Former University of Hawaii football player Keelan Ewaliko returns to rodeo

Former University of Hawaii football player Keelan Ewaliko said returning to bull-riding is comparable to riding a bicycle again.

“A really dangerous bicycle,” Ewaliko mused.

After a five-year absence from the sport, Ewaliko will compete in this weekend’s Makawao Rodeo at Oskie Rice Arena on Maui.

As a Baldwin High student, Ewaliko won a bull-riding title at the 2011 Makawao Rodeo. He left the sport to focus on football when he joined the Rainbow Warriors in July 2013.

Ewaliko said returning to bull-riding competition has “always been on my mind. I felt when football is done, it would be the thing to do.”

Ewaliko completed his UH eligibility in November and earned a bachelor’s degree in December. He participated in UH’s pro day in March, but did not receive any offers from pro teams.

“I’m kind of like, it is what it is,” Ewaliko said of his football career. “If an opportunity comes up, I’ll jump on it. Nothing has come up yet. I’m taking new paths.”

This past weekend, Ewaliko attended a birthday luau that featured a mechanical bull. He gave it a turn.

“It’s not the same, but it’s better than nothing,” he said. “I was able to work out the tweaks and find the rhythm again. It was a party, so there wasn’t a time limit. I stayed on as long as I could. I worked on position changes and technique. It was fun. Everybody was watching. I was helping some of the other people figure it out.”

On this weekend’s competition, Ewaliko conceded, “You can’t really prepare for this kind of thing. There’s not really any training method. The only way to train is to actually ride.”

Ewaliko said he weighed 170 when he last competed. He now weighs 215.

In the meantime, Ewaliko continues to participate in CrossFit training. It is a method he adopted to complement his football training at UH. At the encouragement of his girlfriend’s brother, who owns a training facility, Ewaliko is considering training to quality for next year’s Reebok CrossFit Games.