On December 1, 1978, I attended my first Prep Bowl high school football championship game at Aloha Stadium. My sister’s boyfriend, a proud Kamehameha graduate, accompanied me, as the Warriors were looking to win the then-annual ILH/OIA battle of football giants for the fourth consecutive year.
32,812 showed up- the largest Prep Bowl crowd of all-time- and witnessed a bruising, well-played, defensive struggle won by the Waianae High School Seariders, 14-6. I was caught up with the crowd in the quality of play, but what impressed me most was the consistent character displayed throughout that championship game by the Waianae squad. Like its coastline, Waianae’s team was rugged.
Searider tacklers were nailing guys (legally)… and then helping them back up after the whistle. Nowadays, if you reach out to a tackled opponent you will undoubtedly be scorned by online trolls and possibly teammates, too. Both Waianae and Kamehameha displayed class- no overt celebrating, no over-the-top displays of emotion, no big bodying, and no grandstanding. Nowadays, if a defensive back gets burned five times and then (finally) makes a tackle, he might hovers/dance over the downed receiver. Good grief.
Waianae was coached from 1965-1984 by Larry Ginoza, a legend who passed away last month. I greatly admired his work- his demeanor and mentoring skills, his quiet consistency and steely resolve that shined through his players’ actions and attitude. Ginoza made a big difference to and through his players for decades. He was the coach, but he was also much more.
Former Waianae quarterback, Michael Beazley, nicely summed up Ginoza-ball in Steven Tsai’s newspaper article about Ginoza’s passing when he said, “If you score a touchdown, you give the ball to the referee. If the ref’s not around, you put the ball on the ground. You can celebrate with your teammates on the sideline and you leave the other team alone. You don’t piss them off”. Period. Amen.
Legendary Green Bay Packers’ coach, Vince Lombardi, allegedly said, “…act like you’ve been there before” regarding touchdown non-celebrations. Mr. Waianae took that to heart while teaching his kids. Ginoza-isms included: you don’t practice, you don’t play. You don’t do your classwork, you don’t play. He taught humility, character, grit, discipline, awareness, while proving that hard work pays off. It certainly did at Waianae High under Coach Ginoza. That tight-knit community witnessed football greatness where the big “W” on their helmets stood for “Winners”.
Think about it…