Coach June Jones & Jeremiah Masoli: Plenty of Ticats ties to Polynesian Bowl

If you were to lay out a map and draw a line from Hawaii to New Zealand, across to Rapa Nui (Easter Island), and finally back up to Hawaii, you would have outlined the Polynesian Triangle. Your map might not show it, but there are over a thousand islands scattered throughout that broad swath of ocean. Many are inhabited by Polynesians, the Indigenous peoples on the islands, and are home to a diversity of cultures and languages. Some of the Islands – Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, etc. – are part of the United States and are engaged in a relationship with the mainland that sees islanders reconciling modern American values with their own unique beliefs. But of all the American exports, there are few that the Polynesians have adopted as eagerly as football.

The mainland US (and mainland Canada for that matter) has benefited greatly from the Polynesian affinity for football. Hundreds of American Samoans currently play NCAA Division I football and dozens play in the NFL. Troy Polamalu and Junior Seau’s names leap off a growing list of Samoan football players, but the CFL has seen an influx of Polynesian talent as well. Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Jeremiah Masoli is of Polynesian descent. So too is the Flyin’ Hawaiian, Chad Owens, formerly a Ticats wide receiver.

Polynesians, and in particular American Samoans, have embraced football. Unfortunately, one export that the US doesn’t seem to provide to American Samoa is money. As a result, many professional football players – Masoli included – return to their communities every year to give back however they can. Tiger-Cats Head Coach June Jones is not of Polynesian descent, but as a Hawaiian resident since 1973, he has close ties with Polynesians and recognizes the need to provide support.

“I had a foundation in American Samoa for 15 years,” Jones said. “American Samoa has more players in the National Football League per capita than any other group of people, and if you go down there, they’re playing barefoot; they’re wearing equipment – helmets – that I wore in 1971. They don’t have the things other kids have, and yet their commitment to the game is second-to-none.”

One way Jones has raised money is through a charity golf tournament in Hawaii.

“We gave academic scholarships to kids to go to college who would never have had the opportunity to go to college,” he said.

But Jones’ efforts would go further still. In Pago Pago, the capital city of American Samoa, a small cluster of civilization nestled amongst long-dead volcanoes verdant with trees, Jones met with Jesse Sapolu and Ma’a Tanuvasa, former NFL players with six Super Bowl rings between them. Jones was inspired by the Black College Football Hall of Fame, and felt that there should be a similar ceremony recognizing Polynesian football talent.

“I didn’t have the time to do it, plus I was living in Dallas at the time,” explained Jones. “I told them [Sapolu and Tanuvasa] that I was going to give them the names and numbers of the guys that started the Black College Football Hall of Fame, and I said, ‘You guys need to take the lead on this. I can put you in touch with the people in Hawaii. We can do it.’ And so we started the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame (PFHOF) about five or six years ago.”

Since then, the PFHOF has been a source of pride for many members of the Polynesian community.

“Me and my dad had seen the PFHOF and we’d always wanted to go,” said Masoli. “We’re kind of football junkies when it comes to the Polynesian community, always rooting for our people. So when we saw that they started the PFHOF, we knew we wanted to go, just never got around to it. But it was definitely on our bucket list.”

Polamalu acknowledged the importance of the recognition during his acceptance speech in 2016.

“This award is for all of us. We are a noble and strong community and I am proud to be part of this momentous occasion,” he said as he fought back tears.

But Jones wasn’t done building the event. Inspired this time by the Under Armour All-America game (then called Texas vs. The Nation), Jones decided to add another layer to the PFHOF celebration.

“I coached in Texas vs. The Nation at the time, and I had seen that grow in San Antonio to where they had maybe thirty or forty thousand people come to see the high-school all-stars from all over the country,” Jones remembered. “So I told Jesse [Sapolu] and Ma’a [Tanuvasa], let’s start a Polynesian Bowl because the Pro Bowl is gone from Aloha Stadium. I said, ‘Let’s invite the top Polynesian players from all over the country and then thirty of the top high-school players regardless of their race.’ I thought we could get ESPN to put it on national TV, which we’ve done both years, so it has grown to where I think next year we’ll be one of the top high school all-star games in the country.”

Gifted American high-school athletes can attend two bowl games every year. Because the Polynesian Bowl is hosted in Hawaii, it has quickly moved to the top of many players’ lists. But the scenery isn’t the only thing that makes the Polynesian Bowl unique.

“The thing that sets it apart is the experience of learning about the Polynesian culture,” explained Jones. “All you have to do is go to the Polynesian Bowl website and listen to the enshrinement speeches to see the difference. It’s more than just a football game; it’s learning. A lot of the kids in particular left Samoa or Tonga when they were children and never connected with their roots. So a lot of those kids, when they come back to the mainland, are really emotionally struck by what they experienced here.”

This year, Jones approached Masoli to act as the quarterbacks coach for a team in the Polynesian Bowl. Masoli was glad to accept and, in doing so, cross an item off his bucket list. This year’s Polynesian Bowl was played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu this past Saturday.

“Coaching was one of the ways I wanted to give back to the sport that gave me so much,” said Masoli. “He [Jones] asked me if I wanted to be part of it, and I told him that it was an honour. It was one of the best experiences I ever had.”

Masoli, who is no stranger himself to giving back to his Samoan roots (https://www.thespec.com/news-story/7150444-ticats-masoli-returns-to-samoan-roots-gives-back-to-community-that-shaped-him/), also recognized the broader importance of the game.

“I think myself and all the kids that participated in the all-star game got a really good dose, a taste of what Polynesian culture is like,” he said. “I know they learned a lot about our culture and the way we do things within our families and communities.”

“It’s a great week for them to experience things they’ve never experienced,” added Jones. “It gives the kids an opportunity to reconnect. It puts them on the map.”

If you were to lay out a map, most Americans wouldn’t be able to draw the Polynesian Triangle. They probably wouldn’t know much about Polynesian culture at all. The Polynesian Bowl is an important event for just that reason: it recognizes the undervalued football hotbed of the south Pacific that supplies the mainland with some of its most admired gridiron warriors and citizens.

“That was a big push for me, to just spread the knowledge of our community and what our culture is all about,” said Masoli. “And on top of that, I just got to see some good football.”