FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Brooke Calpito, Teri Wright and Erin Jenny helped the Kaneohe Canoe Club 18-and-under six-person crew to a victory in their heat yesterday at the Hui Wa'a Regatta at Keehi Lagoon.
North Shore emerges
The new canoe club is chipping
away at paddling's dynasties
The North Shore Canoe Club won its first regatta of the season, successfully hosted their own regatta two weeks ago and have quietly made a small dent in the dominance of one of the oldest clubs in the Na Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a racing association. Competing on its own is a decision it doesn't regret.
With a growing keiki contingent and a strong women's masters foundation, the North Shore Canoe Club has helped add a bit of parity to the Hui Wa'a this season. The club, founded in 1994 as an all-women's club began paddling with Koa Kai before joining forces in 1996 with Kalihi Kai. After seven years of racing together, the North Shore Canoe Club was granted membership as a new club in the Hui Wa'a association.
"It hasn't been too hard (to be our own club)," said head coach Cindy Kama. "It takes everyone working, every single club member doing their part to pull it off. It takes energy to pull it off.
"We wanted to grow our program. We wanted to be able to have kids crews which we have. Hopefully next year we'll have more."
The North Shore has 70 registered paddlers and has already experienced growth this season. In the Hui Wa'a season opener a month ago, it captured the A division (6-8 crews). Since the win, the North Shore has moved into the AA division (9-17 crews) and scored well despite entering only 10 crews in 36 races. The North Shore finished in third yesterday with 20 points. Koa Kai, which raced in 17 events, took the AA division with 36 points. Na Keiki O Ka Mo'i came in second with 26 points.
Lokahi won 10 races in the AAA division (18+ events) and scored a season-high 82 points to finally end its victory drought yesterday. Kaneohe, the winner in the first four regattas, also won 10 races but finished second with 75 points. Manu O Ke Kai was a distant third with 37 points.
The North Shore didn't win its division yesterday, but it prevented the other clubs from getting easy victories. For years, Kaneohe's youth have dominated the morning races and piled up enough points to carry the team in the afternoon when the Lokahi adults would dominate.
But the North Shore's 12-and-under girls crew (Courtney Matsukawa, Kacy Wilia, Crystal Hookano, Keana Grover, Jasmine Lagua, and Abcde Tantog) got the Haleiwa-based club started off on the right foot with a win in the first event of the regatta. The North Shore picked up two more wins (senior women's masters 50 and women's masters), a second (14-and-under girls) and a third (12-and-under mixed).
The victory in the 12-and-under girls race cemented the North Shore's growing presence in the youth races. The North Shore started the season with five youth paddlers. Since then the number has quadrupled with 20 kids competing for a limited number of spots.
"They were kind of disappointed in last week," said youth coach and second-year paddler Manford Realin. "They worked hard and got second last week. It made them work harder and be more focused during the week (of training)."
Hard work and teaching the Hawaiian culture are part of the North Shore's motto. Kama doesn't believe in stacking crews, that's not her coaching style.
"If you're a bigger club and you have more numbers, you can try to put together more competitive crews," Kama said. "My thing is to put together a competitive crew, yet still allow everybody to race. No one sits out in our club."
Kama's coaching touch is probably a trait passed down from her legendary great grandfather, who was one of the original founders of the Hui Nalu Canoe Club. Her grandfather, John D. Kaupiko Sr., taught her father, John D. Kaupiko Jr., and many others how to race.
Kama was a late-comer to racing. She didn't pick up her first paddle until she was 29. She raced competitively for more than 15 years before assuming head coaching duties in 1997.
