Kaua’i’s Acoba recognized

It’s not hard to see what drives Edmond Acoba.

As a juvenile public

defender for the past 11 years, he is engulfed everyday in a sea of youth

crime.

So his commitment to the youth of Kaua’i, and to the betterment of

those youth, comes as no surprise.

At the end of October, that commitment

was honored by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) when the

organization named Acoba its HEROES winner from the state of Hawai’i. The

selection will pay him $100 personally, and provide a $400 to Kekaha Pop Warner

football.

The SGMA also hands out a national award. Acoba was selected as

one of 10 finalists for prize, which would bring $15,000 to his

charity.

The awards, handed out to one person from all 50 states (and one

for the District of Columbia), are intended to honor those who, through their

unique commitment and humanitarian spirit, have made an exceptional and lasting

contribution to the pursuit of sports excellence, sportsmanship, participation

or opportunity within their community.

Acoba far exceeds those

requirements.

“I’ve been involved with Pop Warner for 13 years, been a

youth baseball coach, youth basketball coach, a coach with the Kekaha School

track team,” Acoba said. “And I’ve been involved with Special Olympics and been

an official for the KIF in football and basketball.”

He’s also the Food

Booth Chairman for his church.

And before you run out of breath trying to

comprehend how Acoba keeps up, don’t overlook the fact that the man has a wife,

Holly, and two kids, Michael (8) and Beau (7) pining for his time at

home.

“You just put in a lot of time after work, and my vacation periods

and weekends are consumed with activities or fund-raisers,” Acoba said. ” I

sacrifice a lot of my involvement with my kids, but they’re very supportive and

understand that what I’m doing is for the best for all the kids on the island,

those who might be less fortunate.”

Pop Warner has received Acoba’s largest

investment of time. He became a coach in Kekaha in 1987, doing that until 1992.

In 1993, he took over as president, and has been riding that ever

since.

“It’s all about the kids,” Acoba said. “There are so many negative

things that I see out there everyday between drugs and violence. I just want to

provide as positive of an environment as possible for these kids out

there.”

In fact, the more talking Acoba does, the more apparent it becomes

that athletics really are second to providing positive influence.

“I try to

encourage all of the volunteers I recruit to get these kids to set goals,”

Acoba said. “And then encourage them to take what they learn on the field and

apply it off the field.”

Acoba feels he, and the organizations he has been

involved with, have helped to steer many kids to college who might otherwise

not have attended.

“It’s really neat to get a call from those kids when

they grow,” he said. “I see them in their careers and I know I’ve been blessed

to be around them. It gives me goosebumps.”

And those kids are blessed to

be around him.