 Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou School Boys Varsity tennis team for 22 years, and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. This show is based on my books Beyond the Lines and Beyond the Game, and it's about leadership, inspiration, and creating a superior culture of excellence. My special guest today is the head coach of the Kahuku football team, who won the past three state championships. He is Sterling Carvalho, and today we are going beyond Kahuku football. Hey, Coach Sterling, welcome to Beyond the Lines. Well, thank you. Thank you, Coach Rusty, for having me again. It's such an honor and a pleasure to be always associated with you, but to be on this show. Thank you. Coach Sterling, when I had you on previously, everybody that watched you, they just absolutely loved you, what you're doing with the culture of your team. But this past season, it was incredible how your team beat St. John Bosco, who was last year's national champion. How, what were the various impacts of beating a team like that? I mean, the reason why, Coach, we take on these national powers on the mainland is to improve the quality of opponents that we play, improve our program, provide experience and opportunities for our players to get better. And, you know, just one week before that game, you know, the then number one team in a country, modern day high school, you know, really gave us a good licking for better words, right, 55 to eight. But what I was really impressed, and I'm really proud of my team, is the resilience they showed, literally one week after losing to the number one team in the nation at that time, 55 to eight, was able to rebound, refocus, commit, and basically go out there and play a great game. And like, you know, and everybody knows, we won against the defending national champs in St. John Bosco. So the resilience of our team showed in less than a week, and the heart, especially of our players. Oh, without a doubt, and Coach Sterling, I mean, you guys got a national ranking of number eight in the United States. How does that kind of publicity really help all of Hawaii football schools? Yeah, you know, I think being such a small state, the 50th state, a lot of people think, you know, we're not good, right? I mean, no offense to the University of Hawaii. They were a great football team once before. And you know, a lot of people think, oh, because the University of Hawaii is not doing too good, maybe Hawaii football is not doing too good as well. So by being able to make a big noise, big splash on the national scene, it put Kahuku football on the map, but also all of Hawaii football on the map. You know, so I'm just really proud that our boys was able to represent not just Kahuku, but the whole state of Hawaii. Oh, I completely agree. I mean, that's so great for Mililani, Punahou, Cambo. I mean, just everyone to have that kind of attention. And Coach Sterling, when I was head coach, my number one priority was to develop champion athletes of character first, and then great tennis players second. Can you share about your coaching culture of excellence and what you try to focus on with your teams? Yeah, you know, first of all, Coach B, we always have this saying at Kahuku, you know, we don't set the standard, we are the standard. So with that basic mentality is we have to be accountable, accountable for everything that we do. You know, I take roll call every single day. I mean, as tedious as it might seem, it's just to hold the players accountable that we have to be at a certain place, at a certain time. And you know, that's just life, too. Be where you need to be. Show some type of accountability. Say, I hold them accountable right from the get go. And who's absent? Who's tardy? You know, those are life lessons. If you said that it would help these players become better men later on in life, you know, and the opportunity that we have to commit to such programs or such things that we have in life helps them. And obviously the sacrifice we have to do in our program, you know, we don't have the luxury of going to the beach all day on Saturday, right? We have to say no, we have a game that day. We can't go out late at night or be out late at night. We have to go to sleep, rest our bodies, be ready for practice, ready for the next game. So for us in our standard of excellence is holding these players accountable, letting them know that there is sacrifice that will be needed throughout the whole season. And I think once our players buy into these simple, basic principles that helps them later on in life, they thus become great football players. I love hearing this, because I know you're all about accountability and character and it's been so great over the past few years to really get to know you and to really become friends and talk with you so much. And Coach Sterling, this past year's team, you had over half of the team were new players. I mean, that's incredible. And how do you get them up to speed in terms of fundamentals and discipline? Well, you know, I really rely on my returnees. And like you said, Coach, more than half the team was brand new, right? So