Charles Kenney, one of the coaches of the Kapa‘a High School girls softball team, said they only had a couple of hours on Sunday, April 2, 2023, to complete the team’s service project of painting the dugouts, backboard and protective strip at the softball field of Bryan J. Baptiste Sports Complex.
“It rained all day Saturday,” Kenney said. “Fortunately, it cleared up this morning, and according to the weather guys, it’s supposed to start raining again at 3 p.m. This is our window.”
The team showed up Sunday morning, ahead of the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation starting the second round of play on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, when Kapa‘a High hosts Kaua‘i High in a single contest starting at 6 p.m.
Kenney, who works for the County of Kaua‘i, said the county provided the paint, and a few of his friends let the team “borrow” the supplies with Kenney estimating about $500 in value, needed for the repainting project.
“Warren Koga, who works with me, wanted us to paint the Lihu‘e Baseball League park,” Kenney said. “But more than half of the Kapa‘a softball team used to play with the Diamonds, who use the BJB Park facility. The girls have a connection to this park.”
Kapa‘a High opened its softball field during last year’s season, and only recently completed the installation of lights that allow night games on campus.
“This is priceless,” said Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami, who learned about the girls’ efforts while participating with middle school students at the Mayor’s Track Meet on Sunday, April 2, 2023.
“I’m not that good with figuring out costs, but the value of the project is that it gives these girls ownership of the park through their investment. It’s like surfing, when the old guys tell us to clean the beaches before we get in the water,” Kawakami said.
The coaches for the Lady Warriors softball team, their parents and supporters turned out on Sunday morning to refresh the softball facility used, not only by the Diamonds softball program, coached by Micah Furtado, one of the Lady Warrior’s dads. The field is also used by other community softball teams, including the Kaua‘i Senior Softball League, which holds practices, as well as league games at the facility.
“I’m only head coach on paper,” said Blair Yamashita, another father of a Lady Warrior. “We have a lot of other coaches, including Charles Kenney, Micah Furtado, Duke Sardinha, Aaron Kupihea, Tim Laranio, Tiffany (she’s a Laranio) Yamashita and more. We found out there was a need, and we stepped up to fill the need.”
Kenney said the girls also need service projects to submit with their college applications.
“My oldest daughter graduated during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. “There were no service projects then. My youngest daughter is in the ninth grade, so I’m starting now. I checked with Kapa‘a High School Principal Tommy John Cox and Athletic Director Greg Gonsalves to make sure this was all right with them. The hardest part of this repainting was coordinating with everyone and finding the windows so everyone had the time to help.”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
