What makes some areas of Oahu/neighbor islands more successful at football than others?

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Re: What makes some areas of Oahu/neighbor islands more successful at football than others?

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When it comes to public schools, you really don't know what is going to happen to your coaching situation, even in the case of legendary alumni coming back to coach. Look at Kalaheo basketball, for example... Alika Smith, their most decorated basketball alumnus of all time takes over the job that was once his father's. He has great success and out of district talents transfer to Kalaheo to play. But then there is a power struggle between Smith and the school and just like that - he's out. different situations, but very similar to the Rich Miano situation at Kaiser. These kinds of things would never play out like this in the ILH as they would handle things much more gracefully and out of the watchful eye of the DOE. Another basketball example is Allan Silva, who played for Kailua and Chaminade and then would coach at Kailua, before stops at Farrington and then Saint Louis. He was no doubt a proud Kailua alum and he was already well-respected in the coaching community before taking the Kailua job, but being a public school head coach pays so very little that you really have to want to be at a place to stay there and not take better opportunities. I think football coaches get paid more than basketball coaches, but the amount is still nothing more than a small stipend and if you are doing the job it is because you really love coaching. Also, coaching at a public school is easier if you are already a teacher.

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Re: What makes some areas of Oahu/neighbor islands more successful at football than others?

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@poidog: Well, that's probably true at private schools, too, right? Probably all depends on the specific situation. Yes, some private schools have had the same HC forever, but some public schools have, too. Take football HC Wendell Say at Aiea High; he's been there forever and a day. I think one of the factors involved is the school principal and/or the AD. Like you mentioned, look at what happened at Kalaheo High with basketball HC Alika Smith. And, remember that big stink that developed at Kahuku High about seven years ago or so, between the Principal (I think) and the football HC? I think that was it; something about the Principal's philosophy about what she wanted of a coach, and what she thought a coach's role was. It was a lady, and she was either the Principal or the AD; can't remember which. With Silva, well, I guess it was just a matter of him setting his own priorities. Was he ever forced from a coaching position? Not that I know of. And, yes, he is a Kailua alumnus, Class of '75. Also, you're right about coaches' pay at public schools; it is small. But, what about coaches' pay at private schools that aren't rich? Take Damien School and St Louis School, for example. I don't think either school is rich. But Kamehameha Schools is one of the richest private schools in the nation. And Punahou School, known for decades as "the rich kids' school," also has large endowments. So, do coaches at Kamehameha Schools and Punahou School get paid more than coaches at Damien School and St Louis School? I suspect so, especially at Kamehameha Schools, that school is so rich. Have you seen their new school buses? Unreal. Even UH, a D1 college, doesn't have buses like Kamehameha Schools does. Finally, being a teacher and coach at the same school, I think, has only a few advantages. For one, you're already "at the job site" once classes are done for the day. Two, you can deal more directly with academic problems players may have. Other than those, though, I can't think of any other advantages. For one thing, teacher pay is low, especially for public school teachers. If you have a "day job" in which you are a high-flying executive at some private company or even at a public utility, you make a lot more pay than a high school teacher. Then you just drive over to the school at the end of your day, and coach. Of course, if you're a high-flying executive, you probably can make arrangements with your employer so that you can be at the school on time for practice.

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Re: What makes some areas of Oahu/neighbor islands more successful at football than others?

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Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. Kaiser High under Miano was already pointed out. After he left (for whatever reason), the football team was almost dismantled. Kalani rose up when the Lee brothers returned as assistants, but declined once they went back to St Louis. Mililani is notorious for recruiting. One example is Darius Muasau, now at UH, played at Mililani but lived in Ewa Beach. Not exactly next door. Kahuku drew top talent away from Waialua a few years ago but I don't know if that continues. Wealth in east Honolulu does not matter for the public schools, except probably the better athletes go to private schools because their parents can afford it.
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Re: What makes some areas of Oahu/neighbor islands more successful at football than others?