that winning culture comes from my returnees, right? That they also set the example. But I have great coaches as well that we all try to be the example for the players, what it means to work hard. So our coaches, they come to practice and they coach. They coach hard. They have expectations for our players. So having that excellence rising every single day, not from just the returnees, but from the coaches, it becomes contagious and everybody wants to work hard. And we coach everyone, you know, from the first man to the 58th. You know, we make sure that everybody gets the reps. Everybody gets the attention. Everybody gets the coaching, not just the first stringers, not just the second, but everyone. And so once you have that type of culture, everybody's willing to work hard. Everybody buys in because it's not just about one person. It's about a team. Definitely well said right there, Coach Sterling. And Coach Sterling, last year, Ryan Tanaka did a big book donation for your entire team, all of your players, all of your coaches, of both of my books. And then this past year, for all of your new players as well, what kind of impact, how is the books helping your team? First of all, I just, like you say, Coach really want to thank Ryan Tanaka. I mean, to do this for our team, the past two years, I mean, big mahalos to Ryan. And these books, what it does, it helps them and makes them aware, right? Brings awareness, helps them understand that there is a superior culture of excellence that is out there that they can obtain. And, you know, just by your example of raising your hand and raise it high, go a little bit more and everybody was able to do that. I think that's what this book does, right? You hear things, but when you read it, it expands their vision, their knowledge, just that much more. Yeah, I completely agree. And, you know, Coach Sterling, you had invited me to come out to speak to your team as a keynote speaker last year and again this past year. And my message to your team really was about superior excellence. And part of superior excellence was to eliminate unforced errors. How did you like my messages that I shared with your team? Oh man, Coach, I took great notes. And I shared them, you know, with them once again before our state championship game. And I think the first thing that you mentioned was present focus. You know, most team has past or future focus, right? And that helped our team being so young, like you mentioned earlier, more than half the team. So we cannot be focusing on the past, what others did before, kind of be focusing on the future, you know, winning a state championship, but we have to be in the moment, present focus. And that was just spot on, Coach, thank you so much for sharing that. But also like how you closed as well, in which you mentioned you can control three things, right? You mentioned that. And just look at my notes, you know, your mouth, your hands, your thoughts, right? What you think, what you say and what you do. And I think that speaks volumes for you as a coach, relaying that message to my team that, you know, there are things that we can't control, but control the things that you can. And you know, your thoughts, your words, your actions, that helped us springboard us to our season and finishing the season on a high note. No, definitely. I mean, you know, I like to keep things simple but impactful and you know, Ryan Tanaka, I mean, he wants to really help all of Hawaii. He wants to help all of Hawaii in every which way possible. It's so awesome for me to really get to meet and know your players now. And then after my speaking, I did the Q and A with them. And it was so awesome, you know, the questions they're asking me so insightful and how engaging, how proud are you when you're able to really see that kind of interaction with your team? Oh, we love it. And you know, Coach, as we had you for two years now, you know, every week, once a week, we have what we call a coach's corner. So it brings inspiration to these players but also have them see, you know, examples like you, right, Ryan Tanaka who spoke last year that there's more to life than just football. So picking your brain, picking the brain of all those who come in for our coaches corner, you know, helps these players to know that, you know what? If I take care of my education, I can graduate. Once football is done, I can be successful like Ryan. I can be successful like Coach Rusty. I can be successful with all these mentors that come in and teach us about life and the life lessons. And so coach's corner is awesome for our team and they actually look forward to it just as much as a game. They can't wait for Wednesday. Who's gonna be speaking? Who's our guest today? You know, because they wanna learn more and how to be successful in life. And as you know, Coach Sterling, that I've been training in tennis for over three years now, Super Bowl champion Michael Bennett and then I was able to bring him to a coach's corner for him to speak and what was the impact with your team when they all got to listen and meet Super Bowl champion Michael Bennett? You know, at first they were in