Farrington coach Savanah Kahakai believes in her team, but she wants her girls to believe in themselves.
Kahakai spoke to the Governors volleyball players for more than a half-hour in the baseball field stands on Thursday night after her squad lost in four sets — 25-13, 22-25, 27-25, 25-11 — to Kapolei at the Moanalua gym.
She walked away from that meeting with tears in her eyes.
“It was deep,” she said.
She went over the fact — more than once — that her players let a golden opportunity slip away.
“We beat ourselves,” Kahakai said. “A lot of points Kapolei scored were off our errors. Mentally, physically, we weren’t there. We laid back and thought Kapolei was going to lay down and die for us, but that wasn’t the case. We would fight to come back and catch up, then lay back thinking it’s going to be fine.”
Despite the loss, Farrington (8-4) can still make the state tournament. To do that, the Govs need two wins, starting with a matchup against Nanakuli (6-6) on Monday at the Kalani gym.
Did the Farrington girls walk away believers after the big talk?
“I hope so,” Kahakai said. “A lot of the coaches were in tears because we don’t like to lose. It’s only because you want the best for the girls. When they show up the way they did tonight, it’s just disappointing.
“A lot of this team is family oriented, and that’s one of the things we explained to the girls. Your parents come out and we have our own group chat with them. The parents come out and are excited and the kids don’t see it. We told them that their parents are as excited as they are. And on top of that, the coaches’ parents are coming out to practices and games. It’s more than you guys. It’s the team and the community and a lot of people that didn’t go to Farrington out here supporting you guys.”
Kapolei (10-1) felt Farrington’s presence, though, taking the second set off the second-seeded Hurricanes and going all the way to 24-24 in the third set before falling and then scoring a mere 11 points in the fourth.
“That was a great effort (by Farrington),” Hurricanes coach Naidah Gamurot said. “You could tell that they wanted it. I was impressed. You could see that they were all in it. You could see it in their body language and they went for it.”
Did she speak to them at the Farrington baseball field or Moanalua baseball field? 🤔 ⚾️
A whole lot of pressure to put on the kids instead of just emphasizing executing your responsibility, giving great effort and being a good teammate.
I know its a matter of coaching style, but, crying??
Not one but several? Uuuuggghhhhh……
“A lot of this team is family oriented, and that’s one of the things we explained to the girls. Your parents come out and we have our own group chat with them. The parents come out and are excited and the kids don’t see it. We told them that their parents are as excited they are. And on top of that, the coaches’ parents are coming out to practices and games. It’s more than you guys. It’s the team and the community and a lot of people that didn’t go to Farrington out here supporting you guys.”
This is just my opinion and maybe the coach just got caught up but based on this, its too much.
Play for the person next to you and if likable, for the coach that leads you. If you do it right, the community will be there regardless. But, we are talking about the City with absolute NO PITY.
@ILH have you coached a sport?
It’s hard yeah when half the girls don’t even want to play next to each other🤔 so please tell me what other lines would you use to motivate your players? I don’t see how using your family and I’m sure by family she meant parents/the ones that come day in and day out to SUPPORT them is “PRESSURE”???
If you were near the bench like I was, and I’m sure everyone including the teams that sat near the benches heard loud and clear what she wanted from her players and I quote… “I want the six that will go all out from beginning to end, not afraid to make mistakes and play”… cause if you were watching and I hope you were since you wrote, the first set did not look pretty.
Most of these girls drive off their families and parents So why not use them as a motivating tool?
Players should never play for a coach??? Confused why that would be included? Usually people say to play for each other/school/families… first I heard to play for a coach…
YES I have.
Maybe, that needs to be fixed, “half the girls don’t even want to play next to each other”.
That sounds like a barrier to succeeding ON THE COURT.
Because at the end of the day its the players on the court that determine the outcome, not family.
Look at last night.
Focus on the things that need to be fixed, work on execution and especially team dynamics/teamwork. Scheme for the next opponent, put players in position to succeed and exploit the opponents weaknesses. Not, focus on emotions.
So because they lost, they let down their family, school and community??? Wow, thats rough for anyone, let alone a kid.
Again, we going disagree, im sure of it. But it has the feel of a young coach finding their way as they hone their coaching skills that only come with years of experience.
PublicSchool, Thank you.
ILH, I disagree with you and your comments suck.
Simply points. The Farrington Girls Team got potential and talent. We saw flashes of both.
Govs got the next game to win or go home. Its that time of the season.
The team will come to play and play hard.
Just want to thank the Coaches and the team for a great season no matter what.
Emotions again.
Actually it was PublicSchool that made a NEGATIVE comment about the players, not me.
If you read into what Im saying, Im supporting the players.
Since we acting like middle schoolers, your comments are Stooo-pid.
Thanks for stating the obvious with having to win and playing hard and stuff, good job.
@ILH nobody stated the girls let their families down. Im talking about motivation. Find things that will help them get out of their rut, if not for each other than for themselves/family/parents… like the person quoted above “they drive off their families/parents” meaning if they can’t find someone next to them to get them out of their feelings then look for something else which is why I think the coach quoted families. Not a bad thing at all.
Agreed, if they are not wanting to play next to each other then it’s not good dynamic but not wanting to play next to each other happens when they are losing and can’t get out of their heads, so how is that the coaches fault? I’m sure the coaches don’t just walk into practice thinking it’s okay for them to play the way they did last night. We all know once an athlete starts to get in their own heads, there’s no turning back. All the coach can do is motivate them and keep trying… which to me last night looks like what she was trying to do.
Experience? From what I know she’s had experience on both sides as a player and club coach/hs coach… so I don’t know why that was added. And too be honest she has a little bit of both old school coaching ways and today’s generation of coaching style from last nights game. Heart and passion is all you can from a coach.
Keep doing what you’re doing Savanah! The best I’ve seen Farrington program led!
A few thoughts from an old dog:
– Maybe have the conversation with your team the next day when everyone’s emotions have settled. A half hour session right after a match might be too much for coach to control their emotions and for the players focus.
– Young players don’t want to let down their coach. Love ’em up right after a loss and let them know that “we’re all in this together and we’re going to work together to get better”.
– Have a great practice plan for how you’re going to get better…specifics…not generations. When addressing a team and telling them things like “We just weren’t there mentally and physically” may sound like a coach thing to say, but may not necessarily be true. Maybe some key players struggled…but maybe others were giving the best of their capabilities and maybe even a little more. Don’t discount their efforts because a few others struggled.
– For your coaching resume and your own personal growth ALWAYS have your team’s back, ESPECIALLY in public (media, in front of fans/family). “This team works very hard to be successful. Tonight’s loss isn’t how we hoped it would turn out. We’ll get back to the gym tomorrow and work on getting better. i mua.”
– and in tomorrow’s practice, “Ok ladies, let’s talk about two things we did great in the match and then one thing we really want to focus on so we can get better today” and see what they think there issues were. Then use that discussion to guide them to where you want them…guided discovery…show them where to look but let them figure out what to see.
Coaching the X’s and O’s is the easy part of the job. Developing character, heart. Ambition to be better, recovering from a disappointing loss…those are the things that take years of getting it wrong before you start getting it right.
Today is a great day to get better as a team and as a coach.
Best wishes!
Hats off to Coach Kahakai and Staff for an Awesome season so far. Pretty good for your 1st year as Headcoach and new staff coaches.
The future only looks brighter for the Lady Govs with the guidance & commitment from you and your staff. Best wishes for the rest of the season and Best of Luck for future Dominating seasons to come. You guys got this! All of Kalihi got your backs!!
Old Dog, thank you for your thoughts.