Q&A: Catching up with Saint Louis football coach Cal Lee

Saint Louis coach Cal Lee has the Crusaders on a 26-game winning streak. Photo by Jamm Aquino/Star-Advertiser.

The announcement about St. Francis closing its high school (and middle school) doors at the end of the academic year has a far-reaching ripple effect.

Several private schools informed the students of St. Francis about application fees that will be waived, and more. Cal Lee, coach of three-time defending Open Division state football champion Saint Louis, would seem to be a possible option for St. Francis standouts Faaope Laloulu, Bubbah Aina-Chaves and Shepherd Kekahuna, among others including public schools. Tuition cost is a huge factor.

Laloulu, a 6-foot-7, 340-pound left tackle, has scholarship offers from Arizona, BYU, Hawaii, Oregon, San Diego State and USC. Aina-Chaves, an explosive RB/LB, has rushed for 2,935 yards and 32 TDs in two seasons. He has averaged 9.4 yards per carry.


Lee chatted with Hawaii Prep World on Wednesday afternoon.

HPW: After talking with Ope and Bubbah, it sounds like nothing is really set for them after this school year.

Lee: I’m sure they’ve got to finish up the school year and it’s hard to talk about where you will be, but it’s something you have to plan.

HPW: Bubbah has mentioned that he prefers to be in an environment with no distractions away from school.

Lee: Once you get off the campus, that’s so important.

HPW: There have been other student-athletes who came to Saint Louis after their schools closed doors.

Lee: It’s too bad that all these players have to break up and go their separate ways after playing together, but sometimes things happen for a reason and good things will happen no matter where they go. These players will help any school they decide to go to after coming of an undefeated season.

HPW: Can you talk about what the process would be like for someone applying at Saint Louis, transferring in from St. Francis? There are a lot of schools that are providing some help at least in the application process.

Lee: The waiving of the application fees is something, but somebody said they were going to get the same cost at another school that they had at St. Francis. If it’s $10,000 and the school was $15,000, that doesn’t make sense.

HPW: The costs of private-school education keep going up. In the old days, back a half-century, some private schools waived tuition for three-sport athletes who worked on campus. Now, nobody gets a break like that.

Lee: I don’t know anything about it. Whatever the tuition is, you’ll pay, and there’s financial aid and need, that’s for everyone. You’ve got to be able to come up with some money, it’s not free. You don’t want to get a kid and his family in a bind. If they can make it happen, fine. I can’t tell a kid to come here and play football, my goodness. It’s more than football. I think ‘Iolani, Punahou, Saint Louis, if you want to come there, you’ve got to pay for it.

HPW: I don’t know how parents do it except by getting a second and third job. Even with a 50-percent discount, that’s still $800, $900 a month for tuition. Or more at the bigger schools.

Lee: Really honestly, I never recruited one kid to come here and get stuck financially. You try and help them like everyone else. If they can, they can. If they cannot, nothing wrong with that. I’d like to go to Stanford, I’d like to, but I can’t afford it.

HPW: I”m hearing that tuition, room and board at USC is now $75,000 per year.

Lee: I don’t know how they do it. I was fortunate, my boy (Jonathan) worked at his school (Oregon) and that helped. He didn’t play, but he got an education and now he’s teaching. Football doesn’t last forever.

HPW: During the past few weeks and months, I’ve gotten to talk with a lot of football players about games and getting recruited. I’ve mentioned to some of them how you toss out big jugs of Muscle Milk to your guys.

Lee: Chocolate is big. They love chocolate.

HPW: There are also a bunch of Crusader football players who also play on the Division I basketball team for Coach Sol Batoon. Have you watched them play?


Lee: Oh yeah. Ben Scott, (Nick) Herbig, Liloa (Kapiko). He just signed with San Diego State. They were just up here. He was kind of waiting around. I told him, don’t wait too long. The other guys playing basketball are Nalu (Liftee), Junior Wily and Jayden (de Laura). And AJ (Bianco). He’s a freshman.

HPW: Who’s the best basketball player among them?

Lee: I like Junior, he’s played a lot of basketball. He played much more than the other guys.

HPW: What does your brother Ron (Lee, offensive coordinator) do in the winter?

Lee: He comes up and looks at film every day. From about 1 o’clock to about 3:30 p.m. He’s here.

HPW: Even now? Would you say he is obsessed or addicted to football?