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@My3Cats: Yeah, I don't doubt it at all that some coaches actively recruit. I think we all smelled-out York's recruiting several years ago; it's painfully obvious. I didn't know Miano was recruiting to Kaiser High, though. As for Kahuku High recruiting from Waialua High, well, I'm not sure Waialua High is a treasure trove of football talent. I think they had one really good team back in the late-'80s or early-'90s. I also wonder about the Lee brothers recruiting to Kalani High. I mean, the Lees certainly raised the level of play at that school while they were there, but they didn't exactly soar to the heights. Like, I don't think even the Lees can recruit a whole lot of football talent to Kalani High; that school just doesn't have the critical mass of good players sufficient to draw a lot of recruits. St Louis School, by contrast, has had that critical mass of good players since '86. And, I absolutely agree that East Honolulu wealth is not much of a factor at all when it comes to football talent. I think a good example is the wealthy East Honolulu neighborhood of Kahala. Frankly, I doubt that you'll find a whole lot of football talent there, but to the extent that there is talent, I'm certain most of those players go to Punahou School instead of Kalani High, which is the public school for Kahala. I mean, it's almost inevitable: Kahala is a rich, prestigious neighborhood, so parents want their boys attending prestigious Punahou School, which has also long been known as, "the rich kids' school". Also, if those parents have football boys, and they asked those boys which school they'd like to attend, I think they would say Punahou School. Not so much because of the prestige of the school, but simply because they almost always have a better football team than Kalani High does. I think football players care more about winning than about prestige. It's the parents, I think, that crave prestige.

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Re: What makes some areas of Oahu/neighbor islands more successful at football than others?

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HS Football Fanatic wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 5:12 pm @My3Cats: Yeah, I don't doubt it at all that some coaches actively recruit. I think we all smelled-out York's recruiting several years ago; it's painfully obvious. I didn't know Miano was recruiting to Kaiser High, though. As for Kahuku High recruiting from Waialua High, well, I'm not sure Waialua High is a treasure trove of football talent. I think they had one really good team back in the late-'80s or early-'90s. I also wonder about the Lee brothers recruiting to Kalani High. I mean, the Lees certainly raised the level of play at that school while they were there, but they didn't exactly soar to the heights. Like, I don't think even the Lees can recruit a whole lot of football talent to Kalani High; that school just doesn't have the critical mass of good players sufficient to draw a lot of recruits. St Louis School, by contrast, has had that critical mass of good players since '86. And, I absolutely agree that East Honolulu wealth is not much of a factor at all when it comes to football talent. I think a good example is the wealthy East Honolulu neighborhood of Kahala. Frankly, I doubt that you'll find a whole lot of football talent there, but to the extent that there is talent, I'm certain most of those players go to Punahou School instead of Kalani High, which is the public school for Kahala. I mean, it's almost inevitable: Kahala is a rich, prestigious neighborhood, so parents want their boys attending prestigious Punahou School, which has also long been known as, "the rich kids' school". Also, if those parents have football boys, and they asked those boys which school they'd like to attend, I think they would say Punahou School. Not so much because of the prestige of the school, but simply because they almost always have a better football team than Kalani High does. I think football players care more about winning than about prestige. It's the parents, I think, that crave prestige.
Waialua won the division 2 OIA championship in 2016, it was their first title in 60 years. I know driving out of Haleiwa, there were signs celebrating their victory on some of the trees along the highway.

I think what the above poster was suggesting, is that a good football player living in Haleiwa, which is Waialua’s district, would probably migrate over to Kahuku to play there. He may have also been recruited to Kahuku if he was spotted at a football camp along the North Shore. Football is big there, so even if the area is geographically isolated, there must be tons of camps and youth leagues to find players.

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Re: What makes some areas of Oahu/neighbor islands more successful at football than others?

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@ChadFukuoka: No, there was another really good Waialua team before the '16 team. As I had mentioned, I think it was the late-'80s or early-'90s. That team had talent and size. Regarding Kahuku High poaching football players from Waialua High, that must piss-off Waialua alumni, especially the ones who were on the football team.

