Locals provide visitors Hawaiian hospitality
Who’s Who at the game included Linfielder Wendell Say, Aiea High (Aiea, Honolulu County, Hawaii) football coach; Linfielder Ad Rutschman, Say’s football coach at Linfield; Linfielders Danny Paulino and Marc Niebergall.
By Kirby Neumann-Rea, McMinnville N-R/News-Register
9/7/2022
with slight edits by Wildcatville
The first game on the McMinnville High Schools Grizzlies’ football 2022 schedule was pure learning experience. Part game, part cultural exchange, this was the first-ever visit by a Hawaiian high school team to McMinnville.
The team was Farrington High School of Honolulu.
The Farrington "Governors", playing in their fourth game of the season, beat the Grizzlies of McMinnville, 21-18, on Fri., Sept. 2, 2022, at MHS’s Wortman Stadium.
Visitors flew red-white and-blue flags of the 50th state, and also displayed the yellow-and-green Royal flag of Hawaii. Athletic director Ryan McIrvin wore a necklace of shells given as a gift, and an ample pulled-pork meal was served to visiting and hosting athletes and coaches.
In addition to several hundred McMinnville fans, present in the stands were Oregonians with Hawaii ties coming to cheer on the Farrington team. The Farrington baseball squad was also on hand, after a three-game series against Sheldon High School in Eugene, and the Aiea High School football team, also from Honolulu, was there to show support, fresh from its Thursday game against Woodinville, Wash.
The athletes stay in dorms at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, and that school is just one stop among three or four campus visits by the Hawaii athletes while on the mainland.
“It’s more than just a football game,” Farrington vice principal Lisa Joy said.
“We’re here to support our kids, they get to stay on a college campus and visit colleges and universities,” said Jill Yoshimoto, also a vice principal. “We try to maximize it. Give them more experience.”
For many of the students it is their first visit to the mainland. Joy said the trip is not merely a vacation; students are responsible for their own budgeting and spending.
“It’s good for us as a team and individuals,” said Nathan Chung, a Farrington junior. “We get to bond, being close ‘to each other 24/7, I guess is the best experience.”
The teams arrived on the west coast on Aug. 30 and stopped at University of Washington, University of Puget Sound, Central Washington, Willamette, George Fox and Linfield.
“I want our kids to see where I went to college and the opportunities it provided me, and they can have the same opportunities and the chance to visit a lot of other colleges,” said Wendell Say, Aiea athletic director. “The purpose is to play a game, but also to see different campuses and find a place where they might fit in.”
If Wendell Say’s name is familiar, it should be.
The Hawaii-McMinnville connection remains strong, thanks largely to guys such as Say, a 1978 Linfield College (now university) grad, his Wildcat teammate Danny Paulino of McMinnville, cousins Ed Kama, a Linfield teammate in the 1970s and Eric Kama of Salem, who played in the same era at Willamette. Eric was recruited by McIrvin and Say to serve up a dinner to the Aiea players, and a second and larger round of dishes after the Farrington-McMinnville game.
“That’s why I want them to come to small colleges,” Say said. “Our college experience was so good and you make so many good friends.”
Legendary Linfield football coach Ad Rutschman stopped by the dinner line and caught up with his former charges. “I’m just so happy to see you guys. This is a real treat,” Rutschman said. Kama sent Rutschman home with a to-go meal.
Also part of the mini-reunion was Marc Niebergall, Linfield baseball player and 1980 grad, who has been friends with Say since their Linfield days.
“It’s quite a network of alumni around here,” said Niebergall, who was long[1]time AD at Wilson High School. The forest green Aiea gear given to him by Say matched the Trojan colors.
“It’s great to see all the guys, I was really pumped,” Niebergall said.
The Hawaii elders said catering the athletes now is carrying on a tradition of hospitality.
“This is awesome. We always do this,” Paulino said. “This is the way we give back. We appreciate kids coming out and looking at schools, so the kids can come back, and do that.”
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