LIHUE — Coach John Kaneholani said he and his Kapaa basketball team were going to stop by the Kauai Veterans Center following their game Saturday night. Kaneholani was one of several hundred guests who attended the retirement luau for Kapaa
LIHUE — Coach John Kaneholani said he and his Kapaa basketball team were going to stop by the Kauai Veterans Center following their game Saturday night.
Kaneholani was one of several hundred guests who attended the retirement luau for Kapaa High School head football coach Kelii Morgado, who announced his retirement from coaching following the final Kapaa football game of the Kauai Interscholastic Federation football season in October.
Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. was one of the guests who stopped by to offer congratulations on Morgado’s contributions to the game of football during Morgado’s 18-year tenure on the gridiron.
“We honor and recognize coach Morgado for his dedication and commitment as an exceptional leader, for he brought pride and excitement to the game of football for the past 18 years,” Carvalho, himself a football player, said. “He will be sorely missed by his colleagues and friends, but remembered for his accomplishments and for his outstanding leadership as he coached high school football on Kauai.”
Morgado stepped foot on the gridiron in 1996, starting as a junior varsity receivers coach.
Three years later, he became the varsity head coach, guiding the Red Raiders to four consecutive KIF championships from 2003 through 2006. Accompanying the KIF crown, Morgado was awarded the KIF Coach of the Year accolades for his leadership.
His fourth Kauai High School championship also earned the Red Raiders its debut in the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, Division II state football tournament where it created memories for many of the football players and coaches.
Morgado moved to Kapaa High School in 2008.
Three years later, in 2011, Morgado guided the Warriors to its first KIF championship since 1989.
In addition to the KIF title, Morgado advanced the Warrior to the state semifinalist in Division II.
His coaching career at the head of the Warriors’ football program spanned six years before announcing his retirement at the end of the 2013 season.