awe, right? Oh, this NFL player who's a Super Bowl champion, all right, coming to us. But I like how Michael just talked about, you know, the hard work, you know, he put in and the experience he was able to share with the Legion of Boom and, you know, those things. He related really well to our players and the intensity that he brought. I mean, he's just also physically, you know, intimidating, but when he was able to talk to our players and just break it down, just like how you do, how you just said to simply put that you have to work hard for what you want. And I think on and off the field, our players will remember that. That in the classroom, I work hard. On the field, I work hard. In life, I work hard. In my profession, I need to work hard. As a father, as a dad, I need to work hard with my family and my kids. So it's just life lessons, just keep rolling and hearing it from someone who's been there and is doing that, it's super impactful. Yeah, I completely agree. It was when you had introduced me to your team and then the guys did the haka for me and Michael was looking at this thinking, oh my God, they love you. And then I'm introducing Michael to the team. And then they did the haka for him. And the energy was just off the charts. I mean, what you've created with your team, the culture, the mindset, I mean, it is truly special, very admirable. And Coach Sterling, I want to ask you, this past season in the OIA championship, Mililani defeated your team. I mean, it could have gone either way. And then three weeks later, you play Mililani again. The first time two public schools plays each other in the state championship football game. How did you get your team, their mindset, ready for that state championship football game held at University of Hawaii? Yeah, you know, as I mentioned earlier in the season, we lost to modern day. And then a week after we beat St. John Bosco. So our players were used to overcoming, being resilient, and being able to put our loss behind us and look forward to the next game. And I think experiences like that, top caliber teams that you play against win or lose, helps you throughout the season. And that loss by modern day, that win by St. John Bosco, helped us to overcome, hey, Mililani beat us. They were the better team that night. We didn't take care of the things that we needed to take care of. We were sloppy. We had turnovers. We weren't playing our best. But guess what? I guess St. John Bosco, we were focused. We played our best. We played it hard. And that's what happened that night in the state championship with our players that we were doing good, even within that game. Towards the end, we went down. But what happened? They were resilient, played with heart, all the way to the end. And that's the culture that we have, that no matter what happens, if we stick together and play with our hearts till the very end, we'll always be successful. Even though the score might not show that, here we know. And I think that's the culture that we're bringing here at Koukou. And Coach Sterling, I mean, Ryan Tanaka and I were there at the game watching that game. That has to be the most exciting state championship football game I've ever seen. I mean, from the first kickoff, you guys are kicking off. And you go for an on-site kick and you recover the ball. I mean, tell me about how that came about. Well, you know, my twin brother, Stuart Carvalho, I mean, he scouts all the special teams, you know, of our opponents in every single game. So he kind of found a weakness. But it just shows the confidence we have, with our team, that, you know what? If Mililani does recover it right there, we'll give them half the field. Our defense were confident that they will be able to stop it. You know, if they do score, we're confident our offense could match that score. So it's just having the confidence in a big game that we were the two-time defending state champ. And so we're not going to play passive. We're going to play aggressive and we're going to play hard and we're going to have faith in our kids and trust them that they're going to perform at the high and caliber that we practiced all week. And they showed it that night. And Coach Sterling, I mean, Kahuku's winning for most of the game until in that fourth quarter, Mililani took the lead, 19-15. And then when you guys were able to run the ball back, that punt returned all the way back for a touchdown to go ahead, 21-19. And then you're kicking off and you guys decide to do a pooch kick. I mean, with only two minutes to go, I mean, tell me about what happened there. You know, the punt return, I mean, that's probably going to go down as one of the best returns in state history. You know, and for someone like Diesel who filled in for Mana, you know, who was our primary punt returner, it just showed that people like Diesel who everybody knows was a transfer to Kahuku this past year, but he came in humble and he came in with the attitude that I'm going to work hard. And having that humility and that hard work ethic was able to show that when it was his time, he was ready. He stepped up. And I think that's how all our