Veteran Coach Off To Greece World Games

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Sam Moku

By VERNON THOMPSON
City Information Specialist

Longtime Kaneohe resident Sam Moku has been selected as one of 12 World Summer Games track and field coaches for the Special Olympics, set for June 25-July 4 in the birthplace of the Olympics: Athens, Greece.

“This is quite an honor for me, but I am only part of the equation,” said Moku, whose day job is director of the city Department of Community Services. He also coached at the World Games in Shanghai in 2007 and in Connecticut in 1995. “There are so many volunteers taking part in the process. I coach athletes in several states and work with their district coaches and volunteers to get them ready.”

A veteran of 18 years coaching Hawaii’s Special Olympians, Moku recently was chosen from a pool of 90 candidates for the Athens games, which expect more than 7,000 athletes and coaches. Team USA alone is bringing 400, he said.

“I am looking forward to the competition,” he said, noting the talent of Big Island athlete Louis Perry, a 10-year participant. “We have one of the fastest distance men in the games ... When I saw Louis run, I knew he had great potential. We intensified his workouts and pushed him.

“We then discovered he needed to move his competitive level up another notch for the World Games. He just needed guidance so that when he felt exhausted he would know to go further. He responded very well.”

Moku also attended a training camp in San Diego to work with athletes and district coaches in preparation for the Summer Games. He previously served as Kamehameha Schools track and field head coach, leading them to three state titles. He was assistant coach of the KS football team and also played defensive back from 1982 to 1986 for the UH Warriors.

These SO athletes, in their 20s and 30s, truly bring something special to the sport, he added. “I can remember watching a race at this year’s State Games when a runner tripped and fell right out of the blocks ... Then something remarkable happened that never happens in normal competition: Two other runners stopped running and went back to help the fallen one cross the finish line.

“This is the magic of Special Olympics.”