Lee: He’s addicted and obsessed. I’ve known since we were kids. When I was like 9, he was always the guy watching. He’s older than me, then we played against each other. He was at Saint Louis, I was at Kalani. I followed him up to Willamette. We’ve been there, came back, coached together at Kaiser, Saint Louis, UH and back to Saint Louis.

HPW: Plus the AFL Hawaiian Islanders and Kalani High School. So Coach Ron is there two, three days a week?

Lee: He is here five days a week.

HPW: Is he looking at a variety of video from all kinds of teams, or is it just Saint Louis?

Lee: He’s looking at a variety of things, but it’s all Saint Louis footage.

HPW: Does he watch individual receivers or backs on tape expecting improvement? Does he look for them to apply what they’re being taught at practice? Or is he just looking at schemes and other things.

Lee: That’s what he’s doing. He talks to the kids and tells them what they’ve got to do to get better. He knows what they can do, but do they want to be the same or get better?

HPW: Especially when there are plenty of teams who might outwork the defending state champions this offseason.

Lee: We know what we’ve got to do.

HPW: So what happens if Coach Ron sees certain players not really taking instructions, not getting better at running a certain route, or executing a certain way?

Lee: They won’t be playing, but it’s fortunate that the kids really want to get better. They don’t want to come here and kill time. You can see it in their faces. The bar is real high and the competition is there.


HPW: Do you see some of your guys on the field working out?

Lee: It’s early and we’ve got some time off, and there’s no organized practice, but we have a few kids that are on the field on their own throwing and catching. I’m not going to tell them not to do it. Some young ones and some older ones, not playing any winter sports. They’re in the weight room.

COMMENTS

  1. notes January 23, 2019 7:58 pm

    “Lee: Really honestly, I never recruited one kid to come here and get stuck financially.”

    look how specific this “coach” is. He flat out admits to recruiting his players. he may not have recruited one kid to go to STL and get stuck financially, but what about all the other kids he recruited with “financial aid” packages??? Of course STL was buzzing around st francis campus like vultures trying to pick off the best players and recruiting them. those kids should go back to their community schools where they belong!

    this interview is flat out evidence of “coach” cal lee admitting to recruiting


  2. ??? January 23, 2019 8:29 pm

    The only ones that don’t believe St Louis Academy Recruits is in Denial.
    Ask all the former all state players from Mayor Wright Housing how they was able to afford STL tuition and none of them would say my parents paid for it.. NONE !!
    Why doesn’t HPW just ask Cal straight up about his recruiting & settle this debate once and for all?


  3. Marauder January 23, 2019 8:33 pm

    Cmon coach all us parents know. Alumni offers me to pay my son tuition to play for you. Sounded good but my son gets playing time, enjoys the game, and no waiting. He gets a better education where he is at.


  4. T103 January 23, 2019 9:27 pm

    @ Notes @ ???. U guys are seriously crazy. U two, well theres more of you, but you two (b/c u posted on this blog) are soooo hung up on this whole ordeal. Who the heck cares? Like no, seriously? who in the world cares? Just you two, and whoever else posts up the same kinda rhetoric on similar stories. I think u guys might be creating more health problems for yourselves being so stressed out about this, its such a huge deal for u guys. private schools recruit, who the heck gives a rip. I’m happy you stuck to ur guns and never let your own kids go to a private school to play for them which might give them better recognition to get ANOTHER scholarship to a college to get a degree and further their education. Way to stand ur ground, but alas, u can’t tell anyone else how to parent their kids so u mine as well just keep your thoughts to yourself. If you guys have no concept of doing whatever it takes to give ur kids a better chance at a better future then man, I’m super glad u aren’t my parents. if you feel that for your own flesh and blood kids that its better to go to a certain school, then so be it. If your gonna call st Louis on “recruiting” then u best be naming every other dang private school by name cuz they all do it, unless you just got so much hate and biased towards St. Louis. At least own your bias and hate, if there is no bias or hate, then call all the private school out by name. But truth is, do u know how many “doors” open b/c of name? How many more opportunities in the world students get b/c of the school they graduated or are associated with? Thats just life man, ain’t nothing u can do bout it. Bitch and moan all u want, but it ain’t gonna change and just unfortunate that you didn’t have that opportunity. For all those students who get to go to a private school, recruited or not, I wish you the best, make the most of it, for those students who “stay in their community” I wish u the best too. Just hope that the younger generation can be be ok with other peoples success unlike “Notes” and “???”.


