By Jacob Balatico
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On Aug. 16, MHS’ Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) attended the fifth annual Na Koa Wounded Warrior Canoe Regatta at Hale Koa and Fort DeRussy Beach and took third place in the canoe races. Not only did the event serve as friendly competition between many different JROTC teams, it was also a way to honor and support combat veterans and their families.
“It’s not about winning,” said Lt. Col. Timothy Schiller, “It’s about caring for those people who are wounded and this raises funds for them and they really appreciate it. We enjoyed going out there, we had great weather and (various organizations) provided all the cadets with T-shirts and also with a lunch and water and stuff like that so it was good to give back to the community. They gave back to us and it was a positive experience for everyone.”
The cadets were put into two teams for the canoe competition, which allowed them to learn more about working together. Junior David Wilmarth stated, “With paddling in general you really get a sense of teamwork because if there’s one person that’s not in sync with everybody else, if that one person is not performing their job, because each seat has a different job, it really slows down the team so we really try to work on working together and being a team who is efficient and effective.”
Additionally, this first event provided insight into the workings and competition of future JROTC events. “It really helped me and some of the other people that are on the competition teams (see) who is going to show up and who works good with who and the canoe racing is a perfect example because it really shows who is in sync with other people and who has a good attitude while others don’t have such a good attitude and it really helps us get ready for the challenging year ahead,” said Junior Darius Usborne.
The JROTC cadets participate in many challenges similar to the canoe regatta such as the Waianae and Punahou Adventure Challenges. Wilmarth stated, “There’s all these different athletic challenges and if you’re not working as a team, it’s going to be really hard (to get anything done).”
The regatta serves as a kind of marking point in which the JROTC cadets see where they stand and assess what they need to work on. “We look at it like a practice kind of, we have an opportunity to go out there,” Schiller said, “You can take a person that has never done it, now they have a little bit of experience and then they do it again later on in the year, that’s how we build it. We had some ninth graders out there with us because those are going to be the leaders in three or four years so that’s why we always got to train the young guys. You can’t just throw all seniors in there. I think that’s why we’ve been so successful in so many competitions. (It’s because) we have a good pick from a lot of different athletes.”
Schiller plans to attend next year’s regatta with new cadets to continue to provide support for the soldiers who have been injured doing their duties.
