Last Wednesday, Kel Lee was smiling even though he was a bit disappointed being a little late to Keaau’s football practice.
The first-year Cougars assistant coach doesn’t like to be late even if it’s a few minutes. It couldn’t be helped because his job as a Hele-on bus driver kept him busy.
Lee, who coached the Puna Panthers to the Pop Warner midget (ages 12-15) championship last November, was still smiling.
He’s in a perpetual good mood. And he’s always smiling. That’s his nature, and the way he approaches life and his style of coaching.
The 59-year-old longtime Pop Warner coach has always wanted to join the BIIF ranks, but never found the right time or opening.
He got a good push from Keaau junior varsity coach Reed Hakoba, a pal from Pop Warner. Lee met Keaau coach Kalei Young and a nice harmony was discovered.
Young comes from that same branch of coaching: positive, encouraging, and always talking and teaching.
“Coach Kel has got a lot of wisdom, and he brings a lot of experience and excitement to our staff,” Young said. “There are a lot of Puna Panthers here and they know him and that makes them more comfortable.”
There are 17 Puna Panthers who are now Keaau Cougars, including three on the varsity in Dilan Santos, Jonah Drummondo-Rodrigues and Greyson Haskell.
A lot of the standout champion Panthers are on Keaau’s JV team, including Junior Santiago, Emelio Acia, Kamalei Cabral, Noa Kaleiwahea, Iokepa La‘a, and Patrick Mears.
Looking at Keaau’s JV players on the Cougar Stadium field brought back a lot of fond memories for Lee, whose Panthers took down the undefeated Westside Eagles 20-18 for the title.
“Last year was special because of the storm,” he said. “The Puna Panthers are 7 years old today (from last Wednesday). A couple of the players have been with me since Day 1 when they were 6 years old.”
Tropical storm Iselle hit the Puna district last August and made life difficult for the Panthers to attend practice. But they still managed to show up.
Then in October, Hurricane Ana dumped heavy rain on the Big Island, and that was followed by the lava flow later in the month, which closed some schools.
Lee had quite a six-year run with the Panthers: two championships (Pee Wee division), two third-place finishes, and two fourth-place finishes.
“I’ve never coached for championships,” he said. “I’ve coached for 30 years and the key is hard work. The word ‘Love’ is huge for me and ‘ohana’ is huge for me. I don’t yell. I want to instill calmness in everybody, the parents and especially the kids.
“When you do that they play better. I’m coaching grandsons now. These kids keep me young.”
Keaau had a whopping 74 players on the JV roster and was forced to make cuts.
A year ago, the Cougars combined their JV and varsity teams four games into the season, and finished 0-8 in the BIIF Division I standings.
That was the same record in Keaau’s debut season in the BIIF in 2001. Four years later, the Cougars played and lost to Kealakehe in the BIIF championship.
Depth is by no means a guarantee to a BIIF title. (The Cougars have not won a BIIF crown.) But a large roster is always useful because competition always brings out the best, even among teammates fighting for a starter’s job.
What Lee really enjoys is watching his youngsters grow up with the structure of football. He looks at the gridiron as a train track to help steer kids in the right direction.
He’s a good example of that with his job.
“I know all the people on my routes. My mom told me to always be nice to people, especially your elders,” he said. “You have to respect the senior citizens and take care of them. I’ve known Barbara Alvarez for a long time. She’s Junior Santiago’s grandma.
“Playing with the Puna Panthers, football has changed Junior’s life. He’s a better student and person. It’s a life lesson for the kids. We want them to work hard, be humble, and become good people. Coaching high school football is a dream come true for me.”
