 Hi, I'm Rusty Kamori, and this is Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou 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, which is about leadership, character, and creating a superior culture of excellence. My special guest today is extra special to me, because he was a member of our Punahou Boys varsity tennis team for four years. And as a senior, he became our number one player and was voted team captain by his teammates. He is Brandon Lee, and today we are going beyond excellence. Hey, Brando, welcome to Beyond the Lines. Hey, Coach, how's it going? Thanks for having me. Now, Brando, you're world famous now because I featured you in the Brandon Lee story in my first book, and were you surprised by that? I was. I was very surprised. I think we'll talk about that in a little bit in terms of what my goals always were on the boys varsity tennis team. But yeah, I remember you giving me the call that I was gonna be in the book. And next thing you know, I'm signing autographs, telling all my friends to go buy the book and kind of a mini celebrity. So all thanks to you, Coach, making making dreams come true. No, Brando, I mean, you this this is gonna be such a great show because I really want you to share the insights about the culture that we had on our team. But before we do that, can you share a bit about your background growing up? Yeah, sure. So I was born and raised in Hawaii. I attended Punahou School from kindergarten through senior year upon graduation. And tennis really wasn't the first sport that I played. My parents, I was blessed with parents who really just wanted me to get involved with anything that I could get my hands on. So I played pretty much every sport that had a league or an opportunity for little kids to get involved with. So I played soccer. I played baseball for a really long time. I dabbled in basketball. I took a few golf lessons. I swam. So I did pretty much everything that an active kid was able to do. And I was very blessed to have parents that supported me in whatever I was passionate about. And then I really got serious about tennis, I think pretty late in comparison to other competitive tennis players around fifth or sixth grade. I had to make a decision between baseball and tennis and ultimately decided tennis for a few reasons. And that's when I became really serious about it, started playing tournaments locally and then that expanded to national tournaments. But I think we'll talk about this in a little bit. None of that really my junior career compared to the experience that I had on your team on the Punahou Boys Varsity Tennis team. And those four years were truly incredible. So that's a little bit of a background about how I got into tennis and how I ended up on your team. Well, Brando, you also played some college tennis at Creighton. And what did you enjoy about playing college tennis? Yeah, college tennis, especially at the D1 level, is a different animal. I loved all the aspects about my experience there. And it was very similar, I think, in a few ways to my experience on the Punahou Boys Varsity Tennis team. Just having the camaraderie of a team, I think for a lot of kids, especially for Hawaii kids going all the way to some place like Omaha, Nebraska, it might be tough to meet new friends or branch out. But having a tennis team there immediately was a good thing for me. And it allowed me to meet a lot of new people. Being on a D1 tennis team, you also travel a lot. So I got to explore the Great Midwest, often called the flyover states. But we found quite a bit of joy in visiting different universities, playing against top level competition. We played against folks from Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and Ohio State. So it was a pretty incredible experience. And I'll obviously cherish that year and a half that I played at Creighton, for sure. No, I love college tennis as well. I mean, for all of those reasons and really to travel and see a lot of different parts of the United States. And, Brando, you said you started tennis when you're around fifth or sixth grade. What is it about tennis that you liked? Yeah, so as a kid, I was very much on the active side. And when I was choosing between baseball and tennis, I was comparing the two. And in baseball, I loved it when I was playing. But there's a lot of downtime in baseball, whether you're fielding balls and you're waiting for something to get hit your way or you're waiting to go up to that. So for me, I wanted something that was you were constantly in action. And that's certainly tennis. You know, there's no breaks. There's no one to lean on. It's really just you out there by yourself, grinding it out. And I also like that it was kind of a one-on-one competition. I like to think of myself as a competitor. And really at the end of the day, when you beat someone on the tennis court, it means that in that moment, you are better than your opponent and that you beat them. There was really no excuse for them. You know, they couldn't say, oh, my teammates let me down or the coaching wasn't there for me that day. It really was just I was better than you that day. So I love that aspect of it. And that's certainly influenced, I think, my journey, especially in terms of character from the time that I was really getting into junior tennis on both local and national level and then up until high