  5. Good Story January 23, 2019 10:09 pm

    Daaannnggg…looks like someone hit a nerve.


  6. Coach C January 23, 2019 10:49 pm

    Lol. Tosses out Muscle Milk. I have lived in public housing. No way a family on public assistance can pay $1500. @month for private school.


  7. ILH January 24, 2019 6:56 am

    Reasons for Stl.sucess:
    *Great coaching ( not all ,jus a few)
    *Top level athletes(some recruited ,some go there on there own)
    *Athletes getting held back a year (Huge game changer)


  8. Robocop January 24, 2019 8:42 am

    Good morning cry babies. You say no family on public assistance can afford $1500/month well it isn’t $1500/month. Plus I live a few minutes away from KPT and I see all the 40k SUVs come in and out of there. They can make sacrifices if they want to. You guys (or 1 guy) live for these St Louis articles so you can be anonymous and talk trash while they smoke your team on the football field in real life. Who gives a crap if Cal recruits or doesn’t. If your school recruited and won titles you would not be complaining about “staying home”. Recruiting isn’t illegal. But keep crying I’m sure it will help your community somehow. Losers


  9. Coach C January 24, 2019 9:38 am

    Lol, I live a couple of minutes away from MWH,KPT,K4H,KVH, Halawa ,etc. The stores around them places accept EBT for cigs and beer. It’s a good place to farm huge kids. All HS programs do it. When will they come and offer scholarships for intellectual gifted children?


  10. Hawaii Spokesman January 24, 2019 11:24 am

    put it this way if saint louis recruits, who cares, thats y they are national ranked and thats why they dominate high school football in hawaii. Just face reality people, you guys are more out there to criticize a school that represents the state of hawaii in a big way. Look at the national attention they get. Why not be happy for them, representing hawaii which puts recruiting for college and help other kids at other schools also. Supposed to be backing up the hawaii people not going against them regardless what school they from. Saint Louis helped lots of schools rise on a national level here on hawaii and made football more competitive here. Shame on all you people who out here to criticize.


  11. kimo January 24, 2019 11:43 am

    4 peat

    Marist ways that is what makes champion!

    KALAEPOHAKU 4 LIFE!


  12. GA Bulldog January 24, 2019 12:02 pm

    Isn’t Notes, ???, Go Figure and ILH the same person? Small kine schizophrenia but its all good whatever works for all of you!


  13. Getting WHOOPED! January 24, 2019 3:05 pm

    Recruit dis, Recruit dat! Cry all u like. All u adults that got whooped by St. Louis in the 80s/90s are now going to witness your son/sons friend/nephew/neighbors son etc get the same kind of whooping y’all took and theirs nothing y’all can do about it. Lol. Next 5 years at least the Koa Trophy stays at Kalaepohaku.


  14. ??? January 24, 2019 3:37 pm

    Recruiting is legal & fine in the ILH but it’s the few Cocky alumni that come on here & brag about beating up on public schools or lesser ILH teams.
    STL recruits & holds kids back a grade to get bigger, faster, stronger so you should win every year no surprise!
    It’s funny how you never hear those same cocky people bragging about beating Bishop Gorman, De La Selle & St John Bosco? Oh wait, that’s because those teams wooooooooooped STL; why? Because they also recruit, and hold kids back legally!
    Go figure, NUFF SAID !!!!


  15. T1034life@yahoo.com January 24, 2019 6:23 pm

    Dear ???, once again just own up to your strong dis-like of St. Louis, man up brah, and just say u biased and we can be done with it. If the article above already stated for ur satisfaction about recruiting, then please admit for yourself that u hate st Louis through and through. But also let it be known that I know students from all diff private schools who got held back for whatever reason. Ask around from those who attended, or attend or send their children to private school, it’s NOT un-common for a kid. guy or girl, to be held back one year wen entering private school from public school. If u test into 9th and ur 8th grade ,they often hold um back a year, even in elem school, I’ve heard this scenario plenty of times so get a freakin grip man gee wiz. It’s not only with sports, so what?!, the parents who hold their kids back in elem repeating a certain grade over in private school, are u gonna go ahead and say that they held them back so they could get smarter then their other classmates so they can win the math bowl for the 10th time in a row, or bring the science trophy back to the campus? seriously, whats wrong with you? HUGE CONSPIRACY, call a press conference, take an ad out on the radio and television and newspaper! Plead your cause! DO WHATEVER IT TAKES SO THAT ALL MAY KNOW THAT ST LOUIS AND ONLY ST LOUIS AND NO OTHER PRIVATE SCHOOL RECRUITS OR HOLDS ANY OTHER STUDENTS BACK IN ORDER FOR THEM TO GROW BIGGER, FASTER, STRONGER, AND KEEP THE TITLE ON THE SLOPES OF KALAEPOHAKU FOREVER!!!! AND THAT ALL OTHER SCHOOLS MAY GET BEATEN UP BY ST LOUIS AND ONLY ST LOUIS IN FOOTBALL BUT LETS NOT TALK ABOUT KAHUKU RECRUITING FOR BASKETBALL, BUT THATS NONE OF MY BUSINESS!!! LOL (how u figure, a student somehow enrolls at Kahuku for the time period of basketball season only, and then somehow “transfers” back to a different state or country for that matter?? But hey, none of my business yea?


