Kaiser has decided to forfeit the remainder of its varsity and junior varsity football seasons, according to a letter written Tuesday by principal Justin Mew.
The letter, addressed to the Kaiser Cougar Ohana and obtained by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, reads as follows:
“Due to a series of prevailing events and extreme concerns for student and staff safety, the decision has been made, in consultation with Complex Area Superintendent Donna Lum Kagawa, to cancel both the Junior Varsity (JV) and Varsity football seasons effective immediately.
“The well-being of our school community is a top priority and we are committed to keeping our students and staff safe. An incident occured on campus yesterday evening, Sept. 18, which required police involvement. This unacceptable behavior is one of a series of escalating events that has led us to this difficult decision.
“While we recognize that football is traditionally a highlight of Homecoming Week, we assure you that Kaiser’s Homecoming festivities will continue.
“We would like to thank the players on the JV and Varsity football teams for their hard work and perseverance. It is our hope that the Kaiser community will come together in a positive manner to support the school.”
UPDATE: An altercation on Monday night that required a police presence resulted in the decision being made.
The Cougars have managed to play only one of their five games this season — a 71-0 loss to Campbell — due to low player turnout and safety concerns.
Four years ago, Kaiser won the Division II state title under head coach Rich Miano. Three years ago on this exact date — September 19 — Kaiser beat Kahuku, 20-19.
Martinez, Moanalua’s all-time winningest coach, is 53-63-1 in his Hawaii high school career. He went 51-51-1 as head coach of Na Menehune from 2003-13 before taking the Kaiser job just prior to the start of the 2016 season.
He is the program’s fifth head coach since 2009, when Pat Samsonas ended his five-year run. William Lobendahn went 2-15 over two years before giving way to Miano, who went 20-4 and won the D-II state title in 2013 before stepping down.
Cameron Higgins coached for the following two years before he stepped down. Martinez was hired just a few weeks before the start of the 2016 season and went 2-7, losing in the first round of the OIA playoffs to Farrington.
The Administration is weak. The decision to not play is based on one person the Coach. All problems have stemmed from him and him alone. They should put him on Administrative Leave and let the assistant coaches coach the rest of the season. Problem Solved. Homecoming is for the students, not for the Coach. Escalation occurred because he refused to let a jv player take a team photo yesterday. This student hasn’t been practicing because of an injury he sustained in one of the games. Isn’t he still considered a player? Brutal.
Too bad hope they turn it around soon, word on the street was that the parents went fight the staff. cmon people where is the Aloha!
Read below for those of you who doesn’t know the whole story…..
So Sad for the Seniors September 8, 2017 10:32 am
This is some of what is wrong with Kaiser Football and the so called coaching right now:
1. From the beginning of summer practice, Coach Martinez has been showing favoritism towards the JV team, yet I thought he was hired to be the Varsity coach.
2. In practices, the JV team gets more reps than the Varsity team. Why are they even practicing together????? No other team does inter practice with the JV and the Varsity. If he would separate them, both teams would get more reps. Is this against OIA rules?????
3. The JV team got their equipment before the Varsity, so the Varsity boys got the left over equipment, like the older helmets and pads. What Coach does that?????? That is sending a message to the Varsity boys that they don’t count. No other team does this. Varsity is always priority. You have to pay your dues.
4. Martinez spends more time coaching the JV team and he also coaches the JV games. What! I thought he was the Varsity Head Coach????? He has a JV Head Coach, but I guess Martinez just took over his duties.
5. Because he coaches the JV team during their games, the Varsity was on their own; with no coaches during the trip to play Campbell. This does not happen in any other school. I think they rode the bus with the AD. Unreal??????
6. Neither Martinez nor any other coach spent time with the Varsity team while they were waiting on the side to play Campbell as the JV game was still going on. Boys waited for around 2 ½ hours on their own. No Pre game prep or strategy for the Varsity boys; no guidance whatsoever!
