Waiakea High School will celebrate its 50th anniversary from September 26 through October 2, and looking through my photo archives reminded me how many Warrior moments I’ve been lucky enough to witness through my lens.

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Waiakea High School will celebrate its 50th anniversary from September 26 through October 2, and looking through my photo archives reminded me how many Warrior moments I’ve been lucky enough to witness through my lens.

I’ve photographed championships and heartbreaks, last-second baskets, Hilo-Waiakea battles, soccer headers, soggy fields—and more than a few times when I wished I had pressed the shutter a half-second earlier.

But some of my favorite photographs aren’t of championships or winning plays. They’re the little moments in between—the determination on an athlete’s face, teammates celebrating together, students having fun, and even senior softball players wearing tutus on one last trip around the bases.

Those pictures remind me that sports are about more than the final score. Years from now, somebody will look at one of these photographs and remember their teammates, their coaches and their school. They may not remember the score, but they’ll remember the friends beside them.

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Through it all, Waiakea’s coaches, athletes, students and staff have welcomed me onto the sidelines and given me a front-row seat to document a small piece of Warrior history.

Waiakea opened its doors in 1976. I wasn’t there with a camera that day, but somewhere along the way I landed on the Warrior sidelines—and they’ve had a hard time getting rid of me ever since.

These images are just a handful of Waiakea moments captured through my lens. There have been plenty of victories, some losses, more than a few out-of-focus shots—and, now and then, BIIF referee Mason Souza standing right in front of my camera.

But I wouldn’t trade my seat.

Happy 50th anniversary, Waiakea High School. Mahalo for the memories—and most of all, for giving this Ka‘u High Trojan a front-row seat to your Warrior history.

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