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Back on their feet: Lunas receive donation of cleats from Mariota

By Robert Collias 7 min read

KIHEI -- The beams on all the faces around told the story at the end of practice for the Lahainaluna High School football team on Saturday at South Maui Community Park soccer field.

It wasn't because the Lunas were done with a three-hour practice under the hot Kihei sun nor because they were back practicing at all -- that started with their first official practice on Sept. 7 following the devastating wildfires on Aug. 8.

The reason for the joy all over the place was the donation of football cleats from Marcus Mariota for all of the players -- although red is one of the dominant school colors for the Lunas, along with black and white, the new team-wide candy-apple colored shoes will be something new.

"I'm honestly just kind of speechless right now," senior defensive back/running back/kick returner Kuola Watson said after receiving his pair of cleats. "He gave all of us brand-new cleats. Most of us really needed it too because I was giving out some of my (old) cleats to the boys, but Marcus Mariota pulled through and gave us some cleats and we just wanted to thank him for all he's done for us and everything he's accomplished.

"It's kind of inspiring, a boy from Hawaii made it big-time and he remembers us. It's heartwarming."

The team has "75 to 85" players out for the squad, according to Lahainaluna athletic director Jon Conrad, and all of them will be receiving the shoes. Most of them did on Saturday.

When black or white could not be found in some cases in the past for shoes, the team would use spray paint to make the footwear all the same color. That will not be necessary this season, thanks to Mariota, the Philadelphia Eagles backup quarterback who won the 2014 Heisman Trophy at the University of Oregon.

He got the delivery made to practice with the help of his extensive connections to Nike, his mom Alana Mariota, and Keith Amemiya, who has been spearheading a "Luna Strong" effort that has generated more than $325,000 already to help more than 450 displaced Lahainaluna student-athletes and 40 coaches.

Many professional athletes with and without ties to the state and Maui have also stepped up, but Mariota, the former star QB at Saint Louis School, was one of the first answer when Amemiya reached out.

Fellow Crusaders Nate and Nick Herbig, also NFL players, have also joined the list recently.

Morgan "Bula" Montgomery, a two-way senior lineman for the Lunas and, like Watson, a team captain, said that he knows the reception of the donation will go a long way to helping the Lunas be ready to play their first game on Sept. 30 at War Memorial Stadium against Baldwin.

"It's awesome, some of us really did need some new cleats," Montgomery said after receiving his size 13 kicks. "All of us really appreciate them. Something like this shows all the support that we're receiving and we appreciate every last bit of it, every little piece. I mean, everything helps. Something like this, it really does warm my heart.

"It shows that we're getting support from everywhere. I mean he's not even from this island and Marcus Mariota, he's all the way up in the Mainland playing in the NFL."

Montgomery added, "Knowing that the support is out there it's kind of like--I don't know about these other guys--but for me I've kind of got a chip on my shoulder. I've got something to just take into the games with me. Having everybody behind us like this, it's going to be huge."

Kaulana Tihada is one of several Lunas legacy players and team captain, following several uncles, brothers, cousins and his dad, Joey, who is a current assistant coach. Joey and Kaulana Tihada's house burned down in the fire.

"That's very, very cool, we're very lucky and very blessed to have a person like that come and support us, even though he's not even from Lahaina," Kaulana Tihada said. "Just to have him support us and give us all these shoes, we're very lucky and we're very grateful."

Amemiya is the president of the Downtown Athletic Club of Honolulu, vice president of Central Pacific Bank and former executive director of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association. He was also recently named as the chair of the governor's task force on sports.

"Well, it's an amazing feeling to be able to help these young men who've been through so much, they've shown so much resiliency, they've maintained a positive attitude despite unimaginable hardship," Amemiya said. "So, if we can help them in any way, I'm glad to do so and I can't thank people enough like Marcus, the Herbig brothers, and many, many, many more people for stepping up."

Wendell Look, the head coach of friendly rival Iolani School, was one of the first people to reach out to Garret Tihada, a longtime Lunas' assistant coach, and his father Lanny Tihada, both of whom are former head football coaches for the school.

"We fight hard on the playing field, but off the field we're one ohana as they say and if they need help, we help them and I know if we need help, they'll help us," Amemiya said. "That's just the way it's always been. I remember early on in my career at the HHSAA people like (longtime Lunas co-head coach) Bobby Watson and Lanny Tihada were some of the first people to help me out.

"I was still learning things and I didn't know a lot of people, but they were ready and eager to help me out and I will never forget that. So, this is my way of returning the favor so to speak and doing what I can to help them and their players."

Amemiya added, "We're glad that we were able to get it really fast and a shout out to Marcus' mom Alana for working with Nike to expedite the shipment and for the players that have recently turned out, we're going to work with the Mariota family and Nike to get them shoes as well so they'll be ready for the opening game in two weeks."

Amemiya added that donations are still being accepted at lunastrong.org, where more donation information is also available.

Garret Tihada said that the donation from Mariota will indeed never be forgotten, nor will any of the other philanthropy.

"I think it's overwhelming for all of us as coaches and the players, just to see the generosity that people have towards this Lahaina community in general, it's very special to see," Tihada said. "For somebody like Keith who has no ties to Lahaina whatsoever and like I told you the first time we talked, he called me like a day or two after the fire saying that 'We need to get Lahainaluna football going and the community needs it.'

"Like I told the kids, I can't explain why he has the passion that he does to get this going for them, but we're just so grateful somebody like him is spearheading all of this because he's making it happen, getting things done."

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com

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