2016 Hawai'i Football Fall Camp
Day 1: Into The Fire: Football Opens 2016 Camp With Strong First Day
 

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HONOLULU – Another day back on the gridiron for the University of Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors football team on Tuesday, as UH knocked out the second day of the 2016 camp with a 6:30 a.m. session at Cooke Practice Field.
 
Donning helmets and shorts as practice attire for the second consecutive day, the Warriors continued to work at a feverish pace to install facets of the offensive and defensive playbooks, as effort went to the next gear during each of the two extended team periods and one 7-on-7 section. During each for the past two days, the staff has worked to maximize reps, running drills back-to-back to provide opportunities two and sometimes four sets to run at once.
 
As first-year head coach Nick Rolovich and his staff work this fall to build the on-field aspects, they've used to offseason to build a key component—a team with a sense of purpose, coming together in its common goal. While crucial on the field, it's not a bond that's always created in competition, but rather the experiences that bring the team together during the off-season.
 
Over the past four months, the staff proved creative and successful in finding ways to build a culture of aloha amongst the players and within the community.
 
"We want people to be proud of what this team's core values are and that these young men understand that they're Hawai'i's team and they're playing for the whole community," Rolovich said.
 
The first publicly-visible example came in the form of a surprising and nationally-notable water balloon fight on April 1 between the coaching staff and the players. With the coaches aided by golf carts and an element of misdirection, the players and staff battled it out on Cooke Field and the event became playfully dubbed the 'April Fool's Day Massacre', reaching No. 6 on SportsCenter's Top Plays list. However, it was only a jumping-off point for further camaraderie.
 
"The 'April Fool's Day Massacre' was just one of many events that we've had," senior defensive lineman Makani Kema-Kaleiwahea said. "We've had barbecues that the team put together by ourselves, all cooked our own food and put in our own money.
 
I've been on another college team [at Arizona] before and we never did anything like that. Over here, it just draws us closer and those events got me closer with guys I don't really hang out with. I want to be friends with everyone and make an impact on every person I meet and learn from others—we can all better ourselves that way."
 
As the players rolled through summer conditioning and voluntary workouts, the coaching staff saw another opportunity to build up the team dynamic, setting the squad on a familiar course, with a twist. On Saturday, June 25th the Warriors embarked in the morning for Schofield Barracks, with the players expecting a run through the military training courses with the 25th Infantry 'Tropic Lightning' Division. Instead, they were greeted with unique teamwork and problem-solving exercises that not only created a teambuilding opportunity, but also built a new bridge with the military community on O'ahu.
 
"It helped us understand the point of discipline, why we have it and why it's preached up so often," sophomore slotback Dylan Collie noted. "It's not something that's taken lightly in the armed forces, and if we're going to play with that type of warrior ethos and mentality, then we need to have the discipline to do it."
 
Requesting admittance with a ceremonial welcome and the soldiers and players trading a Ha'a and Haka, the team gained an extremely unique all-day experience, CH-47 Chinook helicopter flights included, which provided them with more than just physical toughness.
 
"It was that opportunity to stop talking football and talk more life, and get closer to each other and the coaches in that relationship," Collie added. "That's just as important as our football relationship."
 
The events started to fly for UH with under a month remaining before camp, as the team began to build more relationships beyond their locker room ranks.
 
"The most effective events were when we were able to get out into the community and the players were able to get around their fans and see how powerful their impact is in the community," Rolovich said. "For our team, that was the greatest value. It was fun hitting players with water balloons, but in the long run, we're going to get more out of our connection with the community."
 
With the July 6 launch of the Pokémon GO mobile app, which has taken the nation by storm, the Rainbow Warriors saw an opportunity to meld some of the players' love for the game with shared interests in the community. It also allowed some keiki a chance to see UH up close and personal for the first time, as Rolovich invited the public to come for a hunt on campus to mutually enjoy the game, bringing his own family out for the day.
 
"Everybody comes from different places and backgrounds," senior defensive back Jalen Rogers said. "I feel like when you get things that relate to when we were young, people are the same and you have some common ground. That really helped people connect."
 
Spanning two hours after the plan was laid under the leadership of freshman defensive back Zach Wilson, the hunt made a thorough campus tour for over 40 visitors, flanked by dozens of Hawai'i players. The group migrated, with game safety as an emphasis, from the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex through the back side of campus, up East-West Road past the Japanese peace garden and the Kennedy Theatre, before heading down the McCarthy Mall and through the heart of the UH campus.
 
"It's going to help bring more fans to the stadium, knowing that we care about our community just as much as playing football," Wilson said. "It's about the fans more than us, we're trying to bring the community together. It was a great turnout and I think it really helped. That's what it's really all about, meeting and coming together with the people who support you."
 
The Warriors again ventured out into the community, spreading aloha and assistance as Tropical Storm Darby headed for the islands and residents stocked supplies on July 23rd. The players and coaches split into teams at four Costco stores stretching from Hawai'i Kai to Kapolei. There the players distributed schedule cards, 14,500 in total, while meeting the fans and helping to carry storm supplies and groceries to vehicles.
 
"I've never done anything like that before, so it was truly a blessing to do that for the community of Hawai'i," freshman offensive lineman Kingjames Taylor said. "We really got to know some tremendous, great people all over. Without their support, the team doesn't have a 12th man."
 
Finding a place in the community is an important component for Rolovich, who transferred from City College of San Francisco 16 years ago as a player; welcomed by his teammates, the culture and a community that gave him a new home.
 
"If you're a 300-pound offensive lineman and you're able to look in the eye of a six-year old kid who looks up to you with those 'hero eyes', that does something to your soul and it makes your sense of responsibility grow," Rolovich said. "That only leads to positive things for this football team. If a receiver stands eye-to-eye with an older woman who needs help carrying her groceries, and helps her and she shows genuine appreciation, that touches you in a human, natural way. It's goodness, and that transforms our locker room and our team in the direction that we hope to keep going."
 
In the final event before heading to the grind, Rolovich and staff reached out to another constituency, reviving the Ladies Clinic for the first time in four years; a fun and interactive event for female fans of the game. Questions and answers flowed freely on everything from the definition of a halfback to the location of the "A" and "B" gaps. Fun on-field exercises provided participants the proper technique to throw, catch, and kick a football, perform ladder drills and even take out some aggression on a tackling dummy.
 
It was an empowering event, not just on the field but off. Kiri Siu gave a powerful message on behalf of the Domestic Violence Action Center as all proceeds from the clinic were donated to the organization.
 
While more future events are all but a certainty for Hawai'i football, it's all on hold for now as UH builds up the Warriors on the field, preparing for the opener in Australia against Cal later this month. UH is back at it again on the practice field at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, adding shells to the equation for the first time this camp.