7. Martinez purchased brand new team compression shirts that he gave to the JV team for their games. The Varsity did not get these shirts or anything new! Who does that?????? The JV team is also wearing game pants that were purchased last year for the Varsity team. Last year’s JV team was not allowed to wear these pants.
8. There are not enough Coaches on this staff. Martinez has a few real coaches, some Flag Football coaches; with one of them being the OC. Who the heck does that? He also uses parents to coach because he does not have enough staff. Do these parents have any Football knowledge? Were these parents screened for a criminal record? I think Coaches have to go through that. What Coach does that too??????
9. This guy has been coaching for a number of years, but he can’t retain real coaches for this staff. I wonder why?????? Coaches that have been with him in the past have said they do not want to coach with him ever again.
10. During all of the practices at Koko Head Park, when the JV team and the Varsity team did separate; the Varsity team practiced in a small area of the field while the JV team took up most of the field and they actually got to practice on the football field area while the Varsity was at a small patch of grass by a softball team and the Pop Warner team.
11. Why didn’t the team practice on Kaiser’s lower field????? The team took space away from the softball team and the Pop Warner guys, who are supposed to practice there. I thought this guy was an experienced Coach??????
12. Kaiser Varsity Football has low numbers because a lot of them quit during the summer. Martinez drove them off. There are a lot of boys that want to play Varsity Football, but not for this Coach because his favoritism, unfairness and ethics.
13. From what I have seen, the JV team has around 40 boys and the Varsity has around 20. Why doesn’t Martinez pull up some JV boys to field the Varsity team like what every other Coach does? I can’t understand this! In every other school; the Varsity team takes priority. A lot of the JV boys are bigger than the Varsity boys too.
This is just a small inkling of what Martinez is doing wrong with the program. I could go on and on, but I am saving the rest for the D.O.E.
BTW, THE KAISER ADMINISTRATION DOES KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING, BUT THEY CHOOSE TO IGNORE IT. TOO BAD FOR THEM, I SEE SOME FUTURE LAW SUITS COMING THEIR WAY…….
P.S. The VP that hired Martinez is a good friend of his and used to be his AD at Moanalua, which is another school where the parents wanted him out! HISTORY IS REPEATING ITSELF………..
Due to events and uncontrolled circumstances it was very unfortunate. The safety of the player’s first. You feel for the Seniors that would ball out for the love of the game. I believe the best decision was made. My intake is many forget about the game, Recruiting, Schools Reputation to Win, and Playing time for their player. Many forget about earning your spot to play, they complain rather than work harder, think of themselves over the team. Represent your community, Win and Lose as a team. Raise and uplift to conquer inner demons.
T – Together
E – Everyone
A – Achieves
M – More….
So many people from the public knew that something was wrong at Kaiser yet so many of those with influential power continued to ignore it. These problems started in the summer and kept growing.
The Kaiser administration, OIA administration and all the media stuck their heads in the sand with the typical “not my problem” mentality. I sure hope these people try to do their job and figure things out now that it has come to this.
A lot of Kaiser players lamented the dismissal of Coach Lobehndahn in 2011, all because Rich Miano was available. If Martinez must go, consider bringing back Lobehndahn if he’s willing to come back.
T – Toomeke
E – EducationFirst
A – Anywaaaaays
M – make this forum into a whinny nursery!
Awrite!! September 19, 2017 3:51 pm
T – Toomeke
E – EducationFirst
A – Anywaaaaays/Awite
M – make this forum into a whinny nursery!
The favortism with JV team was so bad, that alot of jv boys saw it and realized that what Coach was doing was WRONG! Coach forgot that alot of these jv boys were teammates and friends of the varsity team. You can fool kids for only so long. It the end the truth will always come out. A lot of the jv boys no longer wanted to play for Martinez in the end. Some wanted to quit. How can a person that is and Educator, Coach and a Christian do this to these young men? These boys will forever remember this heartbreak. Coach Martinez was caught in so many lies, I do not even have time to list them. Please do better Coach and actually coach for the boys and not for your self. And yes, he violated alot of OIA rules, including having middle school kids practice together with high school kids during their pre season practice. Just remember that alot of these boys believed in you, even though you did not believe in them. You just gave up on the varsity boys and will have to live with that. Please be better.
