Training has begun in Aotearoa for the Nā ʻĀlapa Hawaiʻi men’s team, and they are off to a chilly start with temperatures in the 50s.
"The first thing that comes to mind is the weather," said Royal Kalā Kekuewa, 18, of ʻEwa Beach.
The team arrived in Auckland Tuesday, and the men’s head coach Ian Andrew Mork said his players have adjusted relatively well to the new environment.
"We’re ready for anything. Again this is part of the experience of traveling and playing internationally is you have to be ready to play in any weather, situation, circumstances," Mork said.
Mork is the former head coach of the Belize National Team before becoming a scout and technical advisor for U.S. Soccer.
"It’s not only about their talent, it’s also about what they do off the field, so getting enough sleep, eating well, hydrating, taking care of themselves, being professional, being prepared, all of these things are going to add to their focus when they step on the field," he said.
The team is preparing for its biggest match yet against Māori.
The Nā ʻĀlapa Hawaiʻi Men's and Women's teams were greeted by members of Māori Football Aotearoa with a traditional whakatau, an informal Māori welcoming ceremony.
Māori Football Aotearoa started in 2008 and Taylor Pickering-Parker has been there from the beginning as a player and now a coach for the women’s team.
"When I first started we could maybe get one team, and not everybody in the team was actually Māori. So we had to invite other Pasifika kids into the team to just make a living, to get a starting line-up. So that’s where we were 17 years ago to now weʻre able to fill four to six teams of all Māori players," Pickering-Parker said.
"They’ve dreamed the dream that I’ve dreamt, and now our paths have met," said Vernon Kapuaʻala, the president of Hui Kanaka Pōwāwae Hawaiian Football Federation.
"And so to come here and do it with the Māori, it gives us a chance to share our history. Our peoples have already been connected historically for hundreds of years now, and now we get to do it for the first time using football," Kapuaʻala said.
Kekuewa said he only recently realized how special his place on the team is.
"It didn’t hit me till recently like how historical this really is. A group of Hawaiians just playing soccer and we’re good at it. To be the first ones to ever do it, hopefully, it can just carry on generation to generation. We can lift up our people, and show the world what we can do," Kekuewa said.
The Nā ʻĀlapa Hawaiʻi Men’s team will take the field at Ngahue Reserve on Monday.
