“It helped me a lot,” said current Mililani two-way player Tana Tavui, regarding his transfer to Mililani from Campbell High School. Student-athletes transfer schools to either better themselves or to reach for bigger opportunities. He said, “Both schools show nothing but love and help you.”
Tavui credits his family when asked about his motivation behind his transfer to Mililani. He said, “I’m doing it for them (his family).” Many people judge these athletes, misconstruing their motives and jumping to conclusions. Tavui said that the coaches at Mililani allow him to be a defensive player as well as play wide receiver. His coaches “pushed him to be a better student and athlete.”
Campbell High School quarterback (QB) Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele said the departure of Tavui and other teammates has affected his performance. Keawe-Sagapolutele said the team had to adjustment following the departure Tavui sayin the team was focused on “establishing a run game” and “more consistent drives and more running the ball.”
Keawe-Sagapolutele is also a transfer student from St. Louis. Following his transfer, he has become a third nationally regarded QB. He also helped get Campbell to a 9-4 record in just his second year as a starter.
While there are many advantages in the transfer system, for both the students themselves and the school, it goes without saying that there are some negatives. While Keawe-Sagapolutele is still putting up great numbers and leading the Sabers to victory following the departure of Tavui, his ypg (yards per game) has dropped from 309.5 to 288.3 as of 8/20/24.
When a school obtains a superstar athlete it can propel them to new heights that haven’t been obtained in years. This happened for the Campbell softball team two years ago when shortstop Quinn Waiki arrived. Coach David Perreira said she “played a very big role. She was one of our biggest hitters and contributed well on defense.” He also said that some of the girls on the team “looked up to her (Waiki).”
Whenever a student-athlete transfers schools, it is a deeply personal matter. It may hurt them to leave the school they grew to love and sometimes they have little to no choice in the matter. At the end of the day, it’s solely their business, not the schools, not the public, and not anyone else’s.
