Ka‘ū High School Wahine Flag Football Underway
By Mark Peters
The Ka‘ū Trojan women’s flag football season has begun. This is the second year for the sport as an official Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) sport.
“The excitement and growth of flag football has certainly landed well here in Ka‘ū. The opportunities this sport is providing our girls are expanding with clubs, high schools, national teams, Olympic teams, colleges, and soon the NFL will launch a women’s professional league,” states Ka‘ū’s head coach Mark Peters.
“It is great to see how much fun our girls have playing a new sport. They show up ready to learn, and most who try it really seem to enjoy playing. Last year, it was all new to the team, but we have gained some valuable experience this offseason. Eleven of our players attended a four-day camp at Millersville University in Pennsylvania in June. We followed that up with playing as a club team in three tournaments, which included experience playing in 15 additional games.”
The Lady Trojans’ JV season started in January with three JV Jamborees, where the newer players gained valuable experience. The varsity season kicks off on Feb. 21 in Hilo against Kanu. Ka‘ū will host a home game this year on March 14.
“We are excited to play at home this year, as last year we played all our games on the road. It will be great to celebrate our seniors on the 14th and share this exciting sport with our community. There will be two other games played on our field that day,” coach Mark explained.
At the time of this story, the following girls are playing for this year’s team: Chazlyn Mukini, Alajshae Barrios, Megan Pierpont, Sky Pritchard, Chloe Abero, Lily Dacalio, Tenielle Blanco, Joslynn Eder, Tia Smith, Kyra Jacobson-Ebanez, Dhaylee Cabreros, Talia Wirtz, Jaycee Amaral, Jaylise Casuga, Ahlyna Flores, Aspyn Estrada, Caliyah Silva-Kamei, Krystal Eder, Shania Castle, and Roxie Castaneda.
Coach Mark stated he may pick up a couple of more girls once wrestling season ends. “I really like this group of girls and how they are driven to learn and grow. Last year, we made the Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) playoffs, which was a great foundational step. With the HHSAA now separating Division I and Division II schools, this year we are focused on making not only the BIIF playoffs, but also participating in the state tournament and making some noise. With this young team, I would expect we will get better with each game we play to be ready for the playoff grind in late April and early May.”
