A confident, modest athlete at the top of her game is hard to come by. Those with humility and class have become a dying breed. Here on the island of Kaua’i. however, is Tiana Lum-Tucker. Lum-Tucker, better known as ‘T,’
A confident, modest athlete at the top of her game is hard to come by. Those with humility and class have become a dying breed. Here on the island of Kaua’i. however, is Tiana Lum-Tucker.
Lum-Tucker, better known as ‘T,’ began participating in sports at the age of five under the tutelage of her father, Tracy Tucker. She spent her younger days at the Poipu Kai tennis club learning about the sport, and competing against her father and friends.
Now a junior at Kaua’i High School, Lum-Tucker has lettered in five sports, which include, but are not limited to, volleyball, tennis, swimming, track and soccer, while maintaining a 3.8 grade point average. She recently finished her second high school volleyball season at the varsity level. She not only won a Kaua’i Interscholastic Federation championship, but also took home player-of-the-year honors.
“Volleyball is my favorite,” Lum-Tucker said. “It is a team thing, its fun, its quick, and everything you do affects everyone else.”
Even though volleyball is her favorite, tennis has been the staple in Lum-Tucker’s sporting life. Her hard work and dedication to the game paid off last year, as she and doubles partner Kareen Konishi won second place in the Hawai’i High School Athletic Association state tournament.
“Tiana is naturally talented. She could play any sport and be just as good, if not better, than the rest,” Konishi said.
Tennis coach and family friend Larry McNeil describes Lum-Tucker’s athletic ability as “graceful and effortless. It is scary how talented she is.”
Lum-Tucker credits both her mother and father for helping her to become the person she is today.
“They are always positive, and always back me up in whatever I want to do. My dad is simply a gung-ho trooper who has a silent telepathy about him, and my mom is someone that I have learned a lot from,” Lum-Tucker said.
She also credits high school sports with helping to build her character.
“It is a lot different now,” Lum-Tucker said. “Before high school, I didn’t do many things with a team, but now in high school I do, and now I am a more vocal person.”
It’s not all of the awards or honors, however, that make Lum-Tucker a class act. Rather it is her undying modesty and genuine personality that place her above all the rest.
Konishi described Lum-Tucker as “a nut. She is not serious, and she is a little kid at heart. You don’t ever feel threatened by her.”
Throughout the interview for this piece, Lum-Tucker often steered away from describing her accomplishments in detail. Nearby, teammate Lianne Williams had to tell Tiana to “stop being so modest, ‘T’.”
Lum-Tucker has a genuine “drive to enjoy the experience,” McNeil said. She confirmed this drive while explaining why sports are so inspirational and memorable in her life. At a swim meet, Lum-Tucker sat relaxing while watching her teammates finish their heats.
“Everyone feels so good after they finish their event, and people are complimenting each other regardless of whether a person came in first or last,” Lum-Tucker said. “The energy that supporting and cheering on my teammates provides is simply enlivening. That feeling is always there at these type of athletic events, and for some reason the feeling doesn’t tire, and doesn’t get old.”
In the near future, Lum-Tucker hopes to compete collegiately in either tennis or volleyball somewhere in California. Kaua’i High School girls volleyball head coach Richard Roberts feels “Tiana will definitely be an asset to any athletic program that she decides to pursue in the future.”
But there will be time enough for that.
“I am still growing as a person,” Lum-Tucker said.
Undoubtedly, Lum-Tucker will continue to grow not only as an athlete, but also as an individual.
