High School Athletes Honor Hawaii’s Wa‘a Heritage
Story by Lisa L. Schell
Photographs by Travis Morrin
On a breezy Friday afternoon in December, Ho‘aloha Park at Kahului Harbor hums with activity. The last bell of the school day has rung, but for the teams of King Kekaulike High School, Baldwin High School and Seabury Hall, the real work has just begun.
Students stretched, ran drills and tossed medicine balls on the grass and parking lot while others paddled through anchored lanes in the harbor. The teams were there to take advantage of the last practice day before the first Maui County High School Regatta of the 2024 outrigger canoe paddling season. Eleven schools from the islands of Maui, Lāna‘i and Moloka‘i compete during a five-week season in December and January for the chance at the state title.
Wearing festive Santa hats or knit beanies with their jerseys, the students balanced laughter with focus. Each paddler knew their role and worked diligently. A team captain encouraged her group as she bailed water from their canoe. “These conditions are what we live for! Let’s go!” she exclaimed.
Wind whipped across the harbor, causing waves to break unusually close to the regatta course and adding a natural challenge to the practice. Coach Florent “Flo” Michelier predicted improvement. “The wind will settle tomorrow, but we’ll still see a few bumps,” he told a parent, referencing unbroken swells that can aid or hinder a canoe depending on the steersperson’s skill.
“I am c-c-c-cold!” one of the boys said as he hosed down a canoe with his teammates before water practice began. Another group of paddlers readied a canoe under the direction of a determined and diligent young woman who was clearly one of her team’s leaders.
By Saturday morning, they will be ready to compete in the first regatta of the season.
Unity in Motion
In a Hawai‘i high school regatta, six-person teams paddle outrigger canoes through quarter- or half-mile courses marked by buoys and flags. Athletes synchronize strokes to navigate waves, execute sharp turns and race back to the starting flag. Precision, teamwork and ocean awareness are crucial, embodying the cultural spirit of wa‘a (canoe) paddling in competitive harmony.
Outrigger canoe paddling is Hawai‘i’s official state sport – yet it wasn’t included in high school sports offerings until around 2000, after nearly 20 years of lobbying by paddling advocates. One of those advocates was Mahina Martin, Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) paddling race director, who has been involved with the sport for over 40 years.
Martin was instrumental in the effort to add the sport to the MIL roster. She’s on the mic calling the action on the water at every regatta.
“It’s not a traditional sport (like football or basketball),” Martin said. “So it took a little bit of time in the early days to get it accepted as a part of the high school league. And now we’re the fastest-growing sport across the league.”
She said the sport’s growth among high school athletes indicates just how much outrigger paddling means to Maui’s community because of both its connection and continuation of Hawaiian and Polynesian culture that value community and collaboration.
“The athletes are competitive, and yet we want them to hold true to the values of aloha and the cultural traditions associated with paddling.”
Martin believes paddling teaches the athletes the values of working together, taking care of the canoe and each other and kuleana, or responsibility. These values create a spirit and camaraderie that extends beyond campus boundaries.
For canoe paddlers, the wa‘a is not a piece of equipment but is considered the seventh member of the team. High school students will do everything they can, including nearly falling into the ocean, to prevent a huli.
“You don’t see soccer teams, for instance, carrying each other’s equipment off a field. And yet, you see other schools helping carry a 400-pound canoe; you see everyone rushing to each other’s aid when it’s time to bring a canoe in from maybe a little rough water.”
That team spirit was on full display during the varsity girls’ first heat of the first regatta of the 2024 season in Kahului Harbor. A set of waves rolled into the harbor just after the start, and Baldwin High’s canoe huli’d (capsized). The canoe was quickly righted, and the team bailed out water furiously.
They were still bailing as they made it around the turn, but the water, wind and waves forced another huli. Despite having no chance of making up the lost ground, Baldwin continued to paddle with the intensity of a team vying for a first-place finish. All the teams on the beach cheered and clapped, and as the Baldwin canoe came into shore, they ran to help land it.
That kind of sportsmanship exists off the water, too.
“The Maui teams will feed and offer housing for Lāna‘i and Moloka‘i, and they will even offer their valuable canoes to those teams when they come over,” Martin said.
Moloka‘i’s paddling budget allowed them to participate in just three of the five regattas in the 2024 season. Lāna‘i High School’s paddling team began practice with just one six-man wa‘a to support a team roster of 31 paddlers.
“It was challenging to have to rotate our teams in and out of the one canoe for practice,” Lāna‘i Coach Michelle Fujie-Kaauamo said. “The bay where we practice is even smaller than the Kahului Harbor, so that’s always been a challenge, but when you only have one wa‘a, our kids don’t get to race anyone at practice.”
The Lāna‘i team overcame at least one of those challenges this season with the help of two canoes donated by the Kīhei Canoe Club, paddled over to Lāna‘i by the Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Voyaging Society.