Incompetent Coaching
Incompetent Administrators
Incompetent Parents
Incompetent Communities
Leave the bottom feeders be.
If you want to play real Football with real coaches that produce quality players in a real League then come to the good side where the backward thinking administrators of the OIA wont ruin your season.
#Red&Blue#MenOnTheHill#1#24
It’s extremely brutal, that something like this would occur. High school is where most teenagers get the feel into being a young adult that we as parents, we as a – community, we as people in general, teach are children to be. We teach our children to follow their dreams, and to maintain a mindset that “you can do whatever you put your mind, too.” To simply, believe in themselves and they can be whatever they want to be in the future. How can we keep that sort of an example after something so drastic being taken away from them? Football is AMERICA’s sport. What if a students dream is to become a NFL Athlete? You can’t tell me that nobody has heard of a FOOTBALL COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP ? It could possibly, no doubtly be swapped from ones hand because a schools administration won’t take the time to solve an issue and just straight concluded the situation to taking a football season away from all FOUR grade levels? It could close doors for many. I understand, the priority is SAFETY, and like every situation there is a standard protocol. It seems as the incident could have easily been prevented. After reading these comments and allegations there is a lot of between the line, what I would name as monkey business going on within the administration. Change the coach, that seems to be the bottom line of it all. Let our kids, be kids, let our future, be FUTURE.
Kaiser has been forfeiting all season. No one is getting recruited. And nowadays there is so many camps and video, that if the kid can play, these last couple games won’t hinder their opportunities to get recruited.
Now, I do not agree with what Coach Martinez is being accused of doing. But, adults do not have the right to make death threats. Let me repeat this, no one should have to deal with death threats.
The moment a death threat is made, or it becomes physical, then the parents really lose a lot of credibility, especially when it’s more than one parent.
I agree that the season should have been canceled. If there are people to blame, it’s mostly the parents who did this.
There are channels to take to speak openly and honestly and they were not exhausted. Parents could have gone above the head of the principal and got Coach Martinez removed pretty quickly. Look at the history of the DOE. Many coaches for numerous sports got removed or suspended midseason due to safety concerns.
I can reference Moanalua Girls Wrestling, Kaiser Girls Basketball, and Waipahu Track and Field as recent situations that coaches were removed or suspended immediately or very quickly (1-2 weeks).
But instead of using their brains to get change immediately due to safety concerns for the children, some parents decided to make big and make threats and make things physical. That is just dumb.
Also Kahuku basketball. All the moms did was contact the new about nepotism and boy did they get rid of Akina quick. This is child safety, it’s much worse. But when you got ignorant parents, they resort to violence.
Martinez has been causing problems since he first took the job LAST season. Not only FAVORITISM but also kicking boys off of the team for no reason whatsoever. He may think he’s a good coach but his ways are obviously backwards. He does not deserve the head coach job. How can a coach deny students from scholarships and playing at the next level. Just because of favoritism he refused to help some players get to the next level by giving college coaches bad reviews of the kids. Also religion? PUBLIC SCHOOLS CAN’T force religion on the students… thats exactly what Martinez was doing. If you didn’t attend “chapel” or religion class you were on his “bad side”. This guy needs to go and Admin needs to realize it. OPEN YOUR EYES.
As of yesterday the team meeting was on until the confrontation took place. We were NOT informed of any cancellation OR the season ending decision. As for the coaches……
BTW, why is it not clear that martinez is simply doing what he has done in the past. The staff shortages & parents (trying to remove him due to multiple decietfulness & deception) are doing the same as his last tenure @ Moanalua.
I am not a parent but am related to a Kaiser player. Maybe parents need to go home and clean house and cook rice instead of hanging around the field and criticizing coaches while your kids are practicing. Let the coaches coach and you come to the game and cheer for your team with all your might. And make sure your kids do their homework, get decent grades so they can play, and obey the rules put forth by the coach. Then maybe Kaiser can someday have a great team without recruiting from other neighborhoods like in Rich Miano’s time. And, by the way, this is not the first problem has had with coaches and parental interference.
Feel sorry for the kids who work so hard during the summer and season thus far–especially the seniors who have to suffer the repercussions of the adults.
So… can the jrs and srs go down the street and finish the season playing for Kalani? asking for a friend…
Truth Be Told!
During the summer coaches meeting Coach Martinez brought up the subject of the three-tier format. All the coaches unanimously voted in favor of it (one school abstained).
Soon after the Principles and athletic directors voted against it, opting for the two-tier format, and in doing so ignored their coach’s wishes. Kaiser’s AD and Principle voted for the same, going along with the OIA directors favor of a two-tier format.
If the OIA director followed the coach’s wishes, or the admin stood up for their student’s best interest, things would be different!
@ToppDoggs – I assume by your hashtag you are referring to St. Louis? If you are, St. Louis recruits and has disproportionally talented players attend their school. It’s easy to coach talented players, harder to develop them. As for #menonthehill, Kamehameha is known as “The Hill”, St. Louis is known as the slopes as in Kalaepohaku….
I don’t agree with all that’s being said that the Coach has been doing past and present to any of the players. Although the parents getting violent, physical, making death threats and going to the coaches home and having further confrontations was just THE STUPIDEST thing that anyone could ever do. They should’ve went and done things the proper and smart way to have him investigated and removed and the boys given a coach that can coach fairly and who would follow OIA rules and policies.
These boys can BLAME their PARENTS for ending their season, because they also caused an unsafe environment for school staff, players, kids and administration. Which ULTIMATELY was the reason the rest of he Season was forfeited which is unfair for the players who worked very hard, yes. But they also need to know resorting to violence won’t get them anywhere in life. This is a sad, sad lesson they’ll learn for sure that happened at the hands of PARENTS who are supposed to teach their children right from wrong. And violating someone physically or verbally is definitely wrong and is not something a role model should be doing in front of anyone or their children ESPECIALLY!
Things happen in life, and there are PROPER ways to handle them, this WAS NOT A WAY TO HANDLE it for sure, well NOT A SMART OR GOOD WAY that’s for sure! Shame on those parents, they made themselves look just as bad as the coach by doing these things.
i played for martinez when he coached for moanalua. i dont know if things have changed but while he was my head coach, he did a lot for our program and really turned it around. he never cut anyone, you cut yourself.
In the mainland all coach’s has to qualify for a coaching jobs and also had to had played at a certain level of the game to be even considered and there are two full time head coaches on staff that need degrees to also be a head coach all other are teachers on staff of some sort. I see to much part time coaches and most are not even qualified to coach little league football thats why Hawaii high school can’t compete with mainland football programs . Hawaii has so much talent but yet these kids pay the price due to lack of coaching.
@ Football Parent 808, this past Monday’s events were not the first time this season where parents threatened or confronted the coach. I was told by a parent on this team that this has happened 2 other times. Several parents do not think the coach is fair and at times doesn’t seem to properly motivate the kids. But at the same time, these same parents think some of the other parents are ridiculous. They said several of the same parents are always at practice. And they often turn to violence even though there are kids present. In the words of my friend, “we have parent who whine to try and get their way.” Now this is from a parent whose kid is on the team and does realize the coach seems to have checked out on the varsity team who is son plays for.
@Football Parent 808, you bring up a valid point. However, it needs to be said that some parents DID TRY to go through the proper channels of Kaiser administration to take action and these concerns were ignored. This certainly doesn’t justify the actions of the one or two “bad apple” parents who tried to take matters into their own hands, but it does explain the stepping stones of frustration leading to it.
The Kaiser administration needs to be held accountable for a lot of this. Blaming the parents at this point is the easy way out (and typical of the state system). I’m glad some of the parents were posting comments dating back to August. It shows some proof that these problems were simply being ignored by those who had the power to do something about it.
The old donkeys at the OIA also could have stepped in at any time in the last month to shut down the Kaiser football season and that would have nipped it right there. I mean really, does it make sense for a high school football organization to allow one of its team with only 19 players to keep making weekly decisions on participation?
Finally, the workers of the press including this dying newspaper were scrambling last night to find out the story. Hello?!? Some parents and others have been trying to let you guys know for the last few months that this situation was about to explode.
@Falcon Future, Football parent 808 & Education First, You hit it on the money Falcon Future! Many parents from the varsity and jv cited their complaints about what Coach Martinez was doing wrong with the kids to the Kaiser AD, VP & Principal, yet they did nothing! Believe me, there were alot if things. What is stated in the post above is juat a small fraction if what he did wrong to the boys. As far as parents going off on the coach, that was a minority. As a coach, you have to see that something is wrong with no one wanting to play for you.
There seems to be a lot of issues with Coach Martinez. This is what I heard. Please correct me if I am wrong.
1) Tries to force his faith onto all of the kids.
2) Does not like kids to play other sports
3) Rode the bus with the JV Team instead of the Varsity Team
4) Spends more time at JV practices than Varsity practices
Now I disagree with #1. He is entitled to practice whatever religion he wants. But it is not a coach or teacher’s place to implement religion into their practices and teachings.
Research shows that multi-sport athletes have a better chance of specializing in a sport at the college level. I also disagree with #2.
Now for #3 and #4, this has solely to do with his coaching philosophy. He is in charge of the entire program. If a coach feels he wants to spend more time with the JV team than the varsity team, then that’s his prerogative. He can coach the program and dedicate time to whichever team as he sees fit. There is no right and wrong. It’s all opinion. And his opinion on how he wants to run the program that he was hired to run is the only opinion that counts, even if the parents or general population doesn’t agree with it.
Now I wouldn’t do it this way. But that doesn’t mean he is wrong. He is only wrong if he compromises the varsity kids’ safety by hi decisions. But, how he allocates his time is solely up to him. And as long as he continues to be the coach, that is his (and possibly his staff’s) decision to make.
It doesn’t matter if 1000 fans including myself disagree with it. It doesn’t matter if 100 coaches would do it differently. This is his program to command.
Now if he isn’t retained and this is one reason that is cited, then obviously administration doesn’t agree. But until that happens, this isn’t an issue of right and wrong. There is no right and wrong since it all involves philosophy of how to run a team and program.
I think the only issue that can be examined is student safety or blatant favoritism. Some might call spending more time with the JV favoritism. But others might call it being pro-active and investing in the future since the Varsity is low on numbers and is kind of a lost cause.
I don’t think this is as bad as people are making it out to be. Even if he is giving the JV the nicer stuff, maybe it’s to give those kids who possibly have 1-3 more years incentive to continue. Who knows?
@Education First
Also Kahuku basketball. All the moms did was contact the new about nepotism and boy did they get rid of Akina quick. This is child safety, it’s much worse. But when you got ignorant parents, they resort to violence.
Education – There was no nepotism and Akina was reinstated but made the decision not to return because he didn’t want to disrupt the team. Also the coach had the stats to prove that his oldest son did not take the most shots. And if you watched the team play under Akana. You would have noticed that the Akina boys got a lot of playing time even more that some of the players who’s parents were the ones complaining and felt that their child should have more playing time. Too bad the the Principal and the AD caved in to the bulling parents.
@ Education First, yes, he did try to force his religion on them with praying and even using video clips of them without permission from the school and parents for a religious show on Kalo, which was a violation of DOE rules. There is a DOE investigation against him for this. There was a safety issue for the kids too because he gave the jv boys more reps at drills, the varsity boys were nit prepared. Also because he had the jv and varsity do an inter practice, this was also a safety issue for the jv boys. Both teams should have practiced separate like every other school, but he did not have enough coaches. Coaches on his old staff’s don’t want to stay with him. I think you should read the post #3 again. The favortism was blatant. There was so much of that. Not just coaching the jv, but many other things. Ironic thing is many of jv boys hate him because he dissed the varsity. And Yes, he hated that kids played other sports and only wanted them to focus on football. That is not right. No other varsity coach in the state coaches their jv team. All other schools have a separate staff for that. That has been confirmed with many coaches.
