By KEVIN JAKAHI
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Kamehameha senior Hanale Lee Loy’s biggest impact didn’t come on a volleyball court but rather on a podium.
Lee Loy presented an inspirational speech at the Positive Coaching Alliance-Hawaii’s inaugural Breakfast with Champions last Friday at the Pacific Club on Oahu.
The Positive Coaching Alliance-Hawaii is built on three pillars: athletic achievement, sportsmanship and character.
The latter two count much more because those are values that last a lifetime, and that’s what PCA-Hawaii executive director Jeaney Garcia and her committee were looking for.
The committee combed through 70 applications to honor four high school recipients exemplifying PCA’s model of the Triple-Impact Competitor: Personal mastery, Leadership, and Honoring the game.
Kamehameha seniors Hanale Lee Loy (volleyball) and Hali‘a Nahale-a (canoe paddling/water polo) were each awarded $2,000 scholarships, along with Mid-Pacific’s Raymond Hines and Kahuku’s Peter Hyatt.
In his application, Lee Loy wrote about some of the challenges in his life, dealing with a spontaneous collapsed lung in a Houston hospital on his way to playing in the Junior National Volleyball Tournament, and the cancer ordeal of his mother.
“I believe that facing adversity can spark a zest for life and living. Some might regard adversity as something negative or unfortunate, but not me,” he wrote. “When things are handed to you on a silver platter, life can be so easy, and some people are just lucky that way.
“Alone, afraid and lying helpless in my hospital bed, I tried to remain optimistic about my prognosis and re-evaluated life and living. No longer would I consider small failures or situations of discomfort so devastating like a pimple before prom or a missed shot during a championship game.
“We learned two years earlier with my mother’s cancer diagnosis that a family needs to rally close together, and resilience is necessary to survive the challenges we encounter.”
Lee Loy underwent two surgeries, spent 21 days in the hospital, and 33 days confined to Houston before he returned home.
He’s the son of Keala and Dr. Henry Lee Loy.
In his closing speech, Lee Loy talked about viewing life with the same perspective but with a much deeper appreciation.
“The next time I face adversity I know it’s OK to acknowledge the bad, but I will always find a way to shake it off and maintain a positive outlook,” he wrote. “Those challenges gave me an opportunity to value life so much more while the rest of the lucky ones just continue to take life for granted. In the end, I think I’m the lucky one.”
While Lee Loy’s speech was simply moving, it was also all the letters of recommendation, like one from Kamehameha volleyball coach Guy Enriques, that knocked off the selection committee’s socks.
“What specifically all his coaches and teammates wrote was that he was able to make everyone around him better,” Garcia said. “When we heard his speech there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. It was an amazing speech.
“His coaches and teammates talked about no matter who they were playing, no matter what was happening, Hanale was positive and uplifting and kept everyone focused, and what mattered most was they competed to the best of their ability, and not worry so much about the outcome.
“He’s very community minded and Hali‘a is the same way. The committee felt the two Big Islanders were very deserving.”
She is the daughter of Paki and Shelby Nahale-a.
“Hali‘a is really sunshine and able to project light. She started her speech speaking in Hawaiian and that set the tone for the whole event,” Garcia said. “She was thoughtful and deeply caring talking about her family and friends, about how everything she’s done has been through the love and care of her parents.
“She honored her family first, and talked about the fact of just giving your all and trying to make others better. It was a similar theme with those two. Everyone was mesmerized, and we were happy to give each a scholarship because of all they’ve done for their community, team and school.”
Each of the four recipients was supposed to get $1,000 each. But a benefactor at the event was so impressed that everyone’s total was doubled.
“Like Hanale, Hali‘a talked about everyone but herself,” Garcia said. “It’s so refreshing when we have kids who get it. That sports is a vehicle we use to make everyone better.”
Senior Bowl offers
The Hawaii Football Club’s Life Champion Senior Bowl was held on Dec. 6, and several colleges have made scholarship offers.
Pima (Ariz.) College has offered 18 players, including two Big Island players in Kamehameha lineman Pono Davis, and Hilo linebacker Ofa Fahuia.
Pearl City quarterback Jordan Taamu, the game’s MVP, was also offered along with Punahou kicker Alex Trifonivich, who recently got an offer from the University of Hawaii.
Pacific Islands Athletic Alliance president Doris Sullivan said the college coaches had to take their information back and talk to the head coaches.
One coach told her, “If I had a checkbook I would have offered at least 12 of those boys.”
Pima head coach Jim Monaco coached the Black Aztec Coqui Frog Bags, which won 35-28 in overtime in the inaugural showcase. He made the most offers.
Sullivan said Briar Cliff (Iowa) University head coach Joe Schmitz, who coached the White Shmoney Shquad team, offered six players.