Na Alii coaches will wear the
school color on their head at this
week's state volleyball tournament
The coaching staff of the Aiea varsity girls volleyball team has been drawing a lot of attention recently for the way they look. And although it may not seem like it at first, the reason has everything to do with the state tournament-bound Na Alii (11-2).
"I've got a hundred double-takes, and then a lot of stares," said Aiea head coach Blythe Yamamoto, who is sporting new dark green streaks in her black hair.
"The ones that are brave enough to come up to me will ask me, 'Why is your hair green?' "
Yamamoto and the members of her coaching staff spent part of the weekend either at a salon or one of the players' home, getting their hair dyed Aiea's school color as part of a bet they made with their players earlier in the season.
Aiea coaches Blythe Yamamoto, Nicole Yanaga, Travis Higa and Jodi Tanabe-Hanzawa dyed their hair Na Alii's school color -- green.
"We shook on it," Yamamoto said. "It wasn't really to motivate the team, but it helped us to relax."
In the state tournament-clinching match against Roosevelt, Na Alii, ranked No. 7 in the Star-Bulletin Top 10, were trailing late in the third game.
"We said, 'I guess you'll have fuchsia eyebrows,' and everybody laughed," Yamamoto said.
That helped settle down the team as they came back to win the match.
With a team that has a core group of senior and junior leaders, by Monday the coaches didn't have to face the stares alone as many of the players also had green tips, streaks, or a head full of green tresses.
"If we did it, we thought maybe we could get the whole team to do it," said junior Lelani Kleman-Maeva.
The co-captain opted to go with the complete dye job.
"Just to do it as a team thing and go (to the tournament) and try to intimidate the other team," she said.
Green is more fun for Aiea coaches Blythe Yamamoto and Jodi Tanabe-Hanzawa as Na Alii head to Maui for the states.
"The thing that sets her apart is her work ethic," Yamamoto said of the 5-foot-10 outside hitter. "She works very hard at everything she does."
It was her work ethic and ability to lead that made Kleman-Maeva one of four team captains on the Aiea squad. With four sophomores and a freshman to go along with the experienced five seniors and two juniors, Yamamoto and assistant coach Travis Higa said it was difficult to start the season off smoothly.
"In the beginning, the freshmen and sophomores were completely lost," Higa said. "The older girls were yelling at them, telling them where to go and what to do. But they just kept on practicing, and caught on and started to push the older girls."
Tomorrow, Na Alii take on Hilo in the first round of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association state tournament held at King Kekaulike High School gym on Maui.
The team is hoping that perhaps the hair will cause the Vikings to do a double take.
"They might be paying more attention to that (the hair) in the beginning of the game," Higa said. "It might throw them off mentally and it might give us an advantage."
Though he was hesitant, Higa had his hair dyed by one of the players on Sunday, bleaching it first before turning all his hair bright green.
"When we go up there, any one of the 12 teams could win the state tournament. Anyone can get on a roll," Yamamoto said.
"We just want to go in and have fun, play as hard as we can, kind of be crazy. We're just going to leave it all out there."