school and college as well. Oh, and Brando, yeah, I mean, in tennis, you definitely take all the glory when you win and you take all the blame when you lose. And I like that as well. And how would you describe your attitude and behaviors? Before entering ninth grade. Yeah, so I kind of touched on it, but I was a very competitive individual. And I loved, you know, I touched on this just a little bit ago. I love the aspect of beating my opponent, almost to the point where I embraced kind of being a villainous character on the court. My idol growing up on tennis was always Marat Safin, the Russian tennis player from from back in the 2000s, who was always known for causing a scene and throwing a tantrum. And I thought that was cool. So unfortunately, I replicated a lot of those behaviors on the court at a junior age. And I thought at the time people hated playing me because I was beating them on the tennis court, but they actually hated playing me because of the other things on the tennis court, like throwing my racket and, you know, verbal abuse, ball abuse, all of those things. I was kind of known for prior to my freshman year. I thought it made me a tougher competitor and brought the best out of me, but it wasn't until I think even later on in my high school career with you as my as my coach that I realized that can actually bring you down. So certainly a learning process. And I think one that you probably got to see grow and develop you know, during the time that you were coaching me. Yeah, and it was funny because, you know, when you were going to be trying out for our varsity team, your freshman year, so many other players and parents were coming up to me to say, oh, is Brandon going to make the team? You know, he's like the opposite of character of what you teach and coach. And I said, well, I've never seen him play. I've heard about these things, but I've never seen him. So I'm not going to prejudge him. Everyone's going to have the same fair tryout and you are fantastic in the tryout. And and I think it was it was because it was an eyeopening experience to be more about, you know, being a part of this punnahol team, this legacy. And yeah, you touched on our three abuses, ball abuse, racket abuse and verbal abuse. And the result of that was 100 push ups. And do you remember, Brandon, when at the end or towards the the post season in your freshman year, you're playing doubles and you and your partner got beat by a tough Elani team to place fourth. And but when you went up to shake hands, you threw your racket to your to your racket bag, not not a hard throw, not a malicious throw, but a throw nonetheless. You remember what happened when you came off the court? I do. And that was really the moment when I think things started to turn around in terms of my behavior on the court. Like you said, we lost in the semifinals to Elani, which was obviously the worst feeling for me. At the time, I was playing doubles with a good friend of mine and partner William Chen, who really was the exact opposite of me in all ways possible, really showed no emotion. Extremely smart tennis player on the court on the court. And so when I threw my racket, I think that kind of shook everyone up. And I remember walking off the court and going up to you and I expected maybe some words of of maybe some condolences or some encouragement. And instead, you were wearing your sunglasses in a full track suit. And you said, Brando, you know what you did? And I said, yeah, I threw my racket. He says, you know what you have to do? And I said, 100 push-ups and I didn't expect you to say yes. And he said yes. And right then right there in front of everybody, I did my 100 push-ups. And I think that's when I really realized kind of how serious you obviously took that and the value in being a sore, not a sore loser, but losing in grace and winning in grace as well. Two things that I think took a while for me to embrace as I as I got older. Yeah, and Brando, I think a lot of people watching that, watching you do the 100 push-ups right there, right outside of the court, will misperceive why you were doing the push-ups. They're probably thinking, whoa, is he doing it because he lost? Well, that doesn't make sense because why is his partner not doing it? And yeah, it was just because that's part of our rules. And our team discipline. And one of the biggest things that I kept trying to instill in all of you were to only do things that would help you win. You know, there's so many players that do things that help them lose. But my focus was really to try to have you guys do things to help you win all the time. Do you remember that? Absolutely. You know, I think in your book, you kind of wrote about choices and the choices that you can make, not just as a tennis player, but in anything you do in life. And I think tennis, more than anything, you know, is an individual kind of running that gauntlet of choices. And it really tennis is a series of choices, not just in terms of, you know, what shot should I play? When should I go cross court? When should I go down the line? When should I slice? When should I hit top spin? But it's also, you know, making the right choices emotionally and mentally to, like you said, bring out the best in your play. And so, yeah, that was something that you always kind of harped on and something that you tried to burn into all of our brains