Football Parent: It seems very well that you have a point; nonetheless, parents should not take this matter into their own hands to resolve. If parents have a problem, they should go to the school administration. If parents aren’t satisfied, they should go to the district/complex area superintendent. Again, if parents are still unhappy, they then can go to the School Superintendent. By trying to take matters into their own hands is like thug mentality… that would make the parents’ action worse off than the alleged actions of the coach. Based on what you’ve mentioned…. I don’t think the coach broke any laws. I would agree that he’s not fair or ethical to a degree. On the other hand, physical force or threats by a parent or parents is illegal and a felony. Sounds like the parents need to be smarter about this. In the end, the coach will be at home warming up his saimin and relaxing in front of the tv all the while the felon parent(s) will possibly spend the night in jail, expend some cash for bail, and deal with the hassles of future court appearances. Who’s laughing now?
Nobody talks about the non teaching jobs they gave both to Miano and Martinez. Isn’t school for EDUCATION first? Martinez was a teacher at MHS.
HK girl September 20, 2017 9:49 am
@ Education First, yes, he did try to force his religion on them with praying and even using video clips of them without permission from the school and parents for a religious show on Kalo, which was a violation of DOE rules. There is a DOE investigation against him for this. There was a safety issue for the kids too because he gave the jv boys more reps at drills, the varsity boys were nit prepared.
————————
I don’t consider giving JV more reps than the varsity a blatant disregard for student safety.
If you flip this around and he gave more reps to the varsity than the jv, then wouldn’t the JV players be at risk?
Like I said earlier, this is all philosophical decisions that he is entitled to make. I cannot see any administrator or lawyer (if it comes to that) calling the practice of giving more reps to the jv team a situation that clearly violates student safety.
As for coaching both the Varsity and JV. I have seen this happen many times in numerous sports. To be compromising student safety would be:
1) not hydrating the kids
2) lack of adult supervision
3) hitting a child
4) riding the bus without adult supervision
5) defective equipment and forcing players to play using defective equipment that could compromise risk of injury
Like I said, it doesn’t matter what team he coaches. He is the boss. There is nothing in the coach’s contract that stipulates he has to be at the varsity practice more than the JV practice. Now that seem very foolish for a varsity coach to do that, but he is the boss and can do whatever he wants if it doesn’t blatantly risk student safety.
The things you describe wouldn’t really cause an administrator to dismiss him. You might think it’s horrible. But after talking to several football coaches, they have seen similar actions over the past 15 years at several schools.
@ Education First, it is apparent that you are NOT reading all of the prior comments. You are entitled to your opinion. I am not going to argue with you. Trust me, alot more will surface amd they will NOT be able to hide the truth.
As an ex-football, baseball, coach I drool when I see an entire system in disarray. This is a situation a true coach would love to take control of because the turn around of this football program can do wonders for, not only a school, but the whole community. As a new incoming coach there’s no where to go but up and a true coach would take advantage of that and install a program that could lay a path to a championship within two years.
Sure wish Kaiser was in Las Vegas, Nevada because I would love to take on this challenge.
Good Luck hope all comes together for the sake of the kids.
@ HK Girl, what is the truth? What safety violations is he breaking? It seems the few parents who are making death threats and who confronted him are the ones who are compromising safety.
How come they got rid of Lobendahn? (sorry if i butcher the name) .
I don’t agree they way the parents had to deal with this situation but in a way I could understand their frustration after receiving no response from any of the faculty, or the coach. I was a Kaiser coach with a different sport for a couple of years there and have noticed the faculty does not deal well with parents, and there are many internal investigations by the DOE that the public does not hear about.
