Tiare Geolina can play all infield and outfield positions as well
as pitch and catch for the Hawaii Pacific softball team.
Photo by Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin

"That's me, said Tiare Geolina, starting left fielder on the NAIA's sixth-ranked Hawaii Pacific University softball team, which opens postseason play today in the Far West Regional in Azusa, Calif. "Whatever the team needs."

The Sea Warriors (27-10) are bidding for their fourth consecutive trip to the NAIA World Series and could get to Decatur, Ala., next week either as a regional champion or one of seven at-large teams. Geolina, a nursing major with a minor in psychology and a 3.55 GPA, is bidding for her second NAIA All-America scholar-athlete award.

Juggling school and softball requires a special kind of discipline, the kind Geolina learned growing up on Hickam Air Force Base. The scholar-athlete of the year at Radford High knew her ticket to college would have to be some type of scholarship, either athletic or ROTC.

"I wanted to go into nursing but it had to be on a scholarship," said Geolina. "My parents couldn't afford to send me to school and I didn't want to have loans. I wrote to many, many schools about their nursing and softball programs."

Hawaii Pacific coach Howard Okita was intrigued by Geolina's approach. In his eight years of collegiate coaching, he said it was the first time that a player from Hawaii expressed an interest in pursuing an education through an athletic scholarship.

"But Tiare is special, everything a coach could ask for," said Okita. "She's a good student, a humble person, and very disciplined. Nursing is a curriculum where the kids have a hard time getting to practice. But our feeling is our program is small college, geared more toward getting the education.

"Tiare always wants to do what is best for the team. She has a lot of maturity. Whenever there's an injury during practice, she's right there, seeing if she could put her knowledge to work."

On and off the field, Geolina has been worth her $10,600 annual tuition, which is $4,000 above the tuition for non-nursing majors. She tutors her teammates and, in what little spare time she has, works in a Niu Valley care home for the elderly.

"Tiare is such a good person and she works very hard," said senior center fielder Janell Isaacs, Geolina's teammate the past four seasons. "Some days, she's only out here for a half hour because of her major but she comes in, gets what she needs to do done, and brings so much enthusiasm the whole time."

Geolina has been the type to help out ever since her freshman softball season at Radford. The team needed a pitcher and, even though she had little experience, Geolina was out on the mound for the Rams.

"We needed someone who could just get the ball over the plate," she said. "At least I could do that."

On the All-America nomination form, Okita notes that Geolina was the team's top utility player with the ability to play all infield and outfield positions, as well as pitch and catch. He didn't mention her save, when Okita's 7-year-old granddaughter was injured while playing near the Hawaii Pacific's field, Geolina was the first to provide first aid.

Geolina expects to graduate in December, having gone to school year-round. After taking obstetrics classes, she decided she'd like to become a nurse/midwife.

"I'm just grateful that I had a chance to be part of the softball program while getting my education," said Geolina. "It does take a lot of discipline, in the sport and in the classroom. Days can be long and then you have to push yourself to go to practice. But it's been worth it. I have no regrets."