‘It’s possible to make it from the Big Island’: Kealakehe hosts Ho‘omau Football Camp for second straight year
KEALAKEHE — What first started as a senior leadership project has now turned into one of the biggest youth football camps on the Big Island.
KEALAKEHE — What first started as a senior leadership project has now turned into one of the biggest youth football camps on the Big Island.
This past Saturday, over 200 elementary, middle and high schoolers gathered at Kealakehe High School’s Waverider Stadium for the annual Ho‘omau Football Camp. The one-day event was free of charge to any boy or girl that was interested in learning from some of the most notable Big Island high school football alumni.
While the event was free, campers were encouraged to bring one canned food item to the registration desk. All donated goods were sent to the Food Basket Inc. in Hilo. The camp was held at KSH’s campus in previous years, but it was ultimately decided to bring the event back to Kealakehe due to the high level of interest in Kailua-Kona.
The camp was founded by 2020 Kamehameha-Hawaii graduate Wilde Germano, assisted by former local football stars who played or currently play collegiately — such as Kilohana Haasenritter, Max Unger, Austin Ewing, Keoki Alani, Sean Randall, Tahi Lim, Teva Reynolds, Delson Decalio, Luke Kaniho, Kaelin Himphill, Ethan Ramos, Paniau Lindsey, Apu Alfiche, Dominic Trevino, Joe Pacheco, Daniel Masifilo, Kea Kekuawela, Layne DePeralta and Travis Lau. Kealakehe head coach Brian Hill also assisted campers.
Unger, an HPA alum, played center in the NFL from 2009-18, winning Super Bowl XLVIII with the Seattle Seahawks while also being named as a First Team All-Pro selection in 2012. Although Unger had a decorated professional career, he has never forgotten his roots of West Hawaii — where he first fell in love with the game during his childhood. Since retiring from professional football, Unger has served on HPA’s coaching staff.
“I think this camp is a showcase of how football can help you out as far as going to college and getting some money to go to college,” Unger told West Hawaii Today. “And that there’s opportunities to go play football at any level, and we’re trying to showcase that.
“You learn a lot of really important skills in football for later in life.”
While proud parents watched from the stands, elementary and middle schoolers worked on more of the basic fundamentals — splitting up by positions into quarterback, receiver, running back, defensive back and linebacker drills — along with some friendly competitions sprinkled in.
The high schoolers went through several drills that the camp’s coaches learned at the collegiate level — giving campers a chance to learn how the next level trains while also sharpening their skills for training camp, which starts next month for most BIIF programs.
“Not only do we want to give back to the kids, but we want to teach them as much as possible,” Germano said. “Some of these kids have never played before, but this is more of an instructional clinic, and everyone is able to compete here.”
The camp has come a long way since its first year. Prior to graduating from Kamehameha, Germano was tasked with creating a senior leadership project — and after two All-State and two All-BIIF selections at linebacker for the Warriors, he knew football was the best way he could feature his mentorship skills. Germano then created a middle school football tournament for his project, inviting players from all over the island and generating money for a local science club.
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“I knew the best way I could impact people was from football,” Wilde said.
Once Wilde got a taste of organizing a local event, he wanted to dream even bigger. After playing NCAA Division-II football at Colorado State University-Pueblo for two years, Germano, Haasenritter and former University of Hawaii running back and Nasjzaé “Mojo” Bryant-Lelei came together to form the camp in 2022, and the event continued to grow year after year.
Germano felt that Ho‘omau — which means to persevere, continue or endure in Hawaiian — was a perfect name for the camp due to the resilience that he and the rest of the coaches went through as Big Island athletes growing up, trying to earn a roster spot at a collegiate program. Wanting to give back to the community, Germano and the staff hope the campers will foster a mindset of never giving up.
“We want to teach them that it’s possible to make it from the Big Island,” Germano said. “You don’t have to go to Oahu or to the mainland to try to get a college scholarship, and (the staff and I) are proof that it can be done here. We just want to instill that belief in them.”
With the camp now widely known around the island, Germano hopes it can grow even more into the future. While nothing is set in stone, Germano wants to eventually incorporate workshops for the parents and invite local artists to perform a free concert for the keiki.
“The goal is to keep making it bigger and better every year,” Germano said.
As the camp evolves into the future, the level of dedication from the coaches that once walked in the campers’ shoes will always remain the same. It’s simply the way of life for the close-knit football community on the island.
And perhaps one day, the keiki can return the favor and give back, too.
“It takes a village to raise a boy, and every part of this island has given a hand in bringing me up, and I’m sure every coach here today can say the same thing,” Germano said. “Whenever we get a chance to give back by doing something football-related, it’s awesome.
“A lot of us coaches, if we didn’t play together, we played against each other, and it’s cool to come back and chatter about the old days.”
Haasenritter, who played defensive back for Oregon and Hawaii, echoed many of Germano’s thoughts — and was grateful for the opportunity to help at another camp.
“This is the vision that we had when we were younger,” he said. “It’s great to be back here and give back to the kids. We hope these kids go further than us in football, and always give back (to their community).”
