10 WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE
NELSON MAEDA
KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Nelson Maeda proved that "small man can" while coaching Castle High's football team this year. He posed recently with his children, 8-year-old Micah, left, Noah, 3, and Hailey, 9.
Football took on a significance extending far beyond wins and losses for Castle High School coach Nelson Maeda this year. Coach took wife’s
wish to heart
By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com
The game provided an outlet for Maeda's grief following the death of his wife as he led the Knights to one of the greatest seasons in school history.
The Star-Bulletin is spotlighting 10 people who have made a difference in the community during 2002. This year's 10 is a diverse group but all have one thing in common: Each had a devotion to their cause and made a profound impact on Hawaii.
Under the mantra of "small man can," Castle's team of undersized overachievers captured the Oahu Interscholastic Association championship and finished just one win shy of the state title.
Castle might have had a different leader had Maeda's wife, Jodi, not insisted that he continue coaching after she was diagnosed with cancer. Maeda had planned to step down to care for his wife, but heeded her wish that he stay with the team.
Jodi died early this year after fighting the disease for 18 months, leaving Nelson to raise their daughter, Hailey, 8, and sons, Micah, 7, and Noah, 3, while continuing to work as a counselor at Castle and coach of the football team.
The opening weeks of Castle's season provided little indication of what was to come as the Knights dropped three of their first four games. But the team managed to qualify for the OIA playoffs with a 4-3 league mark. That's when the fun really started.
Behind an opportunistic offense and a defense that prided itself on speed and tenacity, Castle survived the early rounds of the OIA playoffs and advanced to the league championship game to face Kailua, a team that defeated the Knights 20-0 earlier in the season.
With a steady drizzle falling at Aloha Stadium, Castle negated Kailua's size advantage with aggressive defense and scored touchdowns on a punt return, an interception return and off a blocked field-goal attempt to prevail 25-0 and claim the OIA crown.
Castle's roll continued into the Chevron State Football Championship with a 35-0 first-round win over Hawaii Preparatory Academy from the Big Island. The Knights then earned a shot at the state title by pulling out a 27-21 victory over McKinley in triple-overtime.
Castle then faced perennial power St. Louis in the state final, pitting Maeda against long-time friend Delbert Tengan, the first-year coach at St. Louis. The Crusaders finally halted Castle's postseason run with a 34-15 win to claim the title.
But by then, the Knights had already earned the respect of a state and given their coach a reason to believe he still had someone looking out for him.
