Hanalei resident Kailea Lucy is using her talents in the pool as she pursues her dreams in Southern California, taking advantage of an incredible opportunity: a 90% paid water polo scholarship to Westcliff University.
Lucy relocated to Irvine, California at the end of August, and has a month until she starts training with her team, where she’ll soon be dedicating her time practicing for three hours each morning to start off the water polo season.
Lucy said she’s feeling a little nervous about the rigorous practices, but overall is looking forward to getting started.
It truly has been a whirlwind ever since she received her GED online from McKinley Community School in Nov. 2021.
“It’s definitely a change. I’m just so excited for the future and the opportunities that I have here,” Lucy said. “It’s crazy how fast everything went.”
She’s been looking at a few different career opportunities, including heading into the health care field.
“Right now my degree is in nursing. I would love to be a traveling nurse, or if not I would also love to work in the prisons in the correctional facilities as a teacher,” she said.
Lucy has been swimming competitively since she was 7, and has been gaining momentum ever since. Now, she is 18. She discovered her love of water polo when she played for one season at San Clemente High School, about two years ago, before moving to Hanalei.
“I have been swimming all my life. I love the ocean and the pool,” she said. “My dad used to play water polo. He was a goalie. He always played throughout high school and college.”
She remembers what it was like when she was first introduced to the sport.
“When I was in middle school in O‘ahu I saw this team practice, and it looked like so much fun. I knew right away that I needed a high school that had a swim team and water polo team. I started in San Clemente and I just fell in love with it. Since first practice I have been wanting to play every single day,” she said.
Lucy is appreciative of the training she received, which paved the way for where she is today.
“I’m very thankful for the opportunities that I got in Kaua‘i. I am grateful for my coach Genai Kerr and my swim coach, and they pushed me to be a better person and to get this scholarship.”
Kerr played in the 2004 Athens Olympics, and recently he was named MVP of the 2012 U.S. Open after helping the Newport Water Polo Foundation win the national championship. Kerr has coached at every level, from age group to Division 1 college programs, and has run hundreds of camps with Nike 5-meter Water Polo Camps.
In addition to a passion for water polo, Lucy has a passion for helping people.
She also has a Christian background, and her father, the Rev. Eric Lucy, is kahu, or pastor, of Waioli Hui‘ia Church in Hanalei.
“I love helping people. That’s probably one of my favorite things in life,” she said. “I always want to treat people with kindness. I am a Christian, so I want to treat them how Jesus would treat them.”
Before moving back to California, Lucy took a trip to Hawai‘i Island, and then to Italy. In Italy, she volunteered for a month at a Ukrainian refugee camp, where she spent time with the children ages 5 through 15.
“It was an all-day camp, and we took care of the kids while the parents went out to find work. In the morning we would play games with them.”
Lucy said she would often think of different activities to keep the kids engaged.
“After we would take them to the soccer field, and there were coaches who were there to teach them how to play,” Lucy said. “They would play soccer and then they would play tennis. After lunch we would take them to the classroom where we taught them English. Other days we would teach art. I loved it. I miss them.”
The athlete and nursing student said it’s important to keep dreaming.
“Don’t give up. Pursue what makes you happy. You got it, just keep pushing and fighting, because it will all work out,” Lucy said. “As much as you practice and as much as you fight, you’re going to be happy with the end results, so don’t give up.”
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Monique Kemper is a lifelong North Shore resident who lives in Princeville and writes periodically for The Garden Island.
