A high school football team from Hawaii appeared on the Allegiant Stadium field in Las Vegas on Sunday to participate in the coin toss ahead of the Super Bowl.
Players and coaches from the Lahainaluna High School football team were in Las Vegas for the big game, traveling from Lahaina, the most heavily affected area by the August fires. Before the toss, a short clip from an NFL documentary played during the broadcast.
Running back Kaulana Tihada lost his home, with the homes of his uncle and both grandmothers also destroyed in the fires. Linebacker Teva Loft said his mother’s home was taken in the fire. Head coach Dean Rickard lost the homes of his parents, brother, son, and daughter. Additionally, four members of the Rickard family died in the fires.
Rickard, Tihada, Loft, along with coaches Garret Tihada and Bobby Watson and players Morgan “Bula” Montgomery and Kuola Watson, stood on the field alongside the captains of the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers during the coin toss.
The NFL coordinated with USA Football and Riddell to replace all football equipment, including helmets, shoulder pads, girdles, jerseys, and pants, for Lahainaluna and Pop Warner schools.
There were 400 missing people during the peak of the disaster, and the total number of deaths in the various fires on the Maui island reached 100. There were 5,928 people who lost more than 2,400 homes in the fires, along with other buildings. They remain unhoused, living in 30 hotels in Maui. As a result, Maui County committed an additional $500 million earlier this month to establish more than 3,000 stable housing units with 18-month contracts.
While the broadcast referred to the fire as a “natural disaster,” the fire’s origin is still under investigation. Hawaiian Electric Company said downed power lines generated the initial spark, which resulted in several lawsuits filed against the company. It caused an estimated $5.5 billion in damage over the several weeks it burned.
Among those taking to social media to comment on the pregame honor was former Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.
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“It was beautiful to see the #SuperBowl feature the strength, resilience and aloha of the people of Lahaina tonight. So proud to see our Lahainaluna Lunas standing on that field representing Hawaii!” Gabbard posted on X.
The Kansas City Chiefs won the coin toss.
