Got Junk fundraiser for Lānaʻi’s Halakahiki basketball players

Contributed by Nelinia Cabiles

The Halakahiki girls’ basketball team is a Lānaʻi club team made up of players ages nine to 17 from fourth through eleventh grades. The club functions as a feeder for the Lānaʻi High School girls’ basketball team. The team travels to Maui every weekend to play basketball against other club teams. These off-island games help players develop and improve skills; gain experience playing better, stronger, faster opponents than they; and learn to work as a team.

The club runs five to eight fundraising events a year, which cover travel and lodging costs (depending on destination and number of participants), as well as incidentals and snacks, and one or two meals.

Got Junk fundraiser, Sunday, April 6:

• 36 participants showed up, which included players and their parents/family
• Team started work at 7:45 a.m., unloading galvanized tin roofing, and ended at 12:15 p.m., offloading heavy appliances and miscellaneous items
• 51 pick-ups around town, organized by neighborhoods, ahead of Pūlama Lānaʻi’s E-Waste, Metal, White Goods Collection on Saturday, April 12
• Donations: $25 (minimum)
• Junk that was picked up: washer, dryers, refrigerators, freezers, stoves, TV screens, exercise equipment, tin roofing sheets, car tires, hulk of a car, fans, bikes, metal rods, barbecue grill
• Halakahiki inherited the fundraiser from the LHES wrestling team
• Fundraiser nets the team about $2,500-$3,000
• If anyone would like to donate, please send your donations to the LHES Foundation, Attn: Lānaʻi Ballers, P.O. Box 630633, Lanai City, HI 96763; or email mlkaukeano@gmail.com

Halakahiki’s summer season:

• June 5-9, Pacific Rim Championship, Honolulu. Three to four game brackets; about 32 Halakahiki players will participate
• June 24-July 2, End of Trail Shootout, Oregon City, Oregon; training with Matthew Conboy Basketball; a visit (tentative) to Portland State University; 20 participants
• August: Endless Summer Basketball Classic, Hilo, Hawaiʻi; players from middle school

MaryLou Kaukeano, Halakahiki coach, on what she finds most rewarding about coaching this team: I go to practice and make all the arrangements for these trips and fundraisers. Christian Yumol and Gina Anton do most of the coaching. I throw my two cents in every now and then. We can’t forget Elmer Agtarap, who also brought up these young girls over the last two years.

The life lessons Kaukeano hopes to instill in this team: Learn how to be competitive and have fun and get along with your teammates. One day you will be going to school [college] or a job and you will be able to use these lessons to get ahead.