WAILUKU — After finally finding his spot on the football field as a senior in college, Josiah Tonu and his father, Thomas Tonu, thought this winter break would be a good chance to help some current Maui youngsters do the same.

On Saturday, the Tonus will help run a free lineman clinic for current Valley Isle high school players and first-year college players. The event will begin at 8 a.m. at The Pit at Keopuolani Park in Kahului. The event is for offensive and defensive linemen and will run for a couple hours, according to Thomas Tonu, the special teams coordinator for Kamehameha Schools Maui.

“It’s super cool because I was one of those kids going through those small things that older coaches used to do,” said Josiah Tonu, who recently capped his collegiate career at the FCS Bowl all-star game in Florida. “Now that I can give back to the community is good — I want to be a coach someday, that’s why.”

Josiah Tonu is a 6-foot-7, 310-pounder who began his high school career at Baldwin and played his senior year at Saint Louis. He finished his college career in 2018 at Southern Oregon as a full-time offensive lineman for the first time since he was in Pop Warner in Wailuku.

The Vainikolo brothers — Atunaisa is currently a defensive lineman at Buffalo and Moana is a linebacker at New Mexico — along with Duquesne’s Nohea Keahi and Hawaii’s Teva Eldridge will also help run the camp.

Tonu played at Baldwin with Eldridge and Keahi, while the Vainikolos graduated from Maui High. Tonu played with the Vainikolos in Big Boy football.

“I would say we’re just going to give them more ways to play the position,” Tonu said. “I’m not going to tell them, ‘Oh, you have to do this.’ When they go back to high school (football), they’re going to do what their coach says, but I’m just going to give them ways to do just what I have learned.”

Tonu added, “It’s super valuable, especially for kids who are coming back from or going to college. They can not only learn about playing football, but they can also ask us questions about college and how it was, what should they expect? Things like that.”

Tonu turned heads at the FCS Bowl, where scouts from the CFL, Arena League and NFL were gathered to check out possible draft choices.

“It went super good,” Tonu said. “I had an interview with a coach right before the game, and a couple Arena teams and a CFL team. That’d be super cool, if I can keep playing the sport I love.”

Thomas Tonu said several Maui Interscholastic League coaches are also set to be at the camp. Players only need to come ready to work out in cleats. No helmets or any type of padding will be needed.

“They can just show up, it’s a free clinic,” Thomas Tonu said. “It’s pretty much what I do and I told the boys — especially like Josiah, Teva, Nohea, and the Vainikolos — if they wouldn’t mind doing a free clinic where it’ll be a give-back to the Maui kids. Whether they’re in high school or first year in college, they can probably get something out of these kids who have traveled the path.”

For more information, call Thomas Tonu at (808) 264-4576.

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.