  16. suspense January 25, 2019 6:44 am

    my daughter in grade 4 in a private school switched to another private school, which accepted her only as a grade 4 again. all because of her age; nothing to do with athletics or academics. their criterion was more appropriate to be within age group. at both schools, she was honor student.


  17. Just Wondering January 25, 2019 12:06 pm

    Just wondering…why would a kid, who lives in the Kahuku area, want to get up at 5:30 in the morning to travel into town to go to school, play sports, then end up driving back to the Kahuku area at 7 pm, stay up and study, and finally go to bed around 10, only to do it again in the morning, when he could just get up at maybe 7, and go to his high school in the area, that starts class at 7;45?? On top of that, have to fork out for gas and tuition, when he can go to a school that has no tuition…is it due to a choice that he and his parents make, or is he strapped to a tree and beaten to a pulp to be forced to go to that school in town (whether it be Punahou, Saint Louis, Kamemehameha)..just wondering…


  18. T103 January 25, 2019 7:03 pm

    @ just wondering, I think it’s a conspiracy, I think they are being forced by the powers that be. It’s against their will… we must help all those young kids who have no other choice but to attend private schools in town against their wishes, hopes, and dreams…


  19. ??? January 25, 2019 7:34 pm

    @ T1034life@yahoo.com
    Geez, why you neva just write one book already😂😂😂😂
    Sorry I hit a nerve but the truth hurts!
    See you next Football season 🤙🏽


  20. notes January 25, 2019 10:33 pm

    LOL “kids get held back all the time!” so funny how at STL, seems like the only kids that get held back are on the football team. but must be a coincidence, right? it’s not like we didn’t have “coach” cal lee on this blog flat out admitting that he is destroying high school football and public school by recruiting for STL. “Coach” cal buys championships. FACT.


  21. ??? January 26, 2019 9:48 am

    @ T1034life@yahoo.com
    Why don’t you tell Cal Lee to “Man up” and win a state title coaching at an OIA school ?


  22. ??? January 26, 2019 1:30 pm

    @Notes
    You on point again!
    Nobody from the STL Band has ever been held back to get better at playing the Flute or Tuba for an extra year.
    😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂


  23. CynHyn January 26, 2019 6:25 pm

    Lol, basketball Kahuku? Keep on track haters.


  24. notes January 26, 2019 8:46 pm

    now that all the ILH haters have hard evidence of “coach” cal lee recruiting and destroying high school football, they all of a sudden got REALLY quiet. where you guys at? oh yeah. recruiting from our neighborhoods and backyards to keep your private “schools” open


