To celebrate his 21st birthday this summer, University of Hawaii football player Royce Pollard made a wish and then cut … his hair.

The event was planned more than a year in advance. That was when Anthony Pollard, a coach and trainer in the San Diego area, asked his son what he wanted to do for his first birthday as an adult.

Royce Pollard said: "I told him, ‘Let’s cut our hair.’"

Royce, a fourth-year junior, had not cut his hair since his junior year of high school.

Anthony had trimmed his hair, but had not had a full haircut in nine years.

"It was an event," Royce said. "All of my family was there. It took an hour just to part everything. It took another 45 minutes to cut it off and fade it up."

Both donated their snipped hair to Locks of Love, which makes hair pieces for cancer-stricken children who lose their hair during medical treatments.

"I like it this way," Royce said of his new look. "I don’t have to worry about my hair, or take two hours to wash it after going to the beach. I can wake up, and not have to worry about my hair."

Nielsen rates

In a quarterback audible, second-year freshman Corey Nielsen was added to the training-camp roster the past weekend as the injury replacement for quarterback Kevin Spain.

Spain is scheduled to have surgery to repair slightly torn ligaments in his right (throwing) shoulder.

Nielsen was admittedly disappointed when he was the only quarterback on the roster not invited to training camp. He was told he could report Aug. 23, the first day of fall semester, when the roster could be expanded.

"You move on," Nielsen said.

Nielsen was working out in Southern California when he was summoned. This week, he has been taking so-called "mental reps" during passing drills. He likely will serve on the scout team this year.

"I need to keep improving in all aspects of the game, looking at things I didn’t used to look at," Nielsen said.

He said Mouse Davis, the team’s receivers coach who is the architect of the run-and-shoot offense, has been helpful in offering tips.

"He’s teaching me to focus on a lot of the little details," Nielsen said.

Quick kicks

> Outside linebacker Alema Tachibana, a second-year freshman who is suffering from a pulled right hamstring, said he will miss another two weeks of practices.

> Defensive end Alasi Toilolo, a fourth-year junior from Kapolei High, is playing without difficulty after having surgery to repair a dislocated right shoulder and a subluxed left shoulder. He has been working out as the No. 2 right end behind projected starter Kamalu Umu.