Through all of life’s challenges and celebrations, AJ Tuifua has usually agreed about most things with his dad and mom.
But there was that time when he was a toddler making a lifelong decision. Despite his New York Giants-loving father, Sione, little AJ sided with their blood rivals.
“My favorite team is the Philadelphia Eagles. I was 3 and everything around me was green, like trees. I just like the color green. My uncle, Neami (Tuifua) was always wearing Eagles stuff. He has an Eagles tattoo on his leg, the wings with the ‘Fly, Eagles, fly’ motto. That was the only team that was winning in my eyes,” Tuifua said. “He was my favorite uncle and took care of me more than my other uncles.”
Sione Tuifua didn’t pay much mind to the 3-year-old making any kind of decision.
“My dad said, ‘Go ahead and cheer for any team,’ but now he regrets it,” AJ said.
To this day, any Giants-Eagles game is an automatic, friendly bet.
“We bet a Whopper versus 50 push-ups,” AJ said. “That day Saquon Barkley signed with the Eagles, he said, ‘He’s not as good as he used to be.’ But I’m eating a lot of Whoppers.”
When the going gets tough, AJ Tuifua digs deeper.
Deep enough to plant deep roots. The Damien scholar-athlete with a 3.7 grade-point average and the size of a healthy trench man is in his third year as the Monarchs’ starting quarterback. Big fish in a Division I pond. He is happy. He is comfortable. He is thriving.
“He’s more of a leader who sets the example,” Damien coach Anthony Tuitele said. “This year, he’s been more vocal. Not a rah-rah kind of leader. Just speaking up, asking questions, communicating with his receivers.”
The gridiron history of Damien football has highs and lows, to be sure. For thrilling eras that featured prolific ballcarriers like Kealoha Pilares and Kama Bailey, there were decades prior of immense struggle. At one point, Damien was willing to forfeit games against dynastic teams like Saint Louis rather than take the physical pummeling and risk health. That led to Division I and II in ILH football, something that the league had operated in other sports for years.
In 2017, Damien reached the Division I state final, losing to Hilo, 35-19, at Aloha Stadium.
It was the Monarchs’ first appearance in a football state title game since ’03, when they lost to Aiea, 9-7, for the Division II crown. In the years since, many smaller private schools have managed to stay afloat, while others closed shop. In a current era of mass transferring by student-athletes, particularly football players, from school to school — public to public and private to public — the balance of power and competition can teeter on the whims of a few parents and teenagers.
What makes Tuifua and senior teammate Sylas Alaimalo different is that they stayed the course. Damien (4-1) is ranked No. 10 in the Star-Advertiser Football Top 10 for a second week in a row. At 6 feet, 2 inches tall and 240 pounds, Tuifua is as imposing as the come at quarterback.
“In the Tuifua family, out of all six of my brothers, I only have one that’s close to six feet tall,” Sione Tuifua said. “It’s my wife’s (Tasha’s) family. My kids get their height from her side. The Kemoeatu boys are 6-4, 6-5,” Sione said.
Mention goals and the words “koa trophy” are the common ingredient. The secret sauce for the Monarchs under Anthony “Bonez” Tuitele isn’t about words, necessarily. It’s about the heart behind them.
In the offseason, parents and players walked the sidewalk of Houghtailing street, picketing and protesting what could have been the end of Tuitele’s time as football coach. The school was in the midst of making changes to the football program with no publicly specified reason. At the time, Tuitele did not want to leave, but declined to discuss the matter once his supporters hit the streets.
In the silence that followed, the school eventually retained the Damien alumnae and his staff. For players like Tuifua, it was an eye-opening introduction to life beyond the football field. What did not break them simply made them stronger.
“We go to work. We have our own goals that we set. Making history for Damien. Getting that state koa. Changing Damien’s tradition,” Tuifua said.
It was during that surreal offseason when the possibility of leaving the school and program began to materialize. There was no plan-B destination, but Tuifua and his family, like other Monarch ohana, knew the circumstances could be outside of their control. Meanwhile, friends at other schools began to inquire with Damien’s top two players. Neither was interested.
“I wouldn’t leave Coach Bonez. He’s different from other coaches. He’d rather look at the players as men. As gentlemen,” Tuifua said. “Other coaches just look at them as football players. If I had gone to a big school, I wouldn’t have as many opportunities as I have at Damien. I love being at a small school and helping it become big in football. The Damien ohana, the pride they have for their football players. The love they give to their football players.”
Tuifua is a bit of a case study in football stereotype terms. The eye test has most college coaches, high school fans and everyone in between thinking he is a natural defensive or offensive lineman.
“That’s the first thing that anyone says. He should play defensive end. Or offensive line,” Tuitele said.
Growing up in Waimanalo, playing for his father, Sione, and circle of close friends like Ben Kaimana, Tuifua was thrust into the pocket to play QB out of necessity.
“Our league team (Rabbit Island Elite), nobody wanted to be quarterback, so coaches have their sons at QB. My dad was the reason why I played QB, and Uncle Ben (Kaimana). He taught me how to play the position,” Tuifua said.
In time, he embraced the role. One day, while playing basketball — his first love — with friends at Enchanted Lakes District Park, a seasoned coach got a good look at Tuifua, who was an eighth grader. He was just days away from enrolling in high school.