  25. T103 January 26, 2019 10:05 pm

    @notes @???. You know what hits my nerves is the fact that your nerves get hit every single article that even mentions st. Louis period. I can bet my life savings that there will be some type of comment along the lines of 1. st Louis cheats.. 2. st Louis recruits. 3. st Louis buys titles or something along those lines. absolutely right “FACT” that it bothers me, ur like a broken record cuz u guys are so mento,. Only reason I chime in cuz you ALWAYS buys always post some comment about it. And u never even say out loud or consider that all the other private schools recruit as well, maybe not for football but for other sports as well. I swear. u can’t even say that Punahou doesn’t recruit. somehow ur flavor of hateorade is strictly St. Louis flavor. Ask any faculty member at ANY private Schoo if students of all ages get held back and then ask them if it’s strictly to play sports, and then ask st Louis if every single dang student that gets held back is STRICTLY for football? The answer is freakin NO as a previous poster mentioned earlier. And I mention Kahuku basketball program b/c the kukai show the past couple of years, w the “fact” that students transfer from other countries right before basketball season and then magically disappear back to their country after basketball season is finish, coincidence? I would LOVE to hear you approach the parents in your community who send their kids private school, what would u say to them? and wen they reply that they just are doing what they think best for their child, what u going say bra? Take it a step further, call them out by first and last name on this blog? throw them under the bus! make your cause known u donkey.
    1. private schools probably do recruit, what u going do about it? Nothing, all u going do is grumble.
    2. Parents send their kids to whatever school they think is gonna give them a better opportunity for their future what you going do about it? nothing, cuz u can’t do crap about it, that ain’t ur freakin kid, so get over it.
    Thats why it strikes a nerve with me, cuz you guy consistently say the same argument over and over again, article after article but u can’t do kukai about it, and u can’t even just generally say private schools as a whole recruit for whatever reason u only pin point St. Louis. Not once did u even mention Punahou and their dynasty of boys Vball titles, or punahou and their illustrious titles of track & filed, or swimming & diving. if you all gonna hate, at least hate fait and square and equally all around.

    I will give you this, Kahuku has the most amazing fan base I have ever seen in my life, u guys will travel across the island to support ur teams. But the fact that you can’t even be supportive for one of your own from your community doing something that they think will better themselves for their future & the future of their families, or even be happy for their success with another team thats not your own is just sad. Your love for them isn’t unconditional, it’s totally based on condition if they play for your community or not.


  26. notes January 26, 2019 10:41 pm

    oh! T103! you must be back from your recruiting trip with “coach” cal! I hope you found more athletes to poach from not only community schools like Kahuku or mckinley or any other OIA school but st francis too. the fact is every school recruits but nobody did more to destroy the competitive balance of high school football than your best friend “coach” cal and he even admits it in this article. FACT

    FACT: Punahou recruits because of course they do. they started recruiting in the mid 2000s because they know that the whole “education” excuse for private school is all a sham. private “schools” in the ILH can only stay open because of the money the football teams bring in. they gotta recruit or why the hell would anybody pay all that money just to go to some “school” with a sorry football team? there’s more to school than just academics

    FACT: the ILH should disband. send all the kids back home to their community schools and refund them all the tuition money their parents wasted on “education.” let them know the truth that when you play for kahuku, you earn your championship rings for yourself, your family, and the community you grew up in. we rooted not recruited.

    FACT: “schools” like STL talk about “Brotherhood” but all they do is buy players and championships.

    FACT: STL not winning every year even though they steal the best talent in the whole state shows you how good the coaching staff is there


  27. Suspense January 27, 2019 9:13 am

    Punahou football recruiting goes way……………………………..back; probably, before you were born.


  28. T103 January 27, 2019 10:01 am

    @notes. I personally don’t even care about sports tbh, I never played so it was never my priority. I don’t even know him personally, never met him, never even said hi b/c I have never come in contact with him, if I saw him on the street I would recognize him but no communication with him whatsoever. Glad any student in any sport at any school gets a chance to learn discipline and work ethic, and team dynamics etc etc. Heres the deal, I’m sorry if you disagree, but thats a narrowed view of private schools. To say that all private schools are pushing their football programs with recruiting to win titles just for the sake of staying open is really ridiculous. Iolani, mid-pac, Kamehameha, sacred hearts, Damien, HBA, Le Jardin, all ain’t pushing football programs. It IS about education, I’m sorry but if u drop the name of the private school that you graduated from, it opens doors and gets you connections, thats just the way it is in the real world after high school. Drop the name of Punahou or Iolani or Kamehameha and you get connections, try drop the name Kahuku and all your associated with is football. Thats not fair though bc majority of the student body at Kahuku isn’t a football player, same thing with St. Louis, majority of the student population isn’t on the football team, so much more to the students at Kahuku & St. Louis then just football. And sad to read your line about ” theres more to Schoo then just academics”. I think every good educator and parent knows its the opposite way around. Theres more to school then just sports. Of all the high school athletes, majority of them don’t go on to play college, and of those that do, a fraction go on to play professionally, so what happens then? You have nothing to fall back on if you don’t have a solid foundation of education, or just connections from name dropping per say. For you, is winning high school football titles all that it is? Can you confidently say that there isn’t anything more then a balanced high school football system in hawaii? The kids that choose to go St. Louis, play on the team, get recognized by colleges, get scholarship offers from good EDUCATIONAL schools, might not have the same offers if they were to stay in their communities and play for their own local schools. But I’m sorry that you can’t see that. As a parent, shouldn’t you do anything and everything to give you child the best opportunity for his or her future?