was that, hey, listen, it's your choice. Are you doing everything that you're doing to to be the best that you can be every single day? Or are you not being honest with yourself? And are you making excuses and doing the wrong things? So those are, I mean, things that I think still live with me to this day that I've been able to bring from that varsity experience, you know, into my everyday work and my life. Well, Brando, you know, we all know that tennis is such an individual sport. And one of the biggest things that I wanted to do knowing that was to create a special team where everyone felt like they were a part of a team where they mattered, that they were contributing. How would you describe our team culture of excellence? Yeah, I mean, it was just that. It was a it was a culture of excellence. And I think we were blessed to have seniors when I was a freshman that really instilled all of the values that you had tried to teach to us, whether it was Coggles, Kevin Coffield or Hiroshi. You know, those two really, I think, especially as me, a young, impressionable kind of freshman coming in with the character issues that maybe I had as a junior were really important to kind of carry that torch. And I don't think without them, I would have been able to do all the things that I was able to do in high school as a leader and as a member of the team. I think it really starts with senior leadership and that started with you and your ability to from a very early stage in the high school tennis process in very effective ways, teach us what's right and what's wrong, not just again, from a tennis standpoint, but from a human being standpoint and from a character standpoint, that was always key. And, you know, there were things that when we were when I was a freshman, whether it was running hills or doing shuttle ball runs that maybe felt like unnecessary or at the time, a little too much. But at the end of the day, I think we all realize this is part of the process that you have built and certainly one that proved effective over 22 years plus. So, you know, it was just buying into the process, listening to the elders, listening to the things that you always taught us. And that really created for a culture of true excellence. Well, Brando, you know, my number one priority when I first became head coach was to develop champion athletes of character first and then great tennis players second. That was that was my number one priority because I knew how many life lessons you guys would learn through sports and you really don't grasp all of that during that time. It's it's only when you look back and you can kind of analyze, you know, how great that experience was or how bad that experience was or, you know, what did you gain from it or why why were these situations so tough and challenging? And I wanted our practices to be really tough but fun because if the practices aren't hard, then you won't be able to really succeed in matches. If you're playing a match and the matches are hard, then that means the practices aren't tough enough, right? Absolutely. And the one thing that I think all of us as a team from player one to player 12, we had in the back of our minds is we would never during a match have the poor me's, we would never say, oh, poor me, we're not, you know, I'm tired or the sun, it's too hot or it's windy because of the way we train. And I think, you know, the practices that we had, the hills that we ran, the campus runs that we did before practice, you know, all of those things contributed to every player buying into a process that ultimately led to championships. So, yeah, certainly at the time, there were times when six o'clock hill runs would come around and we would be exhausted. And after a day of not just school and tennis, but maybe lifting as well, we would say, okay, you know, we need a little bit of a break. But that's really what took us to the next level. And again, instilled that kind of mental toughness that is so critical, not just again, not just in tennis, but in life and anything that you do. Yeah, we were definitely doing things in our practices that no other team was doing. And that's really what led to our success, you know, because winning was just a byproduct of us going beyond the lines, doing what we do. And in my books, Brando, what are some things that really stood out to you when you're reading the books? Yeah, I mean, right away, it's the four P's. And this is something even before the book was written that you were always preaching was, you know, people, purpose, process and performance. And I think for me, the process was something that I didn't really understand when I was younger, especially in junior tennis. Again, I was so focused on winning. That was always the goal, almost maybe sometimes to a fault. And instead of doing things the right way every single day, being the best that you can, training the right way and trusting that the process that you're on will eventually lead to high performance and ultimately winning and the goals that you that you have set. So that was something for me that I think took a little bit of time to learn, but certainly with your guidance and not just your guidance, but the team's guidance and being in that team, that team atmosphere really helps kind of accelerate that learning that learning curve. Well, Brando, you know, in terms of my coaching, you