The Polynesian Bowl is in its eighth year but already has a rich history — as does its parent organization, the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame, now in its 12th year after its founding by Super Bowl champions Jesse Sapolu and Ma’a Tanuvasa.
That history connected with the present and future Thursday, as a new partnership with Shriners Children’s Hawaii was announced. A new logo was unveiled including the Shriners name, and the hospital will benefit from the game starting next year.
Several speakers, including a player who won’t be in the all-star game until next year, talked about personal connections to Shriners.
“My sister and I had such amazing care at Shriners over the years,” said Kamehameha junior Malakai Lee.
The 2025 game starts at 4 p.m. today at Kunuiakea Stadium at Kamehameha and is televised by the NFL Network. It will include Hawaii’s high school record-breaking quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele on the Mauka team, and Husan Longstreet, who threw a ball 78 yards in a skills contest this week, on the Makai team. Sagapolutele is on his way to Cal, and Longstreet is headed to USC. They are among some of the best high school players from around the country — Polynesians and non-Polynesians — playing today.
There’s even more star power on the sidelines: Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter of Colorado, who was MVP of the 2022 game, and Tetairoa McMillan of Arizona — both expected to be first-round NFL Draft choices in April — are honorary captains. McMillan was the 2021 Polynesian High School Football Player of the Year and the 2024 Polynesian College Football Player of the Year. Former NFL head coaches Gary Kubiak and Jim Caldwell are the head coaches.
On Saturday, enshrinement week wraps up with a banquet where this year’s PFHOF inductees — Chris Kemoeatu, Jim Nicholson and Kalani Sitake — will be honored.
Gov. Josh Green, who was an emergency room doctor on Hawaii island, lauded the new partnership.
“It is wonderful that you are committing yourself to this,” Green said at Thursday’s press conference on the grounds of the Honolulu Shriners Hospital for Children.
Green added that “Shriners was always there” if he needed to refer a patient.
Lee is a 6-foot-7 offensive tackle and a top prospect in the Hawaii high school class of 2026. He had surgery for a broken foot at Shriners three years ago. But his family’s association with the hospital goes back 15 years, when his sister, Masina, underwent surgeries as a baby for clubfoot.
Today, Masina Lee, a freshman at Kahuku, is a Polynesian dancer.
“They took really good care of her,” Malakai Lee said.
Colin Kalama went on to a career as a sheriff after childhood surgery for clubfoot at Shriners, said his brother, Corbett Kalama.
“This place was a savior,” Corbett Kalama said.
Sapolu, the four-time Super Bowl champion with the 49ers from Farrington and the University of Hawaii, spoke of his connection to the hospital.
“When I was a 9-, 10-, 11-year-old my parents, who were ministers here, would come here in the afternoon on Sunday and teach Sunday school,” he said. “I was the kid running around the hallways.”
Sapolu continued, telling about how his 49ers coach Bill Walsh invited him to coach at the 2002 East-West Shrine Game. Sapolu brought his son, Roman, to the college all-star game.
“That 8-year-old is now offensive line coach of the Miami Dolphins,” Sapolu continued. “On January 30th he will be coaching in the East-West Shrine Game at AT&T Stadium in Texas.”
Microsoft, another Polynesian Bowl and PFHOF partner, announced a donation of 30 new Surface computers to the hospital Thursday.
