The Clackamas print., February 07, 2007, Page 5, Image 5

»
Clackamas Print
Feature 5
Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007
Brother and Sister:
I series of small moments help siblings unite an entire team
left Sorensen
jfe Clackamas Print
Editor’s note: This is the third part of
three-part series on the Kamahoahoa
Hings, Malia and Ryan.
The Cougars were down two games in
j match against their rival, Mt. Hood
into, in their final volleyball contest at
me, and before the third and final game
old begin, Cougar Head Coach Kathie
oods stopped everything and picked up a
crophone. She told the audience that there
6 a very special award the volleyball team
shed to present to their number one fan,
¿then called Ryan Kamahoahoa’s name.
Ryan was handed a backpack with a
ngar Volleyball T-shirt inside to show
■team’s gratitude for his dedication as
ir biggest fan for the year, but because
a handicap that Ryan was bom with, he
I trouble finding file zipper to open the
> and retrieve his new shirt. That’s when
sister, Malia, stepped from amidst her
inmates on the Cougar bench and - just
she had done countless times before
elped him open the bag to find the shirt
fore giving her baby brpther a hug. They
Bed that moment, die crowd roared with
roval, and Malia returned to her team.
After deciding things weren’t working
tin Los Angeles, Malia made the decision
move home to Oregon City, where she
ted on to a spot on the Clackamas
leyball team at 22 years old. But Malia
s three years old when Ryan was bom,
I according to their family, has been
his side through most of his toughest
challenges ever since.
“She’s had a connection with him even
more than the other two [siblings], obviously
because they were closer in age, but she
really was there for him even when he was
getting' lines put in or he was hurting,” said
their mother, Jackie. “She would be holding
his hand, or singing to him, or trying to be
comforting him while [the doctors] were
poking him, or whatever they were doing.”
Malia had talked about the possibility
of continuing her volleyball career beyond
Clackamas, and if she plays for a four-year
school, she knows one of the hardest things
to do would be to move away from her
family again, and particularly Ryan.
“If I was to go away [again], I wouldn’t
want to go that far,” Media said. “I remember
being down in California, and talking [to
Ryan] on the phone ... and there was a
point where he started to tell jokes, and
he wouldn’t do that before. Like, one time
when we went to a volleyball game, and the
ref made a bad call, and Ryan goes, ‘Come
on, ref! I’m blind and even I saw that!’ To
miss him growing up was really sad. That’s
the good stuff that you miss.”
Ryan loves to play around with sports
at home, and admits that his favorite sport
is basketball, but with a family constantly
surrounded by volleyball, Ryan has managed
to develop an impressive understanding of
the game.
“He knows the game of volleyball so
well, it’s weird. We’re not really sure how
much he can see, but he has an amazing
grasp on the game,” Malia said.
“He knows when a coach should call
a time-out or not,” said his father, Biyan.
“He’ll sit back, even if he’s not on my
bench, and he’ll say, ‘My dad needs to call a
time-out right now!’”
*
But, at Clackamas, Ryan’s place is
cheering on Malia and the Cougars, a fact
that Woods couldn’t be happier about.
“He’s so loving,” said Woods in a post-
NWAACC tournament interview. “It’s a
pleasure and honor to be able to coach and
have that kind of support.”
At the end of the year banquet for the
volleyball team, Kathie Woods stood at a
podium and spoke into another microphone,
addressing everyone on
her team and coaching
staff, and thanking them
for another wonderful
year
of
Cougar
Volleyball. Then, she
made a brief mention
of their number one
.fan, and the entire room
full of Cougar players,
coaches, family and
friends gave Ryan a
standing ovation while
they chanted his name.
It was a small (but
successful)
moment
in sports for Ryan
Kamahoahoa,
and
another moment for him
that wouldn’t have been
possible without his big
sister.
Ryan Kamahoahoa
donned his T-shirt
gift from the vol­
leyball team and
shared a hug with
his sister, Malia,
after the Cougars’
final home game.
PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
vs: 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Coffee lovers
try our
CONVENIENCE FOR THE
WORKING ADULT
£jqct£ess<jpBaO -
•BS BUSINESS AND LEADERSHIP
•BA COMMUNICATION STUDIES
•BA ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
•BS REAL ESTATE STUDIES
Fea 14
lla.m.-2p.m.
Enchiladas am
year - round admission
•CLASSES SCHEDULED EVENINGS, WEEKENDS AND ONLINE
•SCHOLARSHIPS FOR ALL AGES
We Proudly:g^>‘- ,
WBucKs.ggW M
•UNDERGRADUATE CREDIT FOR ON-THE-JOB LEARNING
io meet with an advisor, e-mail studentinfo@marylhurst.edu or
call 503.699.6268.
tus News & World Report BEST COLLEGES 2007
Tryout all ourhealt
options in tMt
"Number one in the Northwest for small classes"
L_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
harylhurst university
•’rthwest Commission on Colleges and Universities accredited
'•emotional Assembly for Collegiate Business Education accredited
,76OO PACIFIC HIGHWAY (HWY. 43)
*ARYLHURST, OREGON - JUST 10 MINUTES SOUTH OF PORTLAND
Irving students since 1893. www.marylhurst.edu 800.634.9982
Breakfast Gf^open7:30jf!m. - 10:30 a.m.
v
Gri$ open 10:30 a.m. -2:30p.m. I
'
'Subject to change duung the week