know, I whenever we would lose some individual matches, I would always think to myself, you know, should I have said something more? Should I have said something less? I mean, should should we have prepared in a different way? You know, maybe I, you know, I would be trying to analyze everything on my end. And and that's why, you know, when you played in your senior year and and you you made it to the state singles championship final, you were seeded number one, you played Marcel Chan, fantastic player from Command Mail. He was seeded two and you guys had an epic match. What do you what do you remember from that match? And that that match was really the culmination, I think, of of four plus years of of hard work and and learning. And I don't think it could have ended a better way. Obviously, in the moment, like you said, I've lost and it was disappointing, but looking back on it, it really was, I think, a testament to how your kind of coaching style and the things that you preach came to life, at least in me. You know, that match was one of the toughest I've ever played. It was emotional. I still think about it to this day. And I wouldn't be lying to say that it doesn't hurt anymore. It still hurts. I think every loss that any athlete has will always hurt, especially one of that magnitude. You know, for me, there were so much emotions built up into that match. When I was, like I said, I started putting out a kindergarten. My parents put me into the afterschool tennis program from a very young age. I don't think it's there anymore since the tennis complex has been renovated. But right by the old office above the water fountain by court for there used to be a chart of all of the high school championship tennis players from the boys and girls side. And every year it would say punahoe and then there would be a mix of obviously punahoe singles champions and other school champions as well. And every year from, I think the age of third grade. So about eight years old, I drink water and I look up and it was always my goal to be on that paper one day. And so when I lost that match, obviously it was a lot of emotion. But I think the result of that and how the team responded, how you responded, how I miraculously went about the loss was something, I think, even more special than maybe winning. So, yeah, certainly a lot. I know it's the story that was written in the book. And I've told you this, Coach Rusty, is that my goal obviously was to win. But kind of one A and one B next to that was always to have a story to be told to younger players and to anybody that would listen. And I'm sure obviously all your former players know this, but people around the world might not know this, that you would always start and end practices with quotes and stories from previous players. And so for me, I wanted to be a part of that legacy. And so when I lost that match, I thought that that was over for me and that I wouldn't have that story. But, you know, I'm lucky enough to have been written about in the book and hopefully inspire some other players to embrace more than just winning and embrace kind of the character aspects of being on a team and representing something more than yourself. Yeah, I know you're right. Because, Brando, in that match, I mean, it was all about character and class and that and you represented our team, your family, our school in the highest possible standards. And, you know, that match literally came down to one or two points, which came down to one or two shots and Marcel earned it. He went for the shot and he connected. And when you're walking up to shake hands, I thought to myself of that vision of your freshman year throwing the racket to the bag. I'm thinking, no, don't do it. And you went up and you shook hands and you hugged Marcel. You congratulated him. Then you went off on the side and, you know, I came out, I congratulated Marcel and our whole team came out there. And then when I came to you, you were crying. And you told me, you said, Coach, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for letting you down. And I said, Brandon, what you're you're don't be sorry. I'm the most proud of you at that moment. I mean, what more can I ask then for you to have the best attitude and give the best effort? It's not about winning. It's about going out there, doing what we do in the highest possible way, standards all the time. And then our whole team came around us and they saw you and me crying. And they're thinking, whoa, what's happening here? But I think, you know, for them to see the emotions that that it really wasn't about winning. It's about our culture of excellence that that's what it was about. And and your senior year, Brando, you know, that was your senior year. But it was, you know, the comradery that you had with your other seniors, not just on the boys team, but we had great interactions with the girls team through the year, too, because we wanted to do some practices with them and to help both, you know, both teams just so that we could enhance the culture of both teams. How did you enjoy that? And it's just looking at these pictures that have been thrown up here. I mean, it brings back so many memories. And we were talking about this prior to the show. You don't really know you're in the good old days till you're out of it. And that certainly brings back a lot of memories. And that match that