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Re: What makes some areas of Oahu/neighbor islands more successful at football than others?

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I think that Kahuku has a prime situation in fielding great teams for decades. One is family and tradition. Names like Ah You, Anae, Reed, Maiava, Heffernans, Kaniho, Santiago and many more are families that have played RR for decades. Many kids grandfathers sweat and blood are on that field that they play. Many players have gone to the field as a baby. They protect it. Throw in a remote venue that nurtures hard work and keeps out townies nonsense. Lots of those boys work in family farms and are base in religion. The family value from top to bottom is old school. Respect is earned. The yearly migration to the ILH is to be expected. Their family their decision nobody holds grudges always respect. Just reload.
The Waianaes and Farrington are in a different situation. Once the ILH takes the cream from those districts, now you have a new transfer rule that enable other public school to come in and take. The Waianaes and Farringtons are now in the lower place of the Open, but will not go do D1 because of pride. Needless to say, there will be no Cinderellas like Leileihua when Manley played.

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Re: What makes some areas of Oahu/neighbor islands more successful at football than others?

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@TheNewNORM:

Well, but just about every school has family and tradition, right? When you think about it, everything you said, could be said for just about any school. Take Moanalua High, for example. A football player from the Class of '75 had a son, who was a football player from the Class of '97, who in turn also had a son, who was a football player from the Class of '20. All three left sweat and blood on Moanalua High's field. For all three, Moanalua High was a family tradition. Moanalua High is townie, but, doesn't matter, right? Yes, Kahuku High is heavily Mormon, but you can have Mormons at any school. And, all that I mentioned could be said for Waianae High, Farrington High (though they re-started vars games at their field only three years ago), and Leilehua High.

When I was in high school in the mid-'70s, guys just played for the neighborhood school. I don't remember guys shuttling-around to other public schools; you just played where you were supposed to play. Of course, the private schools took players from wherever, but I don't remember that kind of thing going-on between public schools.

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Re: What makes some areas of Oahu/neighbor islands more successful at football than others?

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HS Football Fanatic wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 4:04 pm @TheNewNORM:

Well, but just about every school has family and tradition, right? When you think about it, everything you said, could be said for just about any school. Take Moanalua High, for example. A football player from the Class of '75 had a son, who was a football player from the Class of '97, who in turn also had a son, who was a football player from the Class of '20. All three left sweat and blood on Moanalua High's field. For all three, Moanalua High was a family tradition. Moanalua High is townie, but, doesn't matter, right? Yes, Kahuku High is heavily Mormon, but you can have Mormons at any school. And, all that I mentioned could be said for Waianae High, Farrington High (though they re-started vars games at their field only three years ago), and Leilehua High.

When I was in high school in the mid-'70s, guys just played for the neighborhood school. I don't remember guys shuttling-around to other public schools; you just played where you were supposed to play. Of course, the private schools took players from wherever, but I don't remember that kind of thing going-on between public schools.
Would you say football tradition matters? In the sense that a winning program is more visible in the local community, receives more attention, and probably attracts more students to try out for the team, or start playing the sport at a younger age?

Let’s use Kahuku and Kalani as examples, since they’ve been mentioned before. Kahuku has a rich football tradition. The North Shore rallies around the team. Does Kalani necessarily have the same excitement and vibe around the Kahala/Hawaii Kai area? Or do kids and parents do something else in their free time? A different sport, music, etc. Would a less involved community produce less talent over the long term, making their program continue to lose consistently? Would the program have less experienced coaches as a result? Less fan support at games? With Kalani, were the short stints with the Lees as coaches just fluke situations, with the norm being how Kalani is now, a division 2 team that doesn’t receive a ton of media or fan support, compared to other more established programs?

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Re: What makes some areas of Oahu/neighbor islands more successful at football than others?

