Coaches, media vote Baldwin No. 6

Hearts are broken, few words are spoken. Baldwin has turned last season's semifinal loss into fuel.

Star-Bulletin: Baldwin's bear of a loss in state semifinal is driving force

I always, always find it enlightening and humbling to talk with dedicated, selfless coaches. These men and women are truly, as the cliche goes, teachers of life to young guys and girls. They're true life coaches.

On the Neighbor Islands, where the scope of activities is sometimes more narrow and limited than it is on Oahu, the challenges are a bit different for coaches. Expectations and traditions can be higher and steeper. When your sport is literally the only game in town on a Friday or Saturday night, the big fish in a little pond becomes game for critics.

At Baldwin, A.J. Roloos has found a way to maintain his love and joy for the game, or more accurately, his devotion to the art and science of the run-and-shoot offense. He won't purport that he's mastered the revolutionary scheme, but he will actively confess that he absorbed all he could from former Bears offensive coordinator Pohai Lee.

When a coach or player has a pure love for the game, it's all I want and need as a writer. It's as basic and wholehearted as that. For a lot of us former athletes, sports is and was the starting point, a launching pad for adventures in life's other paths. Every kid needs to build confidence one way or another. It comes much more easily when an athlete plays for coaches who understand these simple truths. A coach who coaches with a joy for the game often finishes a season with kids who love the game for the pure joy of battling together, sweating on the practice field and backing each other up come hell or high water.

I'll never tire of team sports and the joy of it all. That's why interviewing Coach Roloos was enlightening. I'll take prep sports over an interview with Barry Bonds any day.