Pee Wee Football

Football at Aloha Stadium is not only for the high school, college, and the pro levels, but even the youngest of players. Each Sunday in November, Aloha Stadium hosts Pop Warner football tournaments, which range from six-year-olds playing flag football to 14-year-olds playing tackle football. It's fun to see the awe in the eyes of the boys and girls as they walk onto the Aloha Stadium Field Turf, as if they were walking on hallowed ground. The 50,000 seats also catch their attention. It's also fun to see a boy get tackled by a girl, or a kid break a long run in full pads for a touchdown.

These kids play tough! In one game, we had seen a quarterback get knocked out on a middle linbacker blitz. The QB was down for about 20 minutes, but the one thing they were concerned about was a neck injury. I was doing replays, and saw in slo-o-ow motion the linbackers helmet catch the chin of the quarterback, and neck snap back before being drilled to the turf. He was taken off the field by an ambulance. I heard a week later, that the only injury the boy suffered was a case of whiplash.

One thing these games allows us to do in my department, is to cross-train on other aspects of video production, like doing replays, or directing the cameras, or refreshing on the three different camera positions.

Today's photo was taken during a game between the Wai‘alua Bullpups and the Makaha Ali‘i a couple of months ago. The Bullpups, seen here, seem to be quite small, playing in the stadium, and the equipment seems to be larger than the child inside it.