The Piopio Bears held a signing ceremony for seven club members on Saturday at Hilo Armory, and Kailee Kurokawa led off, which meant things quickly took an emotional turn.
She looked down at the dozen or so little Bears and offered inspiring words and then listened to her Piopio teammates, whom Kurokawa values more as sisters.
“Do what you love, act with kindness and realize anything is possible,” said the Hilo senior and All-BIIF first-team setter, who signed an academic scholarship with Seattle University. “Whatever path you choose to take in life, do it with 100 percent dedication, hard work, and love.”
Piopio Bears coach Laura Thompson knew what was coming, a reason she tabbed Kurokawa to speak first.
“Kailee cries at everything for happy and sad things, and when she cries, the entire team tends to follow,” Thompson said.
Hilo’s Kawai Ua and Waiakea’s Anela Navor signed with Treasure (Ore.) Valley; Hilo’s Lexi Paglinawan with Southwestern Oregon; Waiakea’s Jordyn Hayashi with Ithaca (N.Y.) College; Waiakea’s Jazz Alston with Pacific Lutheran; and Hawaii Prep’s Madi Lee with Whitman.
The Seattle University Redhawks are in the WAC, the only Division I school among the seven Bears. Ithaca, Pacific Lutheran, and Whitman are Division III, and Treasure Valley and Southwestern Oregon are jucos.
“Our team’s bond is really close,” Kurokawa said. “My teammates are more like sisters, and they are what truly inspires and drives our entire team to work our hardest and try our best. Volleyball wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for the connection our team has with each other.”
Kurokawa had offers from eight other schools, including Linfield and Lewis and Clark, both part of the Northwest Conference. She could have been rivals with Alston and Lee again. But Seattle U. had an offer the 5-foot-9 Kurokawa couldn’t refuse, a mutual attraction that benefited both parties.
To start off, she was blessed with good advice and support from her parents (Kevin and Wendy Kurokawa), who put an emphasis on education, and provided a strong sporting bloodline.
It helps that athleticism runs in the family. Her brother Kian Kurokawa played baseball and graduated from Puget Sound. Her first cousin is former UH-Hilo pitcher Jordan Kurokawa, and another cousin is Waiakea junior Stone Miyao, a Hawaii verbal commit.
As one of Hilo’s valedictorian with a healthy resume of community service, Kurokawa sat in the driver’s seat when it came time to pick a college. She’s heavily loaded on both sides of the student-athlete ledger.
She plans to major in nursing and become an oncology nurse practitioner. Kurokawa applied to six schools that had nursing programs and got accepted to all of them.
“I didn’t want to choose a school just to continue my volleyball career,” she said. “The school, location, size, and programs had to match what I wanted.”
Kurokawa emailed Seattle U., which replied its interest, and the Redhawks did a background check, calling Piopio to inquire about her as a player and person.
“As a setter, I think she’s close to being one of the best to come out of Hilo, and we have had some great ones, but she has great hands and is very smart with her decision-making,” Thompson said. “She’s effective all the way around as a hitter, blocker, digger, passer, and setter. She’s not the tallest player, but she definitely makes up with it in the way she plays.”
But, perhaps, her best skill is being a good teammate. Kurokawa helps the younger Bears at their practices, especially the 14s team that will travel to Anaheim, Calif., in the summer.
“She plays with them on the court and answers any questions they might have about traveling, recruiting, and how she became successful,” Thompson said. “We focus on performing as a team and, win or lose if everyone can walk out of the gym saying that they gave it everything they had then they were still successful. Kailee really does play with heart all the time.”
That’s another reason Thompson picked her to speak first — Kurokawa has always followed her own advice.
