Kahale blazed his own path at Molokai


Kalani Takase | ScoringLive
June 17, 2018, 6:54pm

Recent Molokai graduate Nainoa Kahale was honored with an HMSA Kaimana Scholarship for his work in the classroom and the community, in addition to participating in cross country, football, basketball and volleyball. Michael Lasquero | SL

About three years ago, Nainoa Kahale made a difficult decision.

After two seasons on the Molokai football team, Kahale opted to hang up his cleats and turn his attention to cross country. There was just one holdup: breaking the news to his football coach — who just so happens to be Nainoa's dad, Michael.

"Since he's the coach, I was a little afraid to tell him, but he accepted it and he understood why, so he supported me," Nainoa said during a sit-down interview prior to him being recognized at the HMSA Kaimana Awards and Scholarship Program luncheon at the Hawaii Convention Center on June 9.

The younger Kahale was among 16 recent high school graduates — all of them student-athletes — who were honored with a $5,000 scholarship from HMSA for their work in the athletic arena, but mostly for their stewardship outside of it.

In addition to football and cross country, Nainoa also participated in basketball and volleyball over all four years of high school. He was a member of the Leo Club and took numerous advanced-level courses — all while maintaining a 3.857 grade point average.

"I just used my time wisely," he said. "Right after school we usually practice — for whatever sport I was in at the time — so right when I get home I usually try and get my schoolwork done so I have a couple more hours of free time before I go to sleep, so I just needed to balance my time wisely."

That was sometimes easier said than done, however.

"Last year (as a junior) I took my first AP class, which was AP English, and then this year I took three AP classes: AP Calculus, AP Chemistry and AP Literature. This year I also took my first college class and that was English 100," Kahale said.

As he grew older, the responsibilities piled up for Kahale, who served as captain of the boys basketball team this year.

"The English 100 class was during volleyball season so I had to miss about half of practice on Mondays, but I made sure to let my coach know before we started the season," he said.

The Farmers claimed the Maui Interscholastic League's Division II boys volleyball championship this spring and drew a No. 3 seed at the New City Nissan/HHSAA State Championships on Oahu.

"When we went (to Oahu) for the state tournament for volleyball, I felt a lot of pressure because I was in a starting position — which I've never been in before for volleyball — and I felt a lot of pressure because I had an important role and I didn't want to screw up," Kahale said.

Molokai opened the tournament with a five-set victory over Kalani before just falling short in another five-set marathon to eventual-champion Saint Francis in the semifinals.

Despite his many athletic duties, Kahale never lost sight of his other passions: his faith, service to others and his native Hawaiian heritage.

Kahale joined the Young Life Ministries as a junior when a friend extended an invitation to a youth ministry camp, where he helped to supervise youth groups. He also has spent time volunteering with military veterans — a cause dear to his heart.

"My grandfather (Larry Helm), he passed away a couple years ago and he was a veteran. He was really involved in the veteran community and after he passed away my grandmother (Barbara Helm) kind of got me involved in some of these community service activities and my Mom (Nichol) really pushed me to get involved," Nainoa said.

Growing up on Molokai, Kahale lives first hand the concept of ‘malama aina,' that is, to care for and nurture the land so that it can be sustainable for future generations. That's why he took part in events like a clean-up at historic Kaunakakai Wharf.

"I want to serve the native Hawaiian community and I want to help them," he says proudly.

Kahale will continue his education as Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, where he hopes to study either computer science or engineering.

As for his choice to switch from football to cross country a few years back, Kahale is comfortable that he made the right decision.

"At the time I was really small and my body wasn't really built for football, (but) I was pretty fast, I thought, and a few of my friends actually run cross country, so I just decided to transition to that sport. I felt like I would succeed more in that sport than football," he said.

Succeed he did. Not just in athletics, but in just about everything he put his mind to.


Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].