Lahaina and Paradise High Schools Meet in ‘Unity Bowl’ Uniting Wildfire-Scarred Towns

LAHAINA, Hawaii — High school football teams from Lahaina, Hawaii, and Paradise, California, two communities devastated by some of the deadliest wildfires in modern U.S. history, met on Saturday in a game organizers called the “Unity Bowl,” aimed at fostering healing and friendship.

Before a crowd of about 1,900 at Lahainaluna High School’s Sue D. Cooley Stadium in West Maui, the Lahainaluna Lunas beat the Paradise Bobcats 27-21 for their first win of the season, according to Maui Now.

Two Towns, Shared Loss

The Camp Fire swept through Paradise on Nov. 8, 2018, killing 85 people, destroying more than 18,000 structures and displacing more than 50,000 residents. At the time, it was the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century.

Nearly five years later, on Aug. 8, 2023, a fast-moving wildfire tore through Lahaina, destroying more than 2,200 structures and killing 102 people, surpassing the Camp Fire as the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.

An Idea Born a Year Ago

The game grew out of a vision shared more than a year earlier by Paradise High School athletic director Jerry Cleek, longtime Punahou School athletic director Doug Bennett and Lahainaluna athletic director Jonathan Conrad, who saw football as a bridge for mutual healing.

Christy Voigt, co-principal of Paradise High School, said the event was about bringing students and athletes together to learn from one another, share hope and stories, and make friends for life.

Lahainaluna Principal Richard Carosso said the week had stirred emotions from three years earlier, but that meeting the Paradise administrators, coaches and players helped show his community that it would be OK and that communities can recover.

A Captain’s Return

For Lahainaluna captain Ma’a Tevaga, the game carried special meaning. The 2023 fire struck the day before he was to start his freshman year, destroying his family’s home and forcing them to move to Utah, where he played high school football in Provo. Now a senior back in a Lahainaluna jersey, he said he had represented Lahaina as hard as he could. He cited the Hawaiian saying “kokua aku, kokua mai,” which he described as meaning that people help one another and grow together.

Officials Attend

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda and Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen attended. A video recorded by Hirono and California Sen. Alex Padilla was shown before kickoff.

The teams planned to share a dinner and luau after the game, and plans are underway for Paradise to host Lahainaluna in a future Unity Bowl.