Performing the Haka, a Maori tradition, brings Serra's football team together
Serra is known this season for its offensive weapons as much as its 12-0 record, which it will put on the line tonight at El Segundo in the CIF Southern Section Northwest Division semifinals.
It has also become known for something that it considers as much a part of its identity as its quest for a CIF championship: the Haka, the traditional Maori dance Serra's Tongan population brings to the football team.
The tradition is going on five years and three classes at Serra. Coach Scott Altenberg got the idea from his former Bishop Montgomery High teammate, Chris Maumalanga, who played college football at Kansas and in the NFL.
Maumalanga, who is deeply involved in Tongan youth programs, suggested that Serra give it a try. Maumalanga remains passionate about directing Tongan youth to football as a better alternative to gang life, so Altenberg welcomed his former teammate's contributions to Serra's program.
Although Tongan football players performed the Haka as young Rugby players in the South Bay, partially imitating the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team, there was some resistance when the tradition was introduced to a multicultural team at Serra.
Some Serra players didn't get it at first, but over time it become part of the team's curriculum. Serra used to perform the Haka before games, but found it could be misconstrued as showing up an opponent.
Most glaringly, Serra performed the Haka as it took the field first before its playoff game at Oaks Christian last year. The field was very quiet on the home sideline and officials later relayed Oaks' displeasure to Serra coaches. Now it is confined to after the game and on the Serra sidelines.
"When we first started, everybody didn't understand,"
Sione Tuihalamaka said. "(People) thought it was cuss words we say to the other team. We did it when we were little (kids) for performances, then we saw other teams from other places doing it.
"We tried to bring it to Serra."
But the fact that it was foreign is what made it fit at Serra. Altenberg liked how players had to learn what it meant to make it more effective.
While watching Serra quarterback Ted Landers, who is white, do the Haka after a game at Taft earlier in the season,
Tuihalamaka smiled.
"He gets all into it,"
Tuihalamaka said. "I think he's getting better."
"I love the diversity," Altenberg said. "It's really important for our kids to know that the world is more than the bubble they live in. Too often, they don't see anything outside of that bubble. But the world is like football; there are a lot of different kinds of people who do a lot of different things. So you look at us: a white quarterback, black kids, Hispanics, Tongans and it's a melting pot. You want your kids to be able to embrace that outlook. They say their chants, they have a good time."
The Haka, a broad term for the Maori dance that has been adopted and modified by many football teams - most notably, the University of Hawaii and at Trinity High in Euless, Texas - is as much a part of Serra's tradition as the skill players who have helped this team become one of the South Bay's most consistent winners.
They are not the first team in the South Bay to do it, but they might be the first one in recent seasons to embrace it as a full-time part of the program. Altenberg has even set aside practice time in past summer sessions so his players can learn its moves.
The team also has a Tongan Luau at the end of summer practices.
"It helps us come together as a team,"
Tuihalamaka said. "We don't care if you are white or black or anything. You never think a white dude would do it, you never think a black dude would do it. And then they start doing it and they get into it."
Tradition at Serra currently holds that a Tongan senior lead the Haka. Tuihalamaka, who is soft-spoken, declined and senior lineman Saia Veikoso took over. He said the dance's precision is a matter of team pride.
"If you see a team do it and not do it well, it's embarrassing for them," Veikoso said. "If our Haka looks sloppy, we look sloppy. If it looks girly, we look girly."
That's why Serra players think the Haka is more than a curiosity, but a tradition that reflects what Altenberg says he wants his team to strive to be: disciplined, cohesive, proud and aggressive, but also good citizens.
"It's part of our tradition and what we do now," Serra running back Carl Winston said.
Winston has 1,442 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns. Landers has 2,190 passing yards and 33 touchdowns. Robert Woods has 1,099 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns.
Tuihalamaka is the senior line leader. Different colors who dance the same dance.
"It's a matter of tradition and pride for all our communities," Veikoso said.
