Dennis Sagawa was always willing to lend a hand to help and he kept serving the community for nearly four decades.
The Hilo dentist, BJ Penn, Reed Sunahara, and longtime Pahoa coach Frank Degele will be inducted into the Big Island Sports Hall of Fame Class for 2019.
Their unveiling of their photos on the BISHOF wall at Prince Kuhio Plaza will be held Sunday, Feb. 3 with an awards luncheon to follow at ‘Imiloa.
When Sagawa came back from dental school in 1980, he was an assistant Pop Warner coach. The head coach was Mayor Harry Kim, who was later hired at Waiakea.
“When Harry went to Waiakea, we all followed along,” Sagawa said. “That’s where I met Wil Okabe. I coached with him for one year with Harry. When Wil got the job at Pahoa, I couldn’t make practice, but I was involved with football. It all started with the mayor and finished with his managing director. That’s how I got started with football.”
When Sagawa and his wife Sandy had their two sons, Kevin and Ryan, his free time was spent on the baseball field.
“When Kevin was born and hit baseball age, I couldn’t sit back and watch and not put any time our there,” Sagawa said. “I couldn’t be sitting on my hands and putting my two cents in.”
When Kevin graduated in 2007, he followed the family practice and now works with his dad. Ryan, a 2009 Waiakea graduate, went a different way and became a graphic designer, who now works under the Verizon umbrella in New York.
“I joke that I brainwashed Kevin,” Sagawa said. “Ryan likes it in the Big Apple.”
With the boys out of the house, there was no time for empty nest syndrome.
Kevin’s classmates, Rory Inouye and Jensen Sato, were playing AJA baseball and Sagawa was asked to help out. Charlie Tamashiro and Hitoshi Oshiro were running the Corsairs, Sagawa’s weekends were full again.
“Jensen and Rory are Kevin’s good friends, and through them I came out and helped,” Sagawa said. “That’s what I did. I continued going.”
The hall induction made Sagawa reminisce and take a trip down memory lane, recalling the early influences in his coaching career.
He thought about Harry Kim and remembered it was never about winning. It was about character building, connecting and relating to people. Back then, Sagawa saw the same Old Harry everyone sees now.
“Harry was involved. He’s like that. He was a players’ coach. He ran a tight program,” Sagawa said. “He’s was like how he’s the mayor now. His coaching style was the same as the mayor. He wants to get things done. It’s a people person kind of thing.
“Wil was a good organizer. He’d get the best out of Pahoa football. Much like Harry, he was a players’ coach with discipline. He and Harry have a lot in common. They were more on character, rather than how well a team does.”
Through Waiakea boys assistant basketball coach Alan Kaneta, Sagawa found another sport.
“It was the same thing with Alan. He knew the fundamentals really well. But he was a really good coach on character,” Sagawa said. “I really learned a lot from him. In turn, he was good friends with Jimmy Yagi and Bill O’Rear. Through Alan, that’s how I got involved with basketball.
“All these coaches were good character coaches. Thinking back, they all had the same philosophy. Winning was OK, but it was how to carry yourself.”
Sagawa also had the good sense to give props to his wife Sandy, a constant positive presence at all his games.
“One thing that’s been really great is that she’s been there all along the way. She’s very supportive. When the boys were playing, she was a great team mom,” Sagawa said. “Whether it was high school or AJA, she doesn’t care if it was her son or not. All the players out there were her sons. I’m really happy about that.”
There’s baby watching duty now with Kevin and Tami’s son, Conner Sagawa. When he gets ready to swing a bat, Dr. Sagawa will be there to help as usual.
“I’ll let the father do that,” Sagawa said. “Grandma will be there and be a great team mom. I’ll be there to help out.”