    By far this is your train of thought and your angle that you always come from in any of your comments and I’m really bummed that you can’t see beyond this.

    “FACT: the ILH should disband. send all the kids back home to their community schools and refund them all the tuition money their parents wasted on “education.” let them know the truth that when you play for kahuku, you earn your championship rings for yourself, your family, and the community you grew up in. we rooted not recruited.


  29. ??? January 27, 2019 6:53 pm

    @T1034life@yahoo.com
    Look at my posts from years ago, I have always said ALL ILH recruiting is unfair!! Not just STL.
    But you prove you are the Narrow minded one by saying kids will get further in life with ILH hook ups? So if you come from Waianae or Kahuku you’re screwed? C’Mon!!! Like no college will recognize you if you don’t play for an ILH sports team? C’Mon. If you no like other peoples opinions don’t join a blog🤷🏽‍♂️


  30. notes January 27, 2019 7:21 pm

    LOL your anti-public school bias is showing. “education.” like the “education” the kids get when they go mercenary and learn that loyalty and community pride doesn’t matter. family doesn’t matter. splitting communities doesn’t matter. because at the end of the day, all you do is name drop your private “school” that is doing all it can to destroy public school football and you will get a great job. but not like private school! idk about you but that’s a sad sad world


  31. T103 January 27, 2019 7:55 pm

    @notes Lets me be fair, its up to the individual student to make it what it is at any school. Absolutely there are success stories from both private and public schools, there are non-success stories from both private and public schools. Students who go to private schools for majority understand that it costs a lot of $ for their parents to send them, and for the most part have better opportunities b/c of those connections, thats just the way it is, I don’t even know what to tell u. I know students from both private & public with huge success and not so great lives after graduation. So what do u say to the student athletes who went private school, made it to professional level, and came back and gave back to their communities? Did that split up the community? Was that charity case? Is it a case of “oh poor them, let me just throw all of them people a bone”? It’s not about name dropping, its about the fact that connections pay a huge role, and part of it is what school u graduated from. Like it or not, if a person is looking to hire someone, they will play more close attention to an applicant who graduated from the same school then a diff school, thats life plain and simple. And if you are saying that private schools are doing everything in their power to destroy public school football thats absurd. Thats actually laughable. its a combo of both doing sports at a school that has a name that is recognized to play at the next level and the connections u get from graduating there, sorry u feel the victim, it is the way it is. I’d be interested to know if u would completely pass if ur child was given the opportunity to go to a private school tuition free, and play whatever sport to possibly be recruited by a college that your kid would get to go for free for 4 years? Free education for 8 full years, would u pass it up ? or would u rip apart ur community by accepting that offer?
    @??? If you go to a private school ur chances increase for connections thats all I’m saying. There are brilliant students are both private and public, but to be honest, top companies tend to look at private schools over public schools. Thats life…..


  32. ??? January 28, 2019 7:42 am

    @T1034life@yahoo.com
    WOW, where do you get your information from? “Top companies look at private schools more than public”😂 You must have really went to STL to think like that😂
    Companies look for College degrees, work experience or who you know! (Real World)
    What rock have you been living under? You can have a G.E.D and still have a college degree so tell me how high school education is relevant in that situation??


  33. notes January 28, 2019 8:04 pm

    T103 you keep bringing up irrelevant things. FACT: “Coach” Cal Lee just admitted to the entire planet that STL engages in recruiting. this recruiting is and always has been targeted by ILH to raid the public school communities of their best football players to raise the prestige of the ILH schools. who cares if their mercenary players go to college come back and do whatever.

    you and your family has never gone through a recruiting battle and how the families get torn apart when the recruiters come with their scholarship offers and how the community is stung by losing to a school filled with your own players. you never gone through the experience of having to choose some b.s. promise of “education future” and proudly representing your hometown and the people and family you are closest to.

