Na‘auao’s near-perfect roll

To Sheldon Na‘auao’s dismay, football and bowling are in the same season.

He opted for bowling as a senior, leaving the Pearl City football team — which has his father, musician Sean Na‘auao, as an assistant coach — this fall.

Sheldon, the state runner-up in bowling last year, may have made the best choice. He posted a 299 game last week at Schofield Bowling Center, surprising Chargers coach James Hayashi.

“He wasn’t really 100 percent yet. He laid off bowling for quite a while,” he said. “Nothing is easy. You have to be in tune with the alley to get 11 (strikes) in a row. The last one, he hit the pocket too hard and it got a little high, and he left in the 6 pin. But he got his confidence back. He’s much more relaxed.”

Na‘auao was second to teammate Kevin Oshiro at last year’s state tourney. Oshiro had a perfect 300 game last year as a senior and is the only bowler to have one in Hayashi’s nine years as coach.

8-man football starts this week

Eight-man football kicks off this week in the Maui Interscholastic League. Molokai meets Seabury Hall on Thursday at War Memorial Stadium in the league’s regular-season debut. Two years of scrimmages and unofficial games provided the development.

“We’ve got 36 boys playing. There’s nothing else (besides cross country) going on, so they wanted to try it,” said Seabury Hall athletic director Steve Colflesh, who coached football in California years ago. “We made a commitment three years ago to do it. It’s a great opportunity for kids that didn’t have the opportunity before.”

Hana and St. Anthony are also playing, and with four schools, the MIL recognizes eight-man as an
official sport. Hana has 25 players, motivated in part by NFL summer camps in the East Maui town.

St. Anthony has as many as 21, while Molokai has roughly 30 to 35 players.

Colflesh hopes it gains popularity statewide. Several ADs from smaller schools in the ILH have shown
keen interest.

On Hawaii island, eight-man has been slow to stir interest. At Kohala, AD Laurie Koustik said there are 23 players on the football team.

“Some schools could do it, but I don’t know if there’s enough drive or education. It would be nice to see what it looks like,” she said.