Warriors ready for their many firsts in Australia

SYDNEY >> It’s a game of firsts here today.

First of the college football season. First for Nick Rolovich as University of Hawaii head coach. First American college “gridiron” contest in Australia since 1987.

And it’s the first full football season with Dave Matlin — who hired Rolovich and green-lighted this massive and unique undertaking — as UH’s athletic director.

But, if Hawaii pulls off an upset of Cal at ANZ Stadium in the College Football Sydney Cup it won’t be the first bit of sports success for the Woolsey family at an Olympics venue in Australia.

At the Melbourne Games 60 years ago, about 600 miles from here, Bill Woolsey won a silver medal as a member of the U.S.’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay swim team. His McKinley High School teammate, Ford Konno, was also among that quartet, and they both also had won gold in the same event as teenagers in the 1952 Games in Helsinki, Finland.

Woolsey went on to teach swimming to kids for decades, sometimes in Hawaii and sometimes in the Bay Area — which is where his grandson Ikaika grew up as a fan of the college football program he and the rest of the Rainbow Warriors take on today.

“Right there, born and raised,” said the UH senior quarterback who starred at Salesian High, not far from Berkeley. “I grew up a big fan. My cousin William Ta’ufo’o played with Marshawn Lynch, so we went to games. Some of our high school games were on Saturday morning, so we’d finish those and rush to get to the Cal game.”

Woolsey was recruited to Hawaii by another Bay Area product, Rolovich, who was then Hawaii’s offensive coordinator. The star quarterback of the 2001 UH team that went 9-3 then took the long way home to Manoa, returning as UH’s head coach after four years running Nevada’s offense — back, just in time now for Woolsey’s senior year … and both competing against their hometown team, but on another continent.

Abe Elimimian was recruited by Cal but never made it there, and that was and is a good thing for UH.

“It’s never done until you sign the paper,” said Elimimian, who sprained an MCL at Crenshaw High in Los Angeles while the Bears were evaluating him in 1999. UH assistant George Lumpkin liked what he saw of Elimimian during basketball season, and he became a starter at cornerback for the Warriors for four winning seasons.

Now the Hawaii defensive backs coach, he said he’s not bitter toward Cal — although the memory of being recruited and then not being recruited “doesn’t hurt” motivation.

“But the important thing is making sure these guys are ready to play,” he said.

Although the UH secondary could have an advantage in that transfer quarterback Davis Webb hasn’t had much time with his receivers yet, defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa said the Warriors will have their hands full.

“They’ve got three running backs who can all play,” Lempa said. “They’ve got an experienced and big offensive line and a quarterback rated as the top guy for next year’s draft. Other than that? Very skilled wide receivers.”

The distractions of playing a game on a different continent haven’t affected the players’ preparation, Lempa said.

“They’ve been great, they really have. Go to the rugby game, go to the zoo. But they’ve been focused.”

Rolovich agreed.

“I think we’ve done everything we can,” he said. “They got to do a couple of things they’ll remember for a long time. We gotta play sound defense and communicate.”

For freshman defensive lineman Max Hendrie, his first game in a Hawaii uniform will be memorable even though he won’t play in it. He is from Sydney.

“I would’ve been first in line for tickets,” he said. “Now I get to watch the game from the sideline.”

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads