There has been an elevated desire in our Hawk student body to be outside and active. Sport opportinities have come and gone at Kealakehe Intermediate School. With the hire of our Athletic Director Lexie Cuaresma Wright, we are laying a program foundation that will be propetuated for generations. We are calling back Kealakehe Alumnai to come and share their lessons with this next generation.  As a Kealakehe High School alumnai herself, Lexie brought her college education and athletic experience back to Kona to share and motivate our Hawks through sports. We now have a team of teachers, coaches, and admin that motivate students and bring this story to life. 

There are two types of motivation applied to sports: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is driven by personal desire and internal rewards such as enjoyment, realizing sport potenial, and learning new skills. Extrinsic motivation is geared toward external rewards. Hawk Athletics takes an intrinsic motivation approach, by allowing students to explore new skills and develope relationships with new teammates. Participation is voluntary, but having a spot on the team requires the student to meet certain expectations. Some of these include passing academic standards, concussion education, and commitment to practice and teammates. The objective behind offering sport opportunities is to best prepare our Hawks to become Waveriders! These sport opportunities are the start to bridging the intermediate and high school campuses and feeding Kealakehe High School athletes that want to compete in championships. The goal is to lay a solid foundation of good movements that builds confidence in our athlete’s physical abilities. 

Participating in sports is a unique way of engaging students over a variety of topics including academics, mental toughness, confidence, leadership, and physical strength. There are many life transferable skills that can be learned from sports. Our athletes build camaraderie during practices and events as well as engage in age appropriate fitness that prepares them for high school’s level of competition. An athlete’s training translates on and off the field, with so many lessons to be learned from sports. The Hawks’ Athletic Director is a Kealakehe High School alumni who helped win the first BIIF championship title for women’s soccer in 2011. After high school, Lexie was recruited to continue her soccer career at Eastern Oregon University where studied in-depth sport performance and exercise science along with behavior and education at the Master’s level. She believes every athlete needs to move well and strive to develop a solid base upon which further skills can be developed and refined. With 5+ years of experience with middle school students and as a personal trainer, she has helped Kealakehe Intermediate School implement more sport opportunities.

Hawk Athletics produces intrinsicly motivated student-athletes that concentrate on their perosnal skill improvement and their growth as athletes. We encourage these students to particpate in high school where they can further develop their skills.