First off why Kaiser football struggled this year is they just don’t have the numbers for varsity football this year. JV numbers are up but you really can’t pull them up because they just are not ready physically. This year the varsity had 7 players on academic probation who could not play so this contributed to the problem. Now when Rich was there he ran a student study hall and made sure all the players kept up on a 2.0 GPA. Not sure if the current coach was doing this or not.
The other part is the faculty. They have a new AD there and the VP Dana is so involved in every athletic decision she steps over him constantly, and does not let him do his job. She used to be the AD at Moanalua and she is the one that hired the football coach. Principle Mew does not understand athletics, and would just rather can the whole program than just try to resolve it which could have been done prior to this getting out of hand but it was not handled right. I feel for the players that might have had an opportunity to be seen, or scouted by any interested college coaches, and also the cheerleading program, and all the money the could have been generated for football with the concessions.
Also just wanted to clear something up. Rich did bring a lot of players in during his time there but I would never call it recruiting. Did you know that Kaiser is one of the only high schools that offer the International Baccalaureate program? Here’s the legal loophole if you want a GE to Kaiser. All you have to say is you want your student to be in this program and your GE goes through. Most of his football players came in through this program. Nothing illegal about it.
Truth,
Education,
Achievement
MIssion
Do not let this turn into:
The
Egregious
Adult
Mess
lets be real here:
Any parent making a death threat is the dumbest thing possible
From admin’s side that’s almost the best thing to happen because you can blame the season’s failure on that.
If you don’t like the way he coaches, then don’t play for him.
If football is that much of a priority, then move schools to play for another coach.
Football, any sports for that matter, is a privilege.
As for administration, they’ll do what they think is best. If you don’t agree, at the very least, don’t get violent (dumbass). Keep your options open, look for alternative schools. It’s not the end of the world. Would be surprised to hear if they keep him as coach.
Nobody beats Kahuku. That game was rigged.
Coach Martinez not only was my coach at MoHS but he was my teacher beforehand. At first I didn’t care for him just because he was TOUGH. But those are the kind of Coaches that you need to push you! He is a Christian and he doesn’t FORCE FEED IT to you. If you know any person who is religious there is always a strong correlation during conversation and speaking because that’s what HE believes! In the 4 years I was a student he turned our whole Fitness/Sport/Health programs around! He along with other coaches had several after school programs that allowed students who weren’t involved in any sport be involved in “something” and at the same time stay healthy and fit and helped them get to a better “them” to feel comfortable in being part of bigger team if and when the student was ready!
I honestly think this generation is a bunch of soft kids including my own kids! Entitled and thinking that “Everyone Gets A Trophy” is the right way. I’m old school I guess!? You get a trophy if you earn it. And these parents should’ve cared a lot more about their child’s future before resulting to “temper tantrums” and assault. I know it wasn’t the whole LOT of parents and it was a select few but THANK THEM FOR THE SEASONS END! If the coach was such a bad coach I feel it should’ve been addressed well before the season had started! And take it to the ADMIN if not ACTION LINE IT! Instead of adults having temper-tantrums and reverting back to HIGHSCHOOL LEVEL HEADEDNESS!!
Check his history. Those that have been around him in the past are not surprised. MoanaLua, even youth flag football
@ History. I haven’t seen anyone (other than those using an alias) go on the TV or to the news and gone on the record with complaints. It’s just hearsay and people on here with fake names. That is not evidence.
Now I am not saying nothing happened. But right now, the only 2 credible sources are the 2 boys who talked on the news saying the kids who are playing and themselves like and respect Coach Martinez.
Until I hear differently, I am leaning towards believing these boys.
