Ikaika Woolsey has always been Ikaika, even though he was born and raised in California, and his given first name is William.

"All his life he’s been called ‘Ikaika’," said William "Tripp" Woolsey, the father of the University of Hawaii quarterback. "If he was somewhere waiting for an appointment and they called his name as ‘William,’ he wouldn’t respond. We’d have to say, ‘Hey, it’s your turn.’"

When Ikaika played high school football in the Bay Area, announcers wouldn’t even try to pronounce his name that translates in Hawaiian to "strength" or "warrior."

"They wouldn’t go there. They’d just say ‘Woolsey,’ or his number," Tripp said in a phone interview.

Tripp and his wife and Ikaika’s mom, Luka, are both Castle High grads who moved to California in the early 1980s and have lived there since.

There are many Hawaiians and other Polynesians in various places on the mainland. But Rodeo, the East Bay community of about 11,000 where the Woolsey family lives, isn’t one of them. Ikaika remembers just one other Polynesian at Salesian High School in nearby Richmond; his good friend Freddie Tagaloa is now an offensive lineman at Arizona.

Taylor Graham is being brought along slowly after non-throwing-shoulder surgery and Jeremy Higgins has had a good camp. But Woolsey, a third-year sophomore, is the tentative No. 1 quarterback heading into Saturday’s finale of the Rainbow Warriors’ spring practice.

Woolsey said having so many relatives here that he’s still meeting them and being of Native Hawaiian ancestry make a chance to be the UH starting quarterback even more special for him.

"It’s definitely a humbling experience to be here. I know it’s a big role I want to take on," he said after Thursday’s practice. "I feel I’m not only playing for the team, but for the culture and the state. That’s something I do take seriously. I am proud to be Hawaiian. I play for my family, my brothers next to me and the people of the state and Polynesians."

The only identity crisis Woolsey has had, if you want to call it one, was settling on a sport. When you ask if as a kid he thought he was destined to play quarterback at UH, his answer is, "No, not at all."

Second base? Maybe.

"Growing up my first love was baseball," he said. "My focus was trying to play college baseball. My mom wouldn’t let me play football when I was growing up. But when I got to high school that’s the first thing I wanted to do. The rest is history."

And speaking of history, one of the greatest athletes in Hawaii annals is Ikaika’s grandfather. Bill Woolsey won an Olympic swimming gold medal in 1952 and a silver in 1956.

"That boy is an outstanding swimmer," said Bill, who at 79 still coaches swimming in Hawaii and California. "But when he was about 10, he came up to me and said, ‘Papa, I’m not coming back. I’m going to play baseball.’ "

Both elder William Woolseys will be on hand at Ching field to watch the younger one Saturday as he continues to make his own name as Ikaika, in football.

"We’re very excited about his progress," said his grandfather.

Reach Star-Advertiser sports columnist Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com, his “Quick Reads” blog at staradvertiser.com and twitter.com/davereardon.