Waipahu High School offers many girls sports, such as soccer, volleyball, tennis, and the brand Girls Flag Football. Here is a look into the female athlete community at WHS.

Girls Soccer

Riley Kauleinamoku is a freshman in the Academy of Industrial & Engineering Technology (AIET). 

“The thing I enjoy most about soccer is that it can be challenging but also fun and you can meet a lot of great people from it,” said Kauleinamoku. Her favorite part about being a part of a team is, “building a bond with people you’ve never talked to before and finding a sense of belonging with them.” 

Kauleinamoku went on to say, “In general, the female sports community is really supportive, but there’s always ups and downs and I feel as a school we should do better to make the female sports community more strong and kind. It’s important for girls to be involved in sports because it opens up new opportunities for future generations! So never give up and if you want something strive for it.” 

Girls Flag Football

Teiya- Jean Barret is a freshman in the Academy of Professional and Public Services (APPS), and she is on the brand new Girls Flag Football team this year.

Her favorite memory was, “playing for the 808 senior pro bowl girls flag football exhibition because for one it was the first all female flag high-school football game in history and the feeling that I gave my all and fought to the end to a well deserved win.” 

Barret stated she also faced challenges while joining and being a part of the team.

“The biggest challenge that I faced as a female athlete would be gender discrimination being that football obviously is a male dominated sport. I’ve had people doubt my abilities just because I’m a female and it made me feel like I had to work twice as hard to prove not only to them but to myself which is what I did I trained harder and focused on getting 1% better each day and also turning those negative comments into motivation to work harder and letting my performance speak for itself on the field,” she explained.

Through these challenges, Barret gained new learnings.

An important lesson Barret learned was “to not let people’s opinions stop you from doing something that you want to pursue. As our school motto says ‘your voice , your choice , your future.’ If you want something don’t let negative opinions stop you, it’s your voice, your choice, and your future.”

Girls Volleyball

Toni Danica Fukunaga is also a freshman in APPS. She’s been playing volleyball for about three years now. 

Her favorite memory playing volleyball included traveling with her teammates each summer to Orlando, Florida and competing in AAU tournaments. With this, Fukunaga noted that her team share rooms, stay up and watch movies, swim together, and bond.

One of her biggest challenges as a female athlete was comparing herself to others.

Fukunaga stated, “I’ve matured and instead of looking at it in a bad way, I ask myself, ‘what can I do to improve my hitting’ or ‘I love how that girl passes the ball directly to the target, how should I adjust my platform’.  Just the simple things that change my perspective on how I approach different things.”

She also believes, in the important of girl being a part of sports.

“It is important for girls to be involved in sports because a lot of people think that girls aren’t made for sports. People often overlook girls in sports environments because they think we’re too “girly”. So with that, it’s important for girls to be involved in sports so we can prove that we are in fact capable of playing them,” explained Fukunaga.

Tennis

Maryann McCann is a senior in AIET and has played tennis for WHS since her sophomore year, and throughout that time, she faced many challenges.

“I would say my biggest challenge I have faced would be finding my place on the team. It was hard to settle in at first with new people and preexisting friend groups. I drifted a lot around everyone and questioned a lot. But, once I started settling in, everything was alright,” McCann said.

She also learned many things.

“I learned that the hardest opponent to beat is yourself. It’s a lot of mental as you can’t allow yourself to spiral. The moment you start thinking negativity, is the moment where your gameplay and outlook will start crumbling. It’s important to not let yourself fall and to not beat yourself up for mistakes you do. Give yourself grace as everyone makes them. It’s near impossible to play a perfect game and have everything go right. You can only do so much,” she explained.

Cross Country

Liezel Cadiz, a freshman from the Academy of Health and Sciences (AHS), has been running cross country for three years.

“I had let my academics reflect my performance as an athlete. This made a barrier between my sport and school. I felt like I had let myself down and it felt like all my accomplishments had vanished away, but then someone on my team had talked to me personally and comforted me about how I’m not defined by a grade, I was a great athlete no matter what, I can overcome any challenge that was in my way as long as I put my mind to it. This actually benefited me a lot, and it gave me a better perspective of myself, and how I can overcome any challenge/difficulties in life. I shouldn’t stop and let a minor inconvenience stop me. I had to believe in myself. And because of them, I overcame this challenge.” 

Cadiz stated, “I believe that it is important for girls to be involved in sports to develop confidence. You’re always gonna be surrounded by people who want you to be there, giving you a tremendous amount of support and motivation. They want you to become a better self. By being surrounded by people like this, it doesn’t only have a good influence on your sport, but also in school. You build the confidence to try new opportunities and join other sports/clubs! By being involved in sports, you have the chance to  open a lot of other doors in life.” 

Cheerleading

Aezyrie Maulit is a freshman in AHS, and she is a Cheerleader. 

She said, “I enjoy bringing school spirit and enthusiasm to every game, supporting our team, and spreading positivity.” 

Her favorite memory of cheer was being able to meet new friend and gain the opportunity to experience something new. With cheer, she also learned lessons that help her in life. 

“valuable lessons about teamwork and perseverance. I learned that cheer is all about working together and pushing forward  despite all the challenges that occur,” explained Maulit.

Overall, she also stated that female sports at WHS is both welcoming and supportive.

 “The female sports community at Waipahu High School is very welcoming and supportive to new members that join the team. Sports give the ability to fulfill your dreams but it requires personal discipline to be able to perform at your best, not only for the sport but also yourself,” she said.

Paddling

Abrielle Chianna Jose is a freshman in APPS. This year was her first season in paddling.  

When asked about challenges, she said the biggest one as a female athlete were the stereotypes. 

“Whenever I mentioned my sports or the fact I did do sports, reactions varied from being positively shocked or very judgmental. I grew up in a traditional Filipino household and I was always told by my relatives to stay skinny and feminine and to break that barrier I always wanted to do more male-dominated sports,” Jose said.

Jose also noted both the positives and challenges that come with females in sports.

“When people think of female athletes they mainly envision volleyball, soccer, or softball players. It’s unlikely that this will change over the span of a year but I feel like a lot of females would be more willing to try sports for the first time if they were equally as popular. Overall, I really hope that more females would be involved in sports because it can really build your connections with others. Through my sports teams I’ve made a huge demographic of friends and I’ve had many social activities that I would have never been a part of if it weren’t for my athletics. I see my sports as a job and activity, it’s a place to work hard at something I enjoy doing, and hopefully many more females would be able to experience these events by

Overall, WHS has an amazing female sports community, which is important for high school’s to provide these opportunities because there are many benefits to being part of sports.

To those girls who are in sports and struggling, keep your head up and keep trying. Girls who may want to join sports, go for it! Be there for each other!