NFL
By: Brock Vierra
If you ask the Lunas of Lahinaluna, what does football mean to you, you would get multiple answers. However, those answers would echo the same sentiment.
Football is a great game. It is a teacher, a creator of friendships, and an excellent way to release aggression. It instills discipline, work ethic, and communication. It’s a high-pressure environment that has no bearing on your day-to-day life outside of the commitment you put forth toward the game. Football is a great game.
I had a brief but fulfilling career. One year in high school may seem like a short amount of time but for me, it was life-changing. I lost a ton of weight, I became confident in myself and my appearance changed for the better. I had something to look forward to that actually had meaning and I became part of a beautiful brotherhood and community. Football provides some beautiful things.
My first ever appearance in a football game came in Maui. Yes, I played in a scrimmage but those don’t count and my team played the week before but I didn’t get into the game (because I sucked). However, this trip was full of opportunity and excitement. We flew out from Oahu that morning. Outside of the players posting snaps of them with the caption “business trip” it was a serious effort.
We had a great week of practice, our spirits were high and it’s not every day that you get to jump on an airplane to play a high school football game. We land in Maui, home to Hawaii’s Krispy Kreme factory, and enjoy the delicious donut while traveling to Maui High School, the home of the team we would be playing. Gracious enough to lend their cafeteria to be our sleeping quarters, it was a quick unpack before a team meeting.
Walkthrough, pre-game meal, and prayer is what followed before we strapped up and made our way to the school buses parked outside for us. They would be taking us to War Memorial Stadium where that night’s contest would be played.
The stadium was beautiful. A cathedral of football, a special place surrounded by lush greenery. Under those stadium lights, I played my first game. We won in a blowout and I got in during garbage time. I recorded no stats, contributed nothing towards the victory and my jersey was as white as an actor’s smile. Yet I hold those few plays I had very dear. I hold the stadium in the same regard.
That was seven years ago. Today War Memorial Stadium, in the midst of another great Hawaii High School football season, sits ready to serve the people of Maui. But instead of good times and great games, War Memorial serves as a shelter for all those affected by the fire that destroyed Lahaina.
This precious stadium. Home to countless high school football contests, community events, and even a University of Hawaii football game once upon a time is once again called into action. The metal bleachers, the track around the field. The small locker room attached to it. All built for football, being used to house people who just lost everything.
Words can not properly illustrate the grave nature of what the people of Lahaina and the people of Maui are now forced to overcome. They must rebuild a city that has existed longer than the United States. They must bare the weight of the lives lost, lives that woke up that faithful morning intent on just spending another day on God’s green earth in simplistic bliss.
The Lunas of Lahainaluna High School are one of the most storied football programs in the islands. Multiple conference and state championships belong to them and the team is a source of pride in the community. Despite the struggle of the players and coaches, they’re set to play football this season. Perhaps their only escape from the cruel reality, best believe the town will rally behind these young men.
In a story of resiliency, the Lunas are set to play their first game in five weeks. Despite the Hawaii High School schedule already in full swing, the MIL or Maui’s football conference doesn’t start play until September 1st. For the Lunas, despite the fact that the students can’t even attend school, they are set to open their season at War Memorial Stadium against Baldwin.
As these young men put the incredible weight of uplifting a community on their shoulders, they’ll need your support. Support Hawaii athletics because I couldn’t imagine my life without football but if I never had it, I would be okay. Football is the only thing these kids have left. If that doesn’t make you feel some type of way, nothing will.
For more football content, watch the latest episode of my show, The Hot Seat.