The football fields, the baseball fields, the basketball courts, and any other sports venues are the classrooms for the coaches. The coaches are teaching your children the rules of the game, sportsmanship, respect, the rules he expects his athletes to follow in order to have a good relationship and a potentially cohesive and winning team, and many other life lessons. Do parents regularly sit at the back of their child’s math or science class and criticize the teacher? I think not. For one thing, the schools wouldn’t allow this to happen in the classroom. They need to be consistent and not let it happen in the sports venues. I’ve found it interesting that with all the publicity on this sad situation, many of the players are expressing love of the coach and his coaching style, even expressing that the parents need to take a step back. Seems like the players have it together. Regarding a statement made that players didn’t turn out for Varsity because they don’t like the coach, if they are truly interested in the sport and love playing, they don’t give a hoot who the coach is. In their sports-playing lifetime they’ll have soft spoken coaches, coaches that yell like heck, and many other coaching styles. Suggest parents read the article, “The Ride Home.” Children quite playing sports because of “the ride home after the game.” Let’s not put the blame for the small Varsity turnout on the coach. Maybe they don’t want to play because of years of listening to parents criticizing them, their teammates, their coach. The concussion issue is a concern for many parents and players. And, maybe parents, your child just doesn’t want to play sports. This shows up in some players in their body language–“I really don’t want to be out here, but my parents, especially my dad, want me to play. I really prefer to be out on the ocean.” Maybe we all need to look in the mirror and see if any of these issues are staring back at us. Let’s not keep trying to bash coaches and getting them fired. They are a precious commodity, as are our teachers, administrators, school support staff and any others who take your children under their wings for one-third of your day. At age 76+ I got the first-in-my-life “stink eye” stare down in the women’s bathroom. I guess it was because I may be known to support the team and the coaches and was with someone who does. Isn’t this a little petty–kind of like small kid time? Again I say, let’s all look in the mirror.
FYI all, I got some inside information that (Education First) is trolling to incite argument and is also one of the few JV parents that supports Coach M, that in hiding as a NON-BIAS person posting comments. This is HILARIOUS! You can tell by reading this person’s comments that they did not know about Football and what a Coach is supposed to do for this team.
@ Carol Davis – You make such great points. Of course the parents that complain will not look at themselves in the mirror. They are perfect, so it must be the coach’s fault.
You touch on a great point and I wanted to elaborate. You state, “The concussion issue is a concern for many parents and players.”
I just saw this article on ESPN. It said, “CTE, which can only be diagnosed in an autopsy, has been found in former members of the military, football players and boxers, and others who have been subjected to repeated head trauma. A recent study found signs of the disease in 110 of 111 NFL players whose brains were inspected.
No wonder the numbers to play football all over the US is going down.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/20777856/lawyer-says-aaron-hernandez-had-advanced-stages-cte
It’s so sad and horrible to see our dear Kaiser High School on the news for something that could’ve been solved. Mr. Mew, you need to take control of our school. As a graduate of Kaiser, if your AD can not step up to the plate and do the job, then you need to find someone that can. You have a VP who UH kicked to the curb because she failed as a Wahine Basketball Coach. And now, Mr. Mew, you’re allowing her to take Kaisers athletic department down the tubes. Think about it Mr. Mew, think hard. When did Kaiser start having all of these problems with your different sports. If she’s a VP, then thats where she belongs. So, please think about it Mr. Mew. If your VP wants to stick her nose into your athletic department, then why didn’t she apply for the AD position. Make us proud to be graduates of Kaiser High School. I’m still very proud to be a Cougar but, you need to do YOUR job, and not let your VP/AD want to be,run all over you. Take a stand!!! Bring our “COUGAR” pride back!!!
Ray September 21, 2017 1:45 pm
FYI all, I got some inside information that (Education First) is trolling to incite argument and is also one of the few JV parents that supports Coach M, that in hiding as a NON-BIAS person posting comments. This is HILARIOUS! You can tell by reading this person’s comments that they did not know about Football and what a Coach is supposed to do for this team.
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Inside information? Lol, now that is a news story.
Coach Martinez is a competent football coach, Teacher, and a great parent. He is also a coach who demands discipline from his athletes like any outstanding coach should. If the parents let him coach he will turn the Kaiser football program around. This is the true story of what he did at Moanalua. Teach your kids to be respectful, humble, and they will be successful in their future. The parents have turned the game of football into a silly game because of their childish behavior. To confront anyone at their home where their family resides is as low as you can go and very disrespectful and inappropriate.