“They were just shooting around. That was mid-July. AJ wanted to go to Saint Louis, Kaiser or Punahou,” Sione Tuifua said. “His friends were at Kaiser. That’s when we met Coach Keith Spencer. He said try and apply at Damien, and see if we can afford it.”
It didn’t take much more than that. His parents enrolled him at Damien.
“We actually went there for basketball,” Sione Tuifua said. “AJ liked it because of the small setting.”
It didn’t take long before Tuitele got a look at one of the new freshmen.
“I heard abut him from our varsity boys basketball coach,” Tuitele said. “AJ was playing in the spring with Rabbit Island Elite in Waimanalo. His dad was the coach and helps run the program there. AJ was raw. He had an arm and he was big.”
In that first year at Damien, Tuifua repeated eighth grade, a fairly common practice for public-school student-athletes who transfer to private schools. That gave Tuifua more time to grow physically, academically and spiritually. Adapting to a new school culture took time, as well.
As a freshman, Tuifua was around 6 feet, 1 inch tall and roughly 270 pounds, he says. It took some time for Coach Tuitele to convert to the idea of a big-boy QB.
“It’s hard to get the athletes who can play quarterback. I ask him, ‘Do you really want to play quarterback?’ He was honest and straight. ‘Yeah, coach. I want to play this position.’ ”
A key reason why Tuitele was insistent and persistent about his new QB’s outlook was simple. College coaches want a mobile playmaker in the pocket. Tuifua is athletic, but Coach Tuitele knew what next-level decision makers want.
“I asked him again, ‘Are you serious about playing quarterback?’ He said, ‘I’m really serious, Coach.’ So I told him, I have to look out for your future. It’s not just you playing and winning us football games. First things first, you have to commit to losing weight,” Tuitele said. “So he’s dropped 40 or 50 pounds.”
Tuifua also dropped 1,252 passing yards and nine TDs with eight interceptions as a freshman. Last year, he passed for 2,205 yards, 31 TDs and 12 picks. Damien won the ILH D-I crown, edging ‘Iolani, 42-37 A 48-26 loss to Farrington in the state tournament ended Damien’s season.
This fall, Kapolei, an Open Division title contender, handed Damien its lone loss, a 67-35 game to open preseason. Hurricanes coach Darren Hernandez had already seen Tuifua play two years ago as a freshman.
“I was impressed with his arm talent. The ball just flies out of his hand. He’s not just a thrower, but places the ball to a spot. He understands his reads and progressions much more now,” Hernandez said. “He reminds me of Andrew Manley (of Leilehua) in high school.”
Alani Kahuhipa William “AJ” Tuifua
Damien Memorial High School
Football, basketball
6 feet 2, 240 pounds, junior
Top 3 movies/shows
1. “Remember the Titans”
2. “Greatest showman”
3. “Aladdin”
“I’ve watched ‘Greatest Showman’ at least five times. It’s weird people showing their outside looks and also showing their talent by singing, bringing people together. Building a tight bond with each other.”
Top 3 foods/drinks
1. Orange dream Jamba Juice
2. Steak and onions
3. BBQ Ribs
Top 3 homemade food
1. My grandma Coleen (Jervis’) hamburger & eggs
“She used to mix it together and serve it on rice.”
2. Corned beef and onions
“My dad knows how to make the best one. I can make this.”
3. My grandma Kalo (Tuifua)’s Oatmeal
“She puts peanut butter and banana. I’m not a big fan of peanut butter, but when she makes it, it’s actually good.”
Top 3 music artists/favorite song
1. Maoli – “Country Reggae”
2. Rod Wave – “Street Runner”
3. NBA Youngboy – “All In”
>> Favorite athlete/team: Josh Allen.
>> Funniest teammate: Kaysen Dulay-Gorai
“He’s always funny. When our team is down, he brings up a joke out of nowhere and everyone’s laughing. He brings up the energy for everyone, lifting up the team.”
>> Smartest teammate: Matthew Ishihara.
“He’s in honors classes and has a high 4.0. He’s a good student to his teachers and friends.”
>> GPA: 3.7
>> Homework: In school, we have a schedule that provides kids a chance to finish it there. I usually finish it then.”
>> Favorite teacher: “My favorite teacher is Partner Akiona or he goes by Kumu. He teaches Hawaiian history and Indigenous Well-Being.”
“He welcomes every student. “He helps people know the history behind Native Hawaiians.”
>> Favorite class: “My favorite class is Math. I’m not the smartest in our class, but having math makes me have fun. My classes are not boring, but my strength is more in math.”
>> Favorite motto/scripture: Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
>> Shoutouts:
“From the first time I started playing football I wanna shout out my coaches/uncles: Ben Kaimana, Gerald Ho, Ryson Lee-Kealoha, Joe Perry, Holualoa Aquino. My Lightning Basketball coaches: Tony Hoolulu, Dave Swirsky, Jack Torres. Coach Samson Anguay from Team ICCEE. Coach Kealii Tilton at QB GRIND. Coach Anthony ‘Bonez’ Tuitele, Coach Lefa Lauti and the entire Damien football coaching staff. Also my O-line and my teammates. (Damien basketball) coach Keith Spencer and all our staff and my teammates. To my entire Waimanalo family. My aunties, uncles, cousins, braddahs and sisters. I was raised by a village! My grandparents Alani and Kalo Tuifua, Norman Akau Jr. and Gerry Jervis. Last, but not least I would like to dedicate this season to my parents, grandma Coleen, baby brother Melino and aunty Liz Tuitele.”