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@ChadFukuoka:
Well, of course, football tradition does matter. I mean, I have to believe that it provides greater incentive. I mentioned Moanalua High in my previous post. While they had a very decent team two years ago, they simply don't have the same football tradition that, say, Kahuku High does. And, yes, I'd imagine the inspiration and incentive provided by a school with a winning tradition, trickles-down to Pop Warner, etc.

Regarding Kalani High: First of all, Hawaii Kai kids go to Kaiser High. But, we all know that Kalani High simply can't hold a candle to Kahuku High when it comes to football tradition. Having said that, I would caution against the notion of "communities rallying 'round the neighborhood school." Not everyone who lives in Kahuku High's geographic area is a Kahuku alumnus, just as not everyone who lives in Kalani High's geographic area is a Kalani alumnus. Also, I find it hard to buy the notion that kids in different geographic areas have radically different interests; if you ask me, teenagers are teenagers, just about wherever you go. And, in this day and age of internet interconnectedness, I don't think a kid's place of residence determines how much access he/she has to other kids everywhere.

And what about a school's access to coaches? Well, I guess what I find at least a little concerning is that there doesn't seem to be a sense of loyalty among coaches and their alma maters; sometimes I think there's something of a mercenary vibe going on. I mean, high school coaches get paid very little; even at a rich private school like Kamehameha Schools, does a vars coach make enough to live on? I don't know. What I guess I would like to see more of, is a coach saying, "That's my alma mater (whichever school it is); if I'm gonna coach, I'm gonna make every effort to coach there".

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Re: What makes some areas of Oahu/neighbor islands more successful at football than others?

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HS Football Fanatic wrote: Sat Sep 11, 2021 5:37 pm
ChadFukuoka wrote: Fri Sep 10, 2021 7:00 pm
HS Football Fanatic wrote: Fri Sep 10, 2021 6:28 pm @ChadFukuoka:
Yes, I would say it's a demographic/cultural thing. As I had mentioned, Polys are generally bigger, and tougher. Of course, those are important characteristics for a very physical contact-sport like football.

For decades, Japanese kids have excelled in baseball; it's become something of a stereotype. And, Aiea High and Pearl City High have lots of Japanese kids, especially Pearl City High. That's why those two schools usually have good baseball teams.

As for wealth and "stability," I'd say neither is of extreme importance when it comes to football. It may be politically incorrect to say, but, look at the schools that have had the best football teams for the past 40 years; almost none of them serve "wealthy, stable" areas. Stability might be important in the sense that you can't have good players constantly leaving a school's geographic area. But, you can have wealthy, stable areas, and you can have non-wealthy, stable areas. Take Waianae High, for example. The geographic area Waianae High serves is not wealthy, but it's still quite stable in the sense that you don't really have tons of people constantly leaving the area. I think there's a sense of, "Well, Waianae isn't a wealthy area, but it's my home town, I grew-up here, and I'm confortable here."

I'd say the eight schools you mentioned in your last paragraph are victims of a catch-22. Look at all of them: Kaiser High, Kalani High, Castle High, Kailua High, Kalaheo High, Aiea High, Pearl City High, Radford High. At the moment, none of those schools has a kick-butt football team. So, how can the HCs at those schools recruit? They have no "carrot" to draw kids over. Yet, without good players, how can you have a kick-butt team? That's a classic catch-22.
But there’s also been cases of a football team becoming good after previously being bad. Mililani for example, was bad up until their recent success they are now experiencing. Kaiser was relatively bad before Ron Lee took over. So it’s theoretically possible to build up a program from scratch. Or from the bottom.