When the two canoes from Kīhei arrived at Mānele Harbor, Fujie-Kaauamo’s squad welcomed them with songs, canoe protocol chants and lunch, during which the two paddling groups talked story.
“Something important to me about paddling is the family you make out of it,” Lāna‘i High School paddler Kyle Vega shared. “You make good friends, and of course, this is a team sport. You have to make sure you have that connection with your team and also your coaches.”
Many high school paddlers in Maui County share that sentiment. The takeaways from their outrigger experience are connections – with team members, with paddlers from other schools and with the adults who support them.
Other students said paddling connects them to the ocean environment and heritage.
“Our culture came to Hawai‘i in the canoe,” said Kamalia Kuanonoi-Kekona, captain of the King Keaulike team. “I am participating in a sport connected to my culture.”
If a canoe does turn over, teams on the shore cheer to encourage the huli’d team to recover. Opposing teams will even work together to help land the 400-pound vessel – a team spirit of aloha and ‘ohana that extends past trophies and championships.
The Seventh Member
For paddlers, the canoe is not just a piece of equipment but is considered the seventh member on a six-person crew.
Kuanonoi-Kekona explained that unlike other team sports where individual players might deviate from the team’s strategy without significant consequences, paddling demands complete synchronization. Each paddler must coordinate their strokes and movements with the rest of the crew; any misalignment can disrupt the canoe’s rhythm, hindering its speed and overall success.
“They all come together with one thing in common: paddling,” she said.
Outrigger canoe paddling stands out as one of the few high school sports that includes co-ed competition, with boys and girls working together in the mixed team category. King Kekaulike Coach Florent Michelier believes this approach helps students develop skills and perspectives that will benefit them beyond high school. Baldwin High School Coach Marjorie Kahookele-Pea adds that paddling brings students together from diverse backgrounds, exposing them to a wide range of experiences and fostering a sense of inclusivity and collaboration.
Kahookele-Pea highlighted that paddling is a lifelong sport that fosters deep passion. Many students continue paddling well into adulthood, often sharing the experience with their children and grandchildren. For her, coaching is especially rewarding because it allows her to pass on Hawaiian culture and traditions to the next generation through this cherished practice.
“They are our future. They can learn the culture, learn the sport of Hawaiian canoe racing and learn teamwork,” she said.
Students lead the pule, a blessing for safety, respect and aloha.
Teamwork and ocean awareness are essential in paddling. Success relies on synchronized effort among paddlers and the ability to interpret natural water conditions. Factors like waves, currents and wind can influence a race, so learning to adapt and leverage these elements effectively is a critical skill for mastering the sport.
During the first regatta of the 2024 season at Kahului Harbor, a dramatic moment unfolded as a large set of waves rolled through the racing lanes just as the leading canoes approached the finish line. The sudden surf disrupted the course, compelling the steersmen to swiftly adjust their trajectories. Onlookers on the beach held their breath as the canoes briefly vanished between the waves, adding to the thrill of the competition.
Over the public address system, Mahina Martin lightened the tension with a playful remark: “Bet you don’t see that on football fields. Welcome to the ocean.”
Unpredictable winter weather, including kona storms, disrupted the regatta schedule, forcing officials to cancel the county finals due to unsafe harbor conditions. Despite the lack of a final race, schools honored their seniors, and the season concluded with the same spirit it began – filled with laughter, hugs, high-fives and aloha. Teams with the highest overall scores advanced to the state finals in Hilo.
Under different circumstances, the abrupt end to the season might have felt disappointing, but Martin saw it differently. “It’s an ocean sport,” she said. “We’re accustomed to unpredictable conditions. This isn’t the first time, and everyone shows resilience.”
Martin emphasized that the challenges paddlers face on the water teach valuable life lessons rooted in Hawaiian culture. These experiences – navigating the ocean, working as a team in the canoe, and building bonds within the paddling community – equip Maui Nui’s young athletes with skills and perspectives they can carry throughout their lives.
“Our hope,” Martin added, “is that as students navigate the already challenging teenage years, they can draw strength and guidance from their paddling experiences, turning them into lifelong assets. That’s what we aim for every year.”
The most challenging – and decisive – moment of the race is the turn, marked by flags a quarter- or half-mile from the start. Teams often win or lose based on how skillfully they navigate this point to race to the finish line. Success requires precise communication and teamwork, as a single wave can cause the canoe to huli (capsize). Right, flags are anchored to define lanes, turning point and start/finish line.
E hele mai a kāko’o: This winter, come experience the thrill of high school paddling and witness Hawai‘i’s history come alive on the water. The 2024-25 Maui County High School Regatta schedule: Dec. 14, 21; Jan. 11, 18, 25.
All regattas begin at 9 a.m. For meet locations, schedule updates and results, visit milsports.org.