that senior year match that I had with Marcel, like you said, he certainly earned it. It was a battle. I remember losing that point on a backhand passing shot, going up and hugging him. And then from there, I kind of, to be honest, was so emotional that I kind of blacked out. I don't really remember that moment. But what I do remember is the moment that I kind of regained consciousness. I looked up and the whole team was hugging me in the corner of the court and everyone was emotional. And I thought that was incredibly special. And to be honest, something that wouldn't have happened my freshman year. You know, I wasn't I wasn't a team player prior to joining the varsity team. I loved the idea of being on a team, but the team might love the idea of me being there as a member. I don't know. And so for for the team to embrace me like that and to be kind of lifting me up at what felt like at the time, my lowest point was something really special. And again, I think speaks to the culture that we had built, not just in striving for excellence on an individual level, but striving to build leaders that lift each other up across the team, across this number of 12 players. So yeah, it was it was certainly a special time for me as one that I never forget. It was probably before some of the best years of my life, to be honest. You know, that February through May time period every year during my high school career was was something I'll never forget and was truly special. So yeah, I mean, not much to add, it's very hyperbolic, but it's it's what it is. It was incredible. No, and Brando, you mentioned earlier about how I would give my world famous quote of the days and I must have given you guys hundreds of quotes. Is there one that that you remember? Yeah, and you always you did a great job of this. We talked about this. You did a great job of tailoring the quotes to certain individuals who maybe needed a little bit of a push toward the right direction. You always used to say I can lead the horse to the water, but I cannot make the the horse drink the water, but I can provide a really long straw. And I think that's what that's what you did for me. You provided as long of a straw as possible. So the one that I remember was there is no nuclear weapon. And I apologize if I butcher this, you you're definitely know this. But I remember this. There's no nuclear weapons stronger than the human mind because the human mind built a nuclear weapon. And I think that that for me was always the key to unlocking my potential. Sometimes my mental the mental aspect of my game got in the way of my performance and through the four years of being on the varsity tennis team and under your tutelage, it certainly was something that was unlocked and something that helped further, you know, my game. You're right about the quote there. I'm glad you remember those quotes there, Brando. And I forget, Coach, when you're constantly telling me these quotes, I'm like, OK, I get it now. I get it. I got I got to be mentally tougher. I got to do things the right way. And it worked out. It's something that I remember and live by to this day is, you know, there's going to be adversity, you know, and it's it's what what is it going to take to break you as an individual, you know, and the mind is the toughest thing out there. And and that applies to anything, not just athletics, but but personal life, professional life, all of it. So it certainly had a lasting impact on me. No, and Brando, that's what, you know, I was trying to instill in you guys is really the mindset to welcome adversity, to look forward to challenges, because it's inevitable. Challenges and adversities are going to happen in sports and in all of our lives. So if we can look forward to it and get through it and deal with it, we're going to become better for that experience. We're going to become stronger and smarter for going through that experience. And Brando, I really want to thank you for taking time in your schedule to join me on the show today. You I feel so grateful that I was able to play a part in shaping your character into the man that you are today. No, thank you, Coach. First of all, for having me, but secondly, on a kind of larger scale just for taking me under your wing. I certainly was not the easiest project. I'm sure that you had in your your long story career as a coach. But, you know, your kind of oversight over my four years had a profound impact on me, not just on tennis, but in academics, in personal life, in now my my business life. So I am forever grateful for you, you know, being open to having me on that team freshman year and maybe trusting that I was going to follow the process. And and again, providing that really long straw to help me learn as much as possible. I will forever be grateful. And, you know, I appreciate everything that you've done. You've played a major part in, you know, me becoming who I am today. So I really do appreciate it. Thank you, Brando. And we'll keep it's like I'm not done with you yet. We're still working together. That's right. That's right. It never ends, Coach. You're never going to get rid of me. Yeah. Thank you, Brando. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKamori.com. And my books are available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I hope that Brandon and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.