    FACT: the ILH doesn’t care about that. “coach” cal just recruit recruits recruits.then he laughs at us in interviews like this, then he uses brainwashed ILH people to defend the corrupt system he created. you have public school families cheering against the schools they played for. this is the football that ILH wants


  34. network January 29, 2019 7:32 am

    These Kahuku haters is hilarious. And whats funny is, these guys complaining probably never even played lol. So sad. Jealous Jealous jealous. Saint Louis will repeat to a 6 peat lol. Please keep smashing these OIA schools and make it a traditional thing again so the pain goes away for these guys and they get used to it that Saint Louis , yes dominates hawaii football , not kahuku. Kahuku trying to live in saint louis’s shadows but cant , infact cant even come close. lol


  35. ILH January 29, 2019 8:00 am

    Just wondering why I never hear people, who share the same view as you do, ever crucify those from your community who have benefitted from going to these private schools. If it has been occurring for such a long time and has come “into the light” why do your very own people continue to leave?
    Why not condemn them also?

    Some of the most notable and well respected families from your area have a family member or themselves who have benefitted from attending private schools. I dont understand this. They shouldnt be blind to what is happening now but it still is happening. What gives?

    You are holding this coach to the fire but what about your own people? Wait does the community shun them when they send their child to private school, do you shame them? Are they corrupted for wanting to be a part of a corrupt system?


  36. afan January 30, 2019 12:08 am

    St. Louis is the reason college coaches came to Hawaii in droves. Now word is out that there is talent at other schools around the island. Just like that another kid from your neighborhood school off to college to represent Hawaii. Recruiting will continue in the ILH, it’s their right as a school. Complaining doesn’t change it. Unless you’re planning on talking to every athlete and the parent about the many reasons to stay rooted…save it! Some kids go and some stay. Nothing anyone can do about it. I’m sure the same guys cheering against St. Louis is the same guys cheeering for Tua and Alabama on Saturdays!


  37. T103 January 30, 2019 3:19 pm

    @ILH thats what I’ve been saying too, if ur slamming the coach and ILH school for recruiting, then why u don’t slam the individual student athlete as well as the parents who accept that scholarship offer. Slam the ILH school for doing that and then at the same time be fair the slam the kid and parents, b/c in your opinion, the didn’t stand up for their community or have pride or blah blah blah blah blah. Then maybe I should do it, ur own kids and parents are weak for not being able to withstand temptation of scholarships and free money, what a bunch of losers yea notes? yea ???. Man good thing this process weeds out those families who are freaking donkeys in your community, who knows, maybe they will go on to play professional and just maybe they will come back after being successful and move their entire families out of your community and then u won’t have to see them and have it b a reminder that they suck, and have no community pride!?!? @NOTES yup my family has NEVER had to deal with our family as a whole being ripped apart from the evil ILH b/c we don’t see it as that, we see it as parents making the decision that they feel bests suits their kid and their future. We don’t have this dumb victim mentality, we actually encourage growth and progress, whatever that may look like. We don’t have this dumb “crab in a bucket” mentality. And lets just get real, its freakin high school sports, who the heck cares what families are cheering against or for. I mean seriously. The only one the seems to be torn and loosing much much much sleep and butt hurt is you apparently? I mean if we took a poll of your community, would it actually be that majority of them would say “yes we are the victims, yes we loose sleep over it, yes we need to go counseling over this, yes, my community is torn apart”?
    @??? Am I crazy and living under a rock? If you were a business owner and on someones resume noticed the school they graduated from was your very own school you graduated from, would ur interested not peak b/c u both graduated from the same school? thats all Im’ saying. Oh AND I don’t know CEO’s and business owners of large companies in hawaii who graduated from private school or anything. Thats none of my business right?


  38. Wainakea January 30, 2019 5:55 pm

    It’s kinda nuts how people are so obsessed with recruiting…you don’t go to school just to represent to your neighborhood. You go to school to become what you want to be. If a kid gets recruited and goes to an ILH school, good for them. It’s sad from a public school standpoint, but to ban for the purposes above is putting the cart before the horse.


  39. notes February 2, 2019 9:17 am

    T103 the only one with a victim mentality is you. “my own community and community school is not good enough for myself or my family. if i don’t get an ILH ‘education’ then nobody can ever succeed in life.” it’s the ultimate in victim mentality when you think your own home and community isn’t good enough and then instead of working to build it up and make its football program successful, you join the people like “coach” cal who flat out admitted to recruiting in order to destroy the very communities you came from. tbh my heart actually hurts reading all these hurtful comments from people like you and all the other ILH apologists here

    why would we expect any different though? the ILH has deep pockets and everyone has a price


  40. T103 February 4, 2019 5:44 am

    @notes k first off, let me get this squared away, my apologies if you are genuinely hurt over reading comments on here, not my intention. I think there is a bigger picture to look at in this whole thing.

