Trip to Hawaii More Than a Football Game For Some Cal Bears

The Cal football team is scheduled to fly to Oahu next Friday in preparation for the Hawaii Bowl against Hawaii on Christmas Eve.

For freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and two of his teammates and for interim head coach Nick Rolovich, this is more than a football game. It’s a trip home.

Sagapolutele, freshman safety Aiden Manutai and senior defensive lineman Stanley Saole-McKenzie all were born and raised on the islands.

Rolovich is from the Bay Area, having attended the same Marin County high school as former Bears star Jared Goff. He arrived at the University of Hawaii as a transfer quarterback from City College of San Francisco in the fall of 2000 and threw 40 touchdown passes in two seasons.

He went on to spend 10 years coaching at his alma mater, including a four-season stint through 2019 as the Rainbow Warriors’ head coach.

“It’s a place that really gave me a lot in my life,” Rolovich said this week. “Met my wife there, had one of my children there, started my DI coaching career there. Lot of incredible relationships, incredible people. Being able to be brought into the culture was a great experience as a young man.”

For Sagapolutele, the place has been his only home until arriving in Berkeley last summer. Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, where the Bears will square off with Hawaii, is just 25 minutes from the Sagapolutele family residence in Ewa Beach.

Most of his energy this week has been devoted to game prep, but Sagapolutele said he’s excited by what comes with this game.

“Just to be able to go home and play in front of the people that I love,” he said, “for my family to be able to see me play at home, so they don’t have to make the travel out here.”

Asked if this game will also be special for the Rainbow Warriors and their fans, Rolovich let loose a big smile.

“Will it,” he said, pausing. “I’ve been on the other side and I know what this means. This is a Power 4 team coming into the island.”

There are connections everywhere for Rolovich, whose coaching counterpart once was his teammate. Timmy Chang was Hawaii’s star quarterback until an injury vaulted Rolovich into the starting assignment.

"They’re playing really well. Timmy has done a great job — they play awesome on defense, he’s got the offense clicking,” he said. They’ve got a confidence, they’ve got a toughness, a real obvious element of being together.

“They’re a scary team. Hawaii’s a scary team on the island when they’re playing well. That will be conveyed to our guys.”

Coaching at Hawaii is not easy, Rolovich stressed. But Chang gets it.

“It’s a constant grind, but there’s also this element where you continue to live in aloha and bring the team, whether it’s the transfers or the mainland guys, into the culture,” he explained. “They’ve got a good equation going right now.”

Rolovich expects the game has extra meaning for Cal’s three Hawaiian players because it’s an opportunity to share with teammates a culture they haven’t experienced.

“They want to show off their home to their teammates,” he said. “It’s like me going to Hawaii. When Jaron got here he needed to understand the cultural elements of Cal, the Bay Area, all those things. I think there were a lot of teammates that helped him and Aiden, at least that I got to witness this year.

“When you’re able to flip and Jaron and Aiden and Stanley are able to show off their home to their teammates that they love, that’s something that’s very important to the local people as far as understanding, as best you can, the culture and doing it right and don’t make the mistakes to really embarrass the program or not respect the culture.”

Sagapolutele hopes he can help his teammates have a satisfying week, on and off the football field.

“Hawaii’s a great place and they’ll enjoy it,” he said. “I’m just going to let them take it in and just enjoy it as much as they can. Just make it the best experience for them.”

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