Fehokos Import Maori Culture

Sam Fehoko bent his knees, thrust his hands emphatically through the air and called out the words to accompany the traditional Polynesian haka, all in near-perfect synchronization with his father and two younger brothers.

The four Fehokos’ performance temporarily interrupted the final minutes of Saturday’s autograph session following the Texas Tech football team’s spring game as fans formed a wide circle four-deep in places to watch.

Each time Sam’s parents, Linda and Vili, visit Lubbock, they bring elements of Hawaiian and Maori culture with them. In the past that’s been limited to a few flower leis. This time, though, they wanted to do more.

“We thought, it’s a new year, so let’s give them life,” Linda said. “This is the way we share our heart, our ‘mana,’ energy. And hopefully that good energy resonates throughout the team.”

Sam, who grew up in Hawaii, hosted some 20 relatives who arrived in Lubbock for the annual scrimmage that concludes the Red Raiders’ spring practice.

It was a rare visit for the junior linebacker, who doesn’t get to see his family much during the season and only goes home at spring break and before Tech football’s summer workouts. His parents and brothers V.J. and Breiden flew in from Honolulu, while other relatives traveled from as far as Fiji and as near as Euless.

Linda and Vili brought bags of coconut leaves from Hawaii and with other family members spend Thursday and Friday nights braiding the leaves into wide-brimmed hats and more than 100 headbands to hand out at Jones AT&T Stadium. As the players mingled with fans after the game, the Fehokos handed out their headbands until each football player wore one. Then they began distributing the pieces to anyone who passed by.

The coconut tree, Linda said, symbolizes life for the Maori, the broad term for people who are indigenous to Hawaii and many other Pacific islands. Ancient people used its fruit for food, its leafs to build homes, its trunks to hollow into canoes.

“And it’s a good luck omen and a symbol of the warrior heart,” Linda said. “It’s life. It’s all about life, energy, good karma.”

The Fehokos also brought lava-lava, big squares of colorful fabric, the football players tied in the traditional way around their waists, and flowers to string into leis: pink and purple orchids, soft white tuberose, fragrant tea leaf. Sam wore four stands of tea leafs as he posed for pictures with fans, but handed other leis to teammates who already sported the coconut wreaths.

“Leis are symbolic in our culture,” Sam said. “They’re a sign of welcoming, of affection toward another person.”

After giving away all the leis, headbands, lava-lava and assorted necklaces, Vili called his sons together near the north end zone. Vili performs as the Warrior at the University of Hawaii, and has appeared at the Pro Bowl, on Jimmy Kimmel Live and on ABC’s “Full House.”

On Saturday, he and his three youngest sons performed a haka, the Maori term for traditional dances, called “Ka Mate.”

Hakas have become popular warm ups for Polynesian athletes. A rugby team in New Zealand has performed Ka Mate for decades, the University of Hawaii football created a haka in the native Hawaiian language and the Euless Trinity High School football team, which has several athletes of Polynesian decent, performs Ka Mate at its games.

“It’s to prepare young men to go to battle, to go to war,” Vili said. “Ka Mate means ‘to kill.’ We performed it as an honor for our son and his football team.”

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Weekend Visit Sways Fehoko

With his family connections, Texas Tech always seemed like the team to beat for Farrington (Honolulu, Hawaii) linebacker V.J Fehoko. After a great visit to Washington, it appeared the Huskies were in a good spot. However, a visit to Lubbock this past weekend has the Red Raiders back on top.

"Texas Tech is definitely the team to beat right now," Fehoko said. "I had a perfect visit, it was just an incredible time. First off, my host was my brother Sam and it was great to see him again. We're really close and growing up, he was like my idol so it was just a great experience to be around him again.

"I love the coaching staff and they were my first offer so they have always been high on my list. I visited unofficially before but this visit was way different. All the coaches were great and never pressured me the entire visit. Other schools I've talked with kind of put on a hard sell to me and tried to get me to commit but that's not really my style and the Tech coaches were just so easy to be around.

"I spent a lot of time with Coach (Mike) Leach along with Coach (Brian) Mitchell, who's my recruiting coach and Coach (Ruffin) McNeil, who's the defensive coordinator. They're all great guys and I have such a great comfort level with them. Coach Mitchell is a family friend and they told me they have big plans for me in that defense so that's exciting to hear."

Being able to see how passionate Texas football is was also eye opening for Fehoko.

"Man, you always hear about how crazy the fans are in Texas and how big football is but to actually see it first hand was incredible," Fehoko said. "The atmosphere was incredible and unlike any place I've ever been and I didn't even go on a game weekend. There were fans coming up to me who knew who I was telling me how bad they wanted me to come to Tech.

"Football is just crazy there and that's what I'm looking for. When you combine how great the coaches were with the environment and being around my brother all weekend, like I said, just a perfect visit and it's going to take a lot to beat out Tech right now."

Despite the A-plus visit, Fehoko said he still plans to take a few more visits before he pulls the trigger.

"I still have Utah State set for [Jan. 15] and Utah for [Jan. 22]," Fehoko said. "Just like I said after my Washington visit, I kind of owe it to myself to take all these visits to make sure I'm doing the right thing. When I commit, it's going to be final and I don't want to have any regrets.

"I believe a man is only as good as his word so you'll never see me commit and then back out. The Tech coaches said to take my time and they would have a spot for me so I'm not worried about waiting too long and not having a ride there. I'll still talk things over with my parents though and see what they have to say. If over the break, I feel like the time is right to commit somewhere, I'll go ahead and do it but as of right now, my plan is to still take those last two visits and maybe even a mid-week visit to Hawaii pretty soon here as well."

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V.J. Fehoko Set For Texas Tech Visit

V.J. Fehoko has had a top five in place for a number of weeks now, so the next step is planning the long trips from Hawaii to go see the campuses.

The Farrington (Honolulu) inside linebacker told Sporting News at the beginning of his senior season that Texas Tech, Utah, Utah State, Hawaii and UCLA made up his top five. He told SN this week that Washington has since replaced UCLA.

He now has an official visit set up with Texas Tech in late November. His brother, Sam Fehoko, plays for the Red Raiders.

"I think it should be a good visit to Texas Tech," Fehoko (6-0/220) told SN. "If we keep winning, I think (Nov. 20) is still a bye week, even though we would be in the playoffs. I think by losing all their real big star players, (Texas Tech has) come down some since last year, but that was nice to see them upset Nebraska. That opened my eyes. They've proven themselves this year."

As far as the other schools on his list, he may not take visits to those schools until he finishes his senior season. Right now, the playoffs are first on his mind.

"I wish it was done," Fehoko said. "But at the same time I don't want to make the wrong deceision. I need to go see the programs for myself, to see if that's where I really want to be. You have coaches calling you daily, weekly, and it kind gets frustrating at times, but I'm pretty sure I'm sticking to my guns to wait it out."

Fehoko told fans what they could expect from him on the field.

"If I see you on the field, and you have opposite colors, I'm real nasty," Fehoko said. "I have no remorse. I want to dominate you. I play really smart football, and never take off plays. I'm pretty quick and strong. Those are my strengths on the field."

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