James Hayashi says he was the black sheep of his family while growing up.

His brother, Greg, was an outstanding all-around athlete and provided a sterling example that James noticed, but did not always follow.

"My brother was the good one — he always went to church, didn’t swear, and I was the troublemaker," James said with a chuckle. "It was like black and white; we were just the opposite."

Greg, who refers to James as the "comedian" of the family, attended ‘Iolani, where he succeeded in track, football and basketball before moving on to Whitworth College. As James recalls, "he always used to take me running when we were small kids. We used to go to the beach and run in the sand, or to Wahiawa Elementary and run on the field out there."

As a kid, James bowled occasionally, but said that after high school, "I really got into it and bowled in an adult league, so I was bowling from age 18 for about 40 years now."

The Hayashi brothers developed what Greg calls a "friendly rivalry" that has continued to this day, as they transitioned into the coaching realm and met consistently in head-to-head competition.

When Greg returned home from college, he became a teacher and bowling coach at Hawaii Baptist Academy — a position he’s held for 21 years now.

James graduated from Pearl City High School and eventually began working as a lawnmower operator for the state Department of Education. While coaching his son, Jared, James was asked by departing Pearl City coach Shirley Kato if he would like to take over the position. He agreed, and is now in his ninth year of coaching the Chargers.

"She helped me with figuring out the procedures and getting used to all the things I have to go through as a coach," James said of Kato’s tutelage. "I wanted to coach because I didn’t want anyone else coaching my son. I had been coaching him since he started bowling at 5 years old. So I got into it, and as the years went on, I really enjoyed it and being around the kids."

The Hayashi brothers have made a noticeable mark on the landscape of boys prep bowling, as their teams have combined to win six consecutive HHSAA state bowling championships and seven of the past eight. While Greg holds the edge in titles won with five (including one in 1996), James is making a run for the family bragging rights after guiding Pearl City to state championships in three of the past four years, including two consecutive wins.

"The lesson is to be competitive and try to beat him!" exclaimed James when asked about the rivalry between the siblings. "It’s very satisfying to beat him. That way when I see him, I can just rub it in. He has five state titles and I have three. It would have been four (for Pearl City), but we lost the (2009 state championship) after dominating all season. During the state tournament, they used a different oil pattern on the lanes that somebody, I don’t know who, recommended, and my boys just couldn’t bowl on it because they weren’t ready for it. There are 20-something ways to oil the lanes, so instead of putting the regular ‘house’ pattern that we used all season, they used a pattern that professionals use."

One of the feeders to the Pearl City squad has been the junior bowling program at Leeward Bowl. As James explained, "Most of the kids in the junior bowling program at Leeward Bowl live in the area, so they end up bowling for the high school. The longer I’ve stayed at Pearl City, the talent level has increased year by year. I was just learning how to coach, and now I know how to bring the kids up from when they are small until they are seniors."

James makes it a point to keep his teams balanced with student-athletes at all levels so the squad can remain consistent from year to year. For example, the 2012 team has received consistent efforts from seniors Sheldon Na‘auao (201 scoring average) and Sean Nakanishi (201), juniors Nicholas Azumi (234), Ken Hayase-Fong (216) and Blaise Morishige (198), sophomores Keenan Kihara (192) and Aaron Rafael (181) and freshman Ryan Kajihiro (199).

The Chargers’ balanced approach led to the team claiming the OIA West title last Thursday, and while the squad will compete for the OIA championship this Thursday at Schofield Bowling Center, Pearl City has already secured a spot in the Billy Tees/HHSAA Bowling Championships slated for Nov. 1 and 2 at Kauai Bowl in Lihue.

"My theory was instead of using seniors every year, I bring in a few freshmen and break them in until they become juniors and seniors," explained James. "I get them ready so I don’t have to rebuild the team every year. Some teams, when their seniors graduate, their team is gone. That’s why we’ve been so consistent as the years go on. We just dominated this season."

Conversely, Greg’s HBA squad has already clinched the ILH championship thanks to its six stellar senior bowlers who all rank within the league’s top nine in scoring average. Justin Joo (198 scoring average) is the ILH’s top bowler, while teammates Andrew Yamamoto (192), Kyle Yonashige (184), Collin Young (183), Skyler Kawahara (181) and Joel Matsuzaka (174) have all qualified as individual bowlers for the state tourney.

"Our bowlers are also part of junior bowling, and that has helped our program," Greg said. "The goal for our team all year has been to win the state title. They knew coming into the season that we’d probably be facing my brother’s team … and it would be a huge accomplishment because we’ve basically traded titles over the last several years. They’re going for a three-peat this year, so we’ll try to play spoiler and keep them from getting it."