Kalaʻi Miller From playing home games on a field with no
bleachers in Hoʻolehua, Molokaʻi to playing in front of 60,000 screaming fans in Manhattan,
Kansas. Vaai “Uso” Seumalo is the first ever Molokaʻi Farmer to receive a scholarship
to play football at a school in one of the Top 5 conferences in the country. He played
8 on 8 football in Maui County for only one year but he got the attention of scouts across
the U.S. After two years at Garden City Community College in Kansas, Uso is suiting up this
fall for the Kansas State Wildcats of the Big 12.
Vaai Seumalo My name is Vaai Seumalo. I'm a junior heading
into Kansas State University and uh, I play football. I kept asking my parents to play
football. They never wanted me to play because they were scared I get hurt. And it's kind
of discouraging, because, you know, all my friends play. And I was only, probably the
biggest kid that never played. I really wanted to try.
Mike Kahale Uso’s a a great story. I mean, just a great
kid, humble kid. I'm actually a middle school teacher. So I saw him in seventh and eighth
grade at the middle school. And he was big back then. And I saw how light he was on his
feet, how athletic he was, and I knew he'd be a great football player. But for whatever
reason, he didn't play football, those first few years in high school.
Naomi Seumalo When he asked to play football, from ninth
grade, we said no. 10th grade. He tried again, the coaches came, we said no, and so on and
so forth. And then his senior year, he asked, “Can I please play football this year?”
And his father and I thought, well, what's it gonna hurt? It's his last year.
Mike Kahale And then finally that fourth year as a senior,
you know, through some encouragement, he got the okay came out and was an impact player
right from the start, as we knew he would be, on both sides on offensive line and defensive
line. PA Announcer
Direct snap to the running back again. Taking it down the sideline. Tackled by Seumalo.
Vaai Seumalo That's what, I really I really wanted to play
football because when I was little we play and everybody would come out. Go to the parks.
It was just it was a blast. Played football all the time...Barefoot, running on the grass,
tackling. Nicole Helm Kahale
My name is Nicole Helm Kahale. I'm a teacher here at the Molokai Middle School. Grew up
here on Molokai, Molokai football. My connection is I'm married to the coach. When I was teaching
some of the students had asked, why don't we have football on Molokai? And uh it kind
of piqued my curiosity. I'm like, I really don't know why, because we hadn't had football
for like over 50 years. So I kind of went around and talked to some people. One of the
guys that I talked to was my father, Larry Helm, he was a former football player back
in the late 50s and early 60s. And he had said that there had been multiple attempts
to try to get football here back on island and um, and they failed. We didn't have the
support of the high school initially, probably because there was some reluctancy. People
have tried to bring it back before and, you know, they're like, “Okay, you go prove
it first.” And then that's kind of how we did it and got the community involved.
Mike Kahale And right about the same time, St. Anthony,
who had stopped their eleven man program was thinking about restarting. Seabury, who had
never had a program at that time was thinking about starting something. So we kind of just
jumped in the mix and started a eight man league. It was just the three of us that started
that one year. And the commitment was, was that it would be a three year plan. The first
two years we'd have to operate as a club, we weren't connected to the high school, we
had to get facility use permits, use the field, had to get all our own equipment, all those
different things. And then we started those first two years and played a few games. And
then the third year the MIL sanctioned us. Funny story is that we had no money at all
to start. So St. Anthony had a program before. So they lent us a whole bunch of equipment,
helmets, shoulder pads, even jerseys. They were like gold and blue. And so when we had
our first game that year, we tried to dye their their gold jerseys green. And it turned
out to be this really bad, like, diarrhea green looking thing, but it was really bad.
But the kids were like, they were so excited. It was it was so awesome. Even though we had
horrible looking helmets and uniforms. They were just excited to play. And once we saw
that first game, we knew like, hey, we have something here that we have something to build
on. And just from that point, we got community support, sought donors some different people
raised some money, did a lot of fundraising, and just kind of went from that point on.
Lee DeRouin Now we have home and away uniforms. We have
a scoreboard, goalpost, all this stuff wasn’t here. It seems like each year we're we're
adding more to the program to the facilities. But also it’s a tribute to Mike and his
coaching staff and his wife. It's a tribute to them to getting the kids that come out
for an eight man football team to have 40 to 50 kids, sometimes more than 50 when we
start in July is a tribute to them and what the kids want to be part of here on Molokai.
Vaai Seumalo Being able to play football here was probably
the best thing I've been allowed to do from my parents. Just being able to play here,
given the opportunity to play. Mike Kahale
That was our first year that we actually went out and played some 11 Man games, so we got
to go to Honolulu and play Nānākuli and to Maui to play Kamehameha Maui. So it was
an opportune year for him to get additional exposure. So that worked out really well.
So at the end of his senior year, he put together a highlight film with HUDL, HUDL highlight
film, and then he got some, some looks, he went to a couple of camps, some showcases,
I think he won like MVP of the defense for some senior game that he went to on Oʻahu.
And then had some couple of looks from some other JuCo’s. Then I reached out to Doris
Sullivan, and she's kind of a big name in Hawaiʻi in terms of football connections.
And she got the family in touch with Garden City someway, somehow, they offered him and
he ended up in Kansas of all places. Vaai Seumalo
The Kansas State coach that recruited me there, Coach Mike Tuiasosopo, started looking at
me while I was still here. Throughout my whole junior college career, he just kept checking
on me. I really was glad I went the junior college route because it really helped develop
me into a better player in my position. And for like the town in general, it was it was
kind of similar. It wasn't. It was bigger than here. But it was still yet small. So
everybody was close. Everybody was supportive. That town love football.
Naomi Seumalo Watching him play this game you can see in
his, in his eyes, you can see in the way he plays the passion that he has for it.
Vaai Seumalo I finally got to go up there and do a little
workout with them to see how I was how I can move physically and stuff. And they offered
me once I was there right after that. And I wouldn't say it was a sure decision because
I had a couple other offers that I could have chose being UNLV, Jackson State, I had Akron
and uh University of Incarnate Word. I feel like Kansas State stood out to me the most
culture, their team is built on, like a family bond. So everything is teamwork and coaches
there. I feel like they'll be some of the best that have helped me develop into a player
that wants to go to the NFL. Mike Kahale
It’s huge for our program. It brings credibility to our programs, or our coaches, you know,
to the things that we're trying to build here. It lets the other high schoolers and all the
kids in our community that lets them know that eight dreams can come true. I mean, you
can be a small town kid from a small island and go play big time football.
Vaai Seumalo Well I never thought I'd be where I'm at now.
It's kind of amazing, to be honest, from this to where I'm going to now. Just growing up
here. It was just, it was small. Everybody's close, you know? I love it here. There's a
lot, a lot of support, so much. To come home, being such a small island, everybody knows
what's going on already. Everywhere you go, everybody just saying Good job. Congratulations
on what you're doing, keep doing what you're doing. And it's a lot of stuff like that that
makes me want to represent where I'm from even more. It's a honor blessing being able
to represent here. It's a lot that I have to do to make sure I can put my best foot
forward to represent where I'm from and uh, I believe I can do that. I hope I can and
I hope I do. But I believe I can an uh it’s for sure an honor.