    It isn’t all about football. Football isn’t and shouldn’t be “life” so to speak.
    – Football is just part of the whole picture. If no one recruited and everyone stayed in their community, that doesn’t guarantee good education. Private schools give better education then public school, and of course the parents pay through their nostrils for it. It’s not like our public school system is rated so high. If we had a quality public school educational system, then I think a lot of parents would send their kids public school cuz it’s free but parents will work 2-3 jobs just to put their kids through private school for better education.
    – As a parent I wouldn’t sacrifice sending my kid to the public school in my district just to “build the football program”


  41. notes February 6, 2019 8:53 pm

    if people like T103 invested in their own community schools instead of abandoning their own community when the ILH and “coach” cal comes calling with money, maybe the public school system would be better. it starts with kids having pride and staying home to play for their community. T103 can make all the excuses he wants but it’s so sad to see how ILH greed has infected everyone. no matter how many kids you steal from our community, kahuku just reloads. we have the most state titles since state tournament became a thing and since HHSAA banned 19 year olds from playing for high school. people like T103 have hate in their hearts for the community schools they abandoned and want to see us fail but we will rise above the haters.

    the state needs to actually investigate “coach” cal and the ILH recruiting agenda. you’d be surprised at how much corruption is in there. worse than the kealohas


  42. t103 February 19, 2019 5:48 am

    To think that parents who would send their kids to public schools in their communities would actually be able to “invest” in the public school system to improve it is laughable. If parents sent their children to their local schools, it wouldn’t change anything b/c the amount of money it would take to actually improve the entire school system is millions upon millions. I mean for goodness sakes, it cost so much money to put AC in certain schools cuz it’s so freaking hot, and thats not even every single school. We barely survive paying for basic necessities b/c the high cost of living. The sate that has the best school system in the U.S. somewhere on the mainland was only able to invest “community” money b/c they have the lottery system and they poured all that revenue back into the state school system and THAT is how they were able to have the #1 public school system I the nation.

    And although I don’t have kids, I have a niece and the school she is slated to go to for h.s. just passes students on to the next grade so the teachers don’t have to deal with them for one more year if they flunk them and have to repeat a grade. A lot of violence amongst students, and a high population of immigrants who English isn’t their first language so the entire curriculum for the entire school was changed to be a lot more simpler which left everyone else being “dumbed down” so to speak, and it’s like they are in basic math, english, etc etc. The current students tell me that it’s REALLY hard to fail that school and or get kicked out. What would you do in this situation? How would you be able to improve that school as you say? would you Send your child still yet? Or given the chance send your child to have a better opportunity for education??

    And to say the feds need to investigate cal lee for recruiting
    1. its not illegal
    2. Those are lofty accusations to suggest that cal lee is doing more illegal things then abuse of power, selling drugs, using authority to cover up crimes, using other peoples computers to send out emails to mislead investigations, defrauding banks for loans, making up aliases to secure loans, stealing from children, stealing money from your grandmother.

    I’m not a hater of public schools, I’m just being real.


  43. Kakaako February 21, 2019 9:40 pm

    Public schools get lucky if they recruit one kid every 10yrs. STL and Pun recruit 10 kids every year.

    The recruiting is not the main issue. The issue is the merger/alliance and thinking the OIA is equal to the ILH so they should play in the same conference.

    Damien, Iolani and Pac-5 chose to play in D2 and leave St. louis behind because of their excessive recruiting which led to blow outs and beat downs. STL is losing friends so they are forcing the OIA to play with them and combine regular seasons. STL is now beating down on the OIA with an average score of 49-7. Waianae, Farrington, Kapolei, Campbell, Mililani and Kahuku are all being used as rag dolls for the super team “STL” to beat up on.

    STL needs Kahuku and Mililani to be good so that the games will be close but STL will always have access to more elite players state wide to ensure they are always “one up” on the OIA and win championships.

    STL why dont you go play Gormon, Della salle or Mater Dei? Sked?


  44. Lambert Chee March 4, 2019 10:11 am

    I attended St. Louis on a true (academic) scholarship 50 years ago. For those in need, St. Louis offered ‘tuition assistance’. I played no sports, but was able to attend an Ivy League school (on another scholarship) after graduation and medical school. Was I recruited, no, but I could not have attended without the scholarship (I did not know about the tuition assistance at that time.) So St. Louis is not all athletics, not even today.


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