players are on our team, that if you work hard and you stay humble that when your number gets called, you're ready to go. And even our kicker, Zaden Maratarangi, he wasn't our primary kicker. It was Manoa Kahalipuna, but Manoa got hurt a couple of weeks earlier, so he couldn't kick off. So Zaden, once again, next man up, he just practiced a pooch kick every single time. My twin brother, once again, found the weakness and we just took advantage of it that we are going to win this game. We're not going to hope that Mililani can't win this game. So we decided to do that pooch kick and we did it to perfection. Zaden pushed it perfect, Mano Lele IU, one of our fastest guys ran down there and just recovered and it was just spectacular right after that. Yeah, and that sealed the victory right there. I mean, that was literally your plan was really playing to win. And it was really, truly impressive. Such an exciting game. Coach Rod York and his Mililani team, I mean, incredible season that they had as well. And like you were mentioning your brother, Coach Stewart, you guys worked so well together and he's an incredible coach. He's the father of your nephew, Mano Carvalho. And I want to ask you about Mano. I mean, Mano literally plays every play on offense, defense, special teams. Tell me about the impact that somebody like Mano has on your team. I mean, Mano, one word that describes him is he's electric. At any time, whether it be on special teams, he can return a kick. On offense, he can cast a ball, run for touchdowns. On defense, he can make a pick, make a play. So he's very valuable to our team. He helps us in all three phases in the game. But he knows and he understands that, like, that's the coach. My uncle's the head coach. And so he can be like, I don't need to work hard. I got it made. I mean, my dad and my uncle is here. But he works probably the hardest because he knows off the field at home. Daddy will come home and get on the little extra. I always visit there and I get on the little extra. So he understands the pressure and the microscope that he's under. And he performs that way. Actually, he relishes the role and the pressure. And he works even harder. And then when it comes to game time, it's easy. He just let it go and it just becomes a natural habit for him to just make plays. I love watching Mano Carvalho. I mean, he plays with so much passion. And in the state championship game, he caught the ball. He was the wide receiver, caught the ball. And then he got targeted helmet to helmet. And the Milani player got ejected. And then Manna never returned to the game since the first quarter. You guys found a way to win without who many people regard as your best player, Manna. So how did the team react to Manna not coming back to return to the game? I mean, don't get me wrong. Our team was very heated, because they felt that it was a cheap shot. But I know things happen boom, boom in the game. And I know Coach Rod York. And I probably know that he didn't. And I know he didn't intentionally tell his player to target Manna. It just happened. It was one of those things that in football, things just happened. And our team was really fired up from that. I had to calm them down and says, you know what? We lost one player, but we still have a game as a team. There's still all of us here that we need to control our emotions and let our game speak for itself and speak for Manna. And the best thing that we can do for him at this time is not to lose our composure, finish the game, and win for him. And literally, that's what our team did, that they could have reacted, could have retaliated. But I'm so proud of them. I'm so proud of my coaches that we kept our integrity. We kept our character. We maintained that standard of excellence. And we was able to control our emotions and finish the game. And that's what we did for Manna. Yeah. And like you said earlier, I mean, Coach Rod York is a class act. And things happen. Boom, boom, plays happen. And who knows? But it's how you react to it. And your team really exemplified poise under pressure. And I want to ask you about your quarterback, Tuli Tangovaloa. He's the cousin of Tua. And I really like his poise. Tell me about Tuli. One word that describes Tuli is humble. He's so humble. He's always asking, you know, Coach, what can I do? What can I improve on? And I think that speaks volume for his play. And for him to always be humble and always looking to improve, help him succeed this year. When we needed him to run, he was able to run. We needed him to make throws. He was able to make throws. I mean, the fourth downplay to close the game, we put it in his hands and Jesus. And we trusted them and we had faith in them because they were hungry. They do their homework. They come out for the extra practices, stay late, and for a humble kid to succeed. I mean, you couldn't ask for anything better. A storybook ending. So happy, so proud of him to finish his high school career. Yeah, Tuli, super incredible finish to his career there. And I want to ask about your running back, Malai Fanoti. I love watching Malai Fanoti. And he is such a, he plays with so