When duty calls, Roosevelt’s Hathaway answers

Every morning, Mr. Hathaway sits there in his classroom at Alvah Scott Elementary School.

Once in awhile, Steve Hathaway wonders how he got there. From Iowa to Hawaii, from schoolboy 3-point bomber to husband, father, coach. Make that coach in 3.5 worlds.

Hathaway is now in his 15th season as varsity boys head coach at Roosevelt. He calls his Rough Riders just a team from a “little D-II program,” but the reality is that they’re talented, tough and more than able to beat some of the best D-I teams in the OIA.

But that’s not what makes Hathaway wonder. Maybe he’s daydreaming from a bit of fatigue, a good dose of wonderment, and perhaps some unintended strategizing. That’s life as a coach of 3.5 teams. He was already helping coach son Trystan’s baseball team. His daily schedule now looks something like this:

>> 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Teach at Alvah Scott Elementary.
>> 2:30 p.m. Drive older son Taven to baseball practice/game at Koko Head District Park.
>> 3 p.m. Drive younger son Trystan to baseball practice, coach for one hour.
>> 5 p.m. Drive to Roosevelt, assist varsity girls basketball for the final hour of practice.
>> 6 p.m. Help coach the Roosevelt JV boys.
>> 7-9 p.m. Roosevelt varsity boys practice.

When Roosevelt’s girls varsity coach, Chad Kaihe, resigned following an incident with a player’s parent, athletic director John Chung took over the position. ADs don’t have a lot of free time, so Chung asked Hathaway to help. Since they’ve teamed up to bring their decades of experience to the girls team — Chung coached the boys program for roughly 25 years — they have turned the tide.

Of course, things get more complicated on game days for any of the teams. Or if Tara, his wife, gets busier than usual (as a school principal).

The constant coaching and parenting have taken a toll. Hathaway couldn’t shake a constant cough for a month and went to the hospital to get checked for pneumonia. He was diagnosed with a possible case of reflux. He had surgery for it years ago.

As for the Rough Riders, the wahine are 9-9 overall, but 6-4 in the mostly D-I OIA East. They’ve won six of their last seven after losing three close games. They enter the D-II playoffs as a strong contender.

The boys also went 6-4 and are one of the top contenders to win the OIA D-II title.

All in all, a time like no other.

“When the season is over, I am going to get some rest. I haven’t given my body time to rest, but it’s been fun and I wouldn’t change a thing,” he said.

And the .5 team? That would be his Alvah Scott students. He took them to a basketball clinic and mini-tournament at nearby Aiea High School last week. The boys lost just one game. The girls?

Unbeaten.