Do you think it’s just those schools’ athletic departments not focusing on football? That they are good at other sports, like what I mentioned with baseball, or less mainstream sports like swimming/water polo/paddling, and football isn’t worth the investment it would take to become good?
@ChadFukuoka:

Well, first off, certainly different schools may excel in different sports. But I would assume that all schools want to excel in football, as that's (literally) the biggest game in town. I mean, football provides the maximum publicity and revenue. Mililani High has always had a pretty large enrollment, so I don't think numbers would have ever been a problem for them. I don't know about physical size, though. I think York is a decent coach, and he may have come along just as Mililani High's enrollment was peaking, I don't know. But, I suspect he's been recruiting, especially over the last few years. Kaiser High had a problem with physical size--or lack thereof--in the mid-'70s. Ron Lee made the smart coaching move of installing the run-and-shoot, a pass O that helps compensate for lack of physical size. I guess in some sense, we can say that Ron Lee built Kaiser High football from scratch, but I don't think we can say the same for York at Mililani High. Mililani High had two HCs before York: John Kauinana and James Millwood. However, I think we can give York credit for making Mililani High a football powerhouse. Under him, the school has earned a state D1 title and a spot in Open.

Again, I think any and every school focuses on football as much as it can; that's where you get the most publicity and revenue. But, all any school has is its players. I think the best thing a school can do is hire a marquee coach, if it can. If a school were lucky enough to be able to hire a pro football coach who had just retired, imagine what a draw that would be. I think outstanding players would beat a path to that school. Imagine this scenario: A pro football coach has just retired, and has decided to move to Oahu. Football still runs through his veins, but he doesn't want the pressure of coaching a D1 college team like UH. After all, he's just retired. However, he's decided that coaching high school would be just right for him; high school coaching is much more mellow than coaching a D1 college team like UH. He's got lots of money, so money isn't an issue. He's decided to stay at a cheap motel, and has made-up his mind to accept the first coaching offer that any high school offers, and then he'll buy a house or condo that's not too far from that school, just so he doesn't have to travel all the way across the island to get to the school, or spend hours stuck in traffic. He doesn't care how much or how little that school pays him; as we mentioned, money isn't an issue at all. He loves coaching, but just doesn't want the hassle of a D1 college team like UH. Even if he gets hired by a D2 school, I bet lots of players will gravitate to that school, just to get to play for a former pro coach, especially if he's a legend. I think he'd be a draw for any school, doesn't matter if it's in D2, D1, or Open.
I’ve been thinking about this randomly. Football is clearly the most popular sport in Hawaii, and probably in most mainland states. But the goal of a school’s athletic department is to have success in all sports, not just one. While a school like St Louis is hands down the best football program in Hawaii now, and has been for the most part of the last 3 or 4 decades, they haven’t been as dominant in other sports. Even considering the fact they are an all boys school, while Punahou, Kamehameha, and Iolani, is co-ed, their boys soccer, basketball, volleyball, etc, hasn’t been winning as much.
I’d probably rather be a fan of either of those three schools, and have the opportunity to compete in most of the other sports, and not win in football, than be a St Louis fan and really only regularly win in football most years. Of course, some of it depends on where you graduated from, but I’d rather have the balance across all sports.

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Re: What makes some areas of Oahu/neighbor islands more successful at football than others?

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@ChadFukuoka: Well, I'd agree that St Louis School really is a "one-trick pony"; they're very good in football, but that's about it, usually. However, we should note that they took the ILH baseball title this past season. So, I think St Louis alumni have something of a quandary: While St Louis School is always very good in football (and that's the main sport), once football season is over, there's often a dry spell. As you mentioned, to make matters worse, St Louis School doesn't have girls, so that cuts them out from half the available titles. I've often thought that it must be depressing to have graduated from an all-boys school, but the "St Louis brotherhood" seems to be strong, so apparently not having girls at the alma mater and not have female alumnae isn't so much of a problem.

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Re: What makes some areas of Oahu/neighbor islands more successful at football than others?

