LIHU‘E — Futi Tavana has come a long way and the road will continue in Provo, Utah, at Brigham Young University in the fall. The Kaua‘i senior signed a national letter of intent to play volleyball for BYU, elclipsing a
LIHU‘E — Futi Tavana has come a long way and the road will continue in Provo, Utah, at Brigham Young University in the fall.
The Kaua‘i senior signed a national letter of intent to play volleyball for BYU, elclipsing a lifelong dream for both himself and his family.
“This is just awesome, but everyone involved should be thanked, including my teammates, my coaches, the fans, the school, and of course my family,” Tavana said yesterday at the Kaua‘i High School Library.
Born in New Zealand, Tavana literally came a long away, with a final stop on Kaua‘i. His father, Gaugau, a former Samoan volleyball national team setter and his mother, Palagi, a netball (similar to basketball) player, along with six other brothers and sisters, came together to celebrate his greatest achievement so far in his life.
“This is really good for the school, the island, and the kids. I think there’s a lot of potential here and lots of talented kids; they just need the exposure and hopefully my son’s exposure will help some kids out,” Gaugau said.
Tavana, whose first name means “Large Boat,” was supported by a slew of individuals, who probably couldn’t fit on a boat, like his coaches, his teammates, athletic director Charlene Quinones, his family, and his friends at the signing ceremony.
“It’s an extremely proud moment for me as a coach and just to see one of my players making it to the top college level is very special,” Kaua‘i boys’ head volleyball coach Shawn Doo said.
Tavana is more than just an athlete and when he gets to BYU, he plans to major in sports medicine. But before he hits the books and the court, Tavana will head off on his mission for two years. While on his mission, he’ll redshirt and have all four years of eligibility left to play volleyball for the nationally ranked BYU squad. Tavana’s decision came down BYU and BYU-Hawai‘i, but after a recent volleyball trip to Japan, Tavana found out where his heart was.
“It was a really tough decision for me, but I just prayed and when I arrived back from Japan, something inside of me said to go to BYU,” Tavana said.
But it wasn’t just praying that led to the decision. Tavana mentioned that if he didn’t like BYU, he would always have the option of coming back to Hawai‘i and attending BYUH.
And if volleyball doesn’t work out for the 6’8″ first team all-state volleyball and basketball player, then he’ll be heading down to the hardwood to shoot some hoops for BYU’s basketball squad.
“I’ll try volleyball for now, but if I don’t like it, then they gave me the opportunity to play basketball and that’s another reason why I chose to go to BYU,” Tavana said.
Futi will also bring a fan base to BYU, considering the fact that the University of Hawai‘i’s biggest rival resides in Provo, Utah.
“We’ll all try to make it up there to watch him play and I think he made a BYU fan out of all of us,” Doo said.
Even his teammates realize just how good he’s become, considering how they all started out playing volleyball.
“Futi is the man; we sucked at first, but we went to camps, and got better, and we just all grew as players together. My success as a player can be attributed to Futi, ‘cuz he’s the guy that finishes what I start,” Kaua‘i volleyball senior setter Garrett Sakimae said.
Tavana, who let his play speak for himself, led the Kaua‘i basketball and volleyball teams to seventh and fifth place finishes at the state level.
Tavana is also the only KIF player to garner first-team all-state honors in both volleyball and basketball in the same season.
“Yesterday was indeed a day to be proud of the “boy” who has grown up into a fine young man. As I’ve stated for the past four years, this was no accident. This boy is a good example of all that is “good” about life. Today, so much is said about how we are failing to properly parent and guide our youth. I bore witness yesterday that people are out there providing the proper guidance and love for their children. The Tavanas deserve all the credit in the world because that young boy I saw four years ago has grown into an example I aspire my own children to become,” Kaua‘i head basketball coach Brandon Fujita said.
But even with the all of his accolades, the best thing about Futi, is the fact that he remains the same and treats everyone with respect.