much passion, like Mana. Tell me about Malai. Malai, he literally is the epitome of what Koukou football is all about. Heart, hard work, sacrifice, and everything else in between. Malai's a class act. I mean, he was one of our captains this year and he did a wonderful job in keeping the players humble and hungry throughout the whole year. And when he plays, he plays, like you said, coach, with so much passion and heart. It's hard for one person to bring him down because he has that mentality, like, I'll run through anything. As long as my own line is blocking, I reward them by gaining the yards. As long as a boy's coming to me, I'll be catching it because I'm just part of the greater, bigger picture. I'm 111. But Malai makes sure he does his job and holds everyone accountable to that, too. He's a wonderful captain. He's a better guy than he is a football player. So if you can imagine that, you would want to meet Malai Fanoti. And he's such a huge mentor to a lot of our KT's here on the North Shore that when they see him, I mean, how can you not miss him with his nice flowing hair, his big muscles, you know. And the kids just love him. And he works well with the kids. He always takes the time to say hi, gives up his time. And he actually mentors a lot of our special needs students at Kahuku High School. So those students, when they see Malai and a lot of our other students see Malai working with these students, you know, everyone feels like, oh, I can talk to them. So Malai, he does much more than just carry the ball and score touchdowns. He's a great kid. Yeah, I completely agree. I feel, I mean, every time I come to speak to your team, I look forward to seeing him and talking with him. And earlier, you talked about Diesel Kamoku and, you know, how humble he is. And he was the one that returned that punt return all the way for a touchdown. I mean, that was epic. And as he's running right in front of you going for the touchdown, I mean, how did that make you feel? Like, what were you thinking seeing that happen? Honestly, Coach, the first thing I was thinking is, everybody get off sideline control, right? Don't get the penalty of a flag, stay back. But I mean, it was just literally like in slow motion. Like he made that first man miss, number 50, the center, and Aiden just led him. And you could just kind of see the wall that our players was practicing all week long. And it just like, you know, that Red Sea just opened up and he had to make one man miss towards the end, the punter. And he did so. But his determination to be great and to succeed exemplifies everything that all our players have. And I have to mention your Kahuku fans in Raider Nation because, wow, I mean, the energy that your fans have. I mean, tell me about how that makes you feel. I mean, it's literally the 12th man for us, right? Our Raider Nation. They bring the energy, they support our boys. You know, coming to the game, even before the game, you know, you have horses that are painted, go big red, every town along the way before we reached TC Ching Field was out there supporting waving flags. And after the game, it took us literally over two hours to get back to Kahuku. And we couldn't even get to the school. We had to be dropped off at the top of the street because, you know, our Red Raider Nation was there supporting, celebrating our players for such a wonderful season and another state championship. But their energy, I mean, motivates our players. Their support, you know, helps our players to know that we're playing much more than ourselves for ourselves. We're praying for each other. We're playing for our families. And definitely we're playing for the Red Raider Nation that is just supporting us right behind. Well, Coach Sterling, again, big congratulations. Three consecutive state championships in a row. You are a tremendous leader. What you're doing to build the culture in the Kahuku community and, you know, be an inspiration for all of Hawaii is truly impressive. And I wanna thank you for taking time to join me on the show today. Well, thank you, Rusty. I, you know, I finished three, but I can't imagine 19 more in reaching your 22. So I mean, I just looking at that and what you accomplished, you know, which is greatness. And like you said, a superior culture of excellence. Over 22 years, I just hope I can continue to be the guy humble enough to help my players in however I can, on and off the field, just like you did. And I'm just once again, so grateful for my coaches and their families and the sacrifice that they have to do also for the players and the players and their family and their sacrifice for the program. And I think once our players, our coaches, our families and our Red Raider Nation understands that, that's why we've been so successful because we are all working together for the betterment of our boys and later on success in life. Completely agree. Thank you, Coach Sterling. Thank you. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKomori.com and my books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I hope that Coach Sterling and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.