
“Being with Wailani since 1986, I wanted to continue that tradition. My big thing with the club is the children. They’re the No. 1 thing that I love. I want them to learn culture and paddling the right way, to be ohana, helping each other. I tell them that paddling is about being a team, six of you and working together.”
On a sun-filled Thursday at Hilo Bay, 13-year-old Kayla Santiago was an early bird, the first one to practice, waiting for her teammates to arrive and already doing her part, unloading boxes from Aunty Maile’s van.
“Aunty Maile is a good coach,” said Santiago, in her second year of paddling. “She gives us confidence to see that our team could win a medal. I’d like to win a medal, like third place. But we can’t be a third-place team if we don’t work together.
“She’s always telling us to work as a team. That’s how we can win. That’s one thing I learned from her.”
Young Santiago, a soon-to-be seventh grader, knows she’s got a popular last name. She’s often asked if she’s related to Walter Santiago, the popular former safety for the University of Hawaii football team from 1989 to ’91.
No, she’s not related.
She may not know much about UH football history, but at least she understands what paddling is all about.
“I joined paddling because my friends were paddling and I wanted to paddle. I get to paddle with other people and meet other people. It’s fun,” she said, providing a response that could only make Aunty Maile smile and want to continue her regattas.