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HS Football Fanatic wrote: Mon Sep 20, 2021 7:39 am @ChadFukuoka: Well, I'd agree that St Louis School really is a "one-trick pony"; they're very good in football, but that's about it, usually. However, we should note that they took the ILH baseball title this past season. So, I think St Louis alumni have something of a quandary: While St Louis School is always very good in football (and that's the main sport), once football season is over, there's often a dry spell. As you mentioned, to make matters worse, St Louis School doesn't have girls, so that cuts them out from half the available titles. I've often thought that it must be depressing to have graduated from an all-boys school, but the "St Louis brotherhood" seems to be strong, so apparently not having girls at the alma mater and not have female alumnae isn't so much of a problem.
I don’t know how much not being co-Ed makes a difference. But I’ve wondered how athletes in other sports, who are also not on the football team feel. Do they feel almost invisible? How does a volleyball player feel? Soccer? They may not get the instant recognition and visibility that the football players get, especially since the football players are almost always winning.

What if you’re not athletic? You’re a small, physically scrawny teenager, but you’re extracurricular activity is being a writer for the school newspaper. You’re intellectually gifted, but not an athlete. Do you feel like an outcast because you’re not part of the football culture (assuming you’re not a sports writer)?

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Re: What makes some areas of Oahu/neighbor islands more successful at football than others?

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@ChadFukuoka:

1. Oh, I think being co-ed makes a big difference. In high school, boys' hormones are raging. How many boys want to be at a school with no girls? Well, be that as it may, it is what it is. As for St Louis students in other sports, yeah, they probably do feel invisible, with the possible exception of the basketball team. That's because, at many schools, you've got football players playing basketball, too. So, I think there's a sense of carry-over. It's like the basketball players at St Louis School who are also on the football team saying, "Hey, we rock in football, and now here we are in basketball, too." The atmosphere is somewhat similar, too: Quite a few fans watching, and the cheerleaders cheer at basketball games, too. Of course, it's not that way now because of the pandemic, but normally, the two sports have those similarities: Noisy, quite a few fans usually, and cheerleaders pumping-up the school spirit.

2. If you're a scrawny, non-athletic teen, then you're a nerd. Nerds feel like outcasts at any high school, not just St Louis School.

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Re: What makes some areas of Oahu/neighbor islands more successful at football than others?

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HS Football Fanatic wrote: Mon Sep 20, 2021 12:07 pm @ChadFukuoka:

1. Oh, I think being co-ed makes a big difference. In high school, boys' hormones are raging. How many boys want to be at a school with no girls? Well, be that as it may, it is what it is. As for St Louis students in other sports, yeah, they probably do feel invisible, with the possible exception of the basketball team. That's because, at many schools, you've got football players playing basketball, too. So, I think there's a sense of carry-over. It's like the basketball players at St Louis School who are also on the football team saying, "Hey, we rock in football, and now here we are in basketball, too." The atmosphere is somewhat similar, too: Quite a few fans watching, and the cheerleaders cheer at basketball games, too. Of course, it's not that way now because of the pandemic, but normally, the two sports have those similarities: Noisy, quite a few fans usually, and cheerleaders pumping-up the school spirit.

2. If you're a scrawny, non-athletic teen, then you're a nerd. Nerds feel like outcasts at any high school, not just St Louis School.
Agree on the first statement, not so much on the second. To me, a nerd is someone who doesn’t fit in anywhere and doesn’t have a social circle. Basically, a loner, a ghost.

The majority of students at any high school are not athletes. Maybe something like 15-20% of students are athletes, considering many play multiple sports. The rest of the students are engaged in something else, music, clubs, volunteer activities, etc. Or already made their friends from somewhere outside school, in their neighborhood, in a community organization, etc. A lot of students aren’t really into football, or any team “ball” sport like basketball, soccer, if they aren’t dating someone on the team or have friends on the team. The people most interested in sports are athletes and close friends or dating partners of athletes. When I was at Aiea, a lot of students went to the homecoming game to cruise around the bleachers or track with their friends and eat at the food booths, a lot of them didn’t know the basic rules of the sport, and weren’t watching the actual game. At a more successful football school, maybe the student culture is different. And if you play a sport like bowling, air rifelry, tennis, etc, are you really a “jock” because those sports are not that mainstream popular, and don’t receive attention.

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