Sjarif Goldstein: Some of best names come from female athletes

When I revived legendary Star-Bulletin columnist Bill Kwon’s tradition of commemorating the greatest names in prep football last October, one of the first responses came from my longtime friend Kara: “This was a fun read! Now do the girls.”

Since Title IX was enacted in the summer of 1972, the percent of high school athletes who are girls has steadily risen to nearly 43% nationally the last year before the pandemic, from less than 18% back in 1972. Take out football and it’s nearly 50/50.

And obviously, girls are just as likely as boys to have great names.

Finding those names proved a little more of a challenge. Almost every school sends us its football roster every season — some needing a little more prodding than others — and the ones we get are right there on HawaiiPrepWorld.com. But rosters for other sports are not so readily available, so I started scouring box scores of state tournament games on the HHSAA website and emailed athletic directors at 82 schools requesting rosters for girls sports. Even with only 14 schools responding, there were more great names than I could use.

Sidenote: I’m already preparing myself for the next inevitable suggestion/appeal: “What about the boys in sports besides football?”

My answer: “I don’t know yet.” The girls deserve their own day, so I didn’t want to detract from that by including boys in the same column. (Also, I specifically asked the ADs for girls rosters, so though some also sent boys rosters, it doesn’t seem fair to add in boys names.) But devoting three of my 12 columns per year to names seems a bit much. So, as much as I would’ve loved it when I was a teen for Kwon to have written about “this kid on Pearl City High’s OIA champion boys tennis team with the Muslim first name and the Jewish last name,” for now male athletes who don’t play football are getting left out. (Spoiler alert: I did not find any girls with a name as at odds with itself as mine is.)

I want to start with a couple of honorable mentions.

I don’t generally find names similar to people I know to be inherently interesting, but one of the first names I found while combing through state air riflery results struck me for the way it (sort of) combined two people I’ve known for about 30 years — and who happen to be married to each other.

Danica-Jason Fujimoto of Kamehameha-Hawaii finished fifth in state air riflery back in October, and seeing her name of course made me think of our reporter Jason Kaneshiro and his wife, Donica, who worked with us here for more than two decades before a career change a few years ago. I’ve known them both since we worked at Ka Leo O Hawaii — the UH newspaper — in the early 1990s. So this was far better than if I had stumbled upon some kid named Bennifer or Brangelina.

The other honorable mention goes to Allison Chang, a kicker on ‘Iolani’s football team. She’s not the first girl to play football in Hawaii, but I don’t recall any previously ever selected second-team All-State like she was. Her first and last names are both very common in Hawaii, but I think where she placed it through athletic prowess makes it plenty noteworthy. She’s headed to Michigan for college and does not plan to continue with football, but hey, maybe Jim Harbaugh will hear about her and call on her if his kicker pulls a hammy.

OK, on to the best names in girls high school sports.

One of my favorite all-time names, regardless of gender — heck, regardless of it being related to sports — is Chardonnay Pantastico. She played softball for Campbell and UH in the 2010s. So I was happy to see two more Pantastico softball players this year: the especially fantastic Donnybrook Pantastico of Maryknoll and Nanea Pantastico at Campbell. I’m hoping the name carries through the generations the way Tufono, Sagapolutele and Macfarlane have.

Campbell’s OIA West softball rival Waianae had a star this year in Jerzie Liana, and Maui High had Jer-Zee Ragasa. Both must have seemed destined for sporting glory from the moment they were named.

Likewise Kalani shortstop Madixx Muramoto, whose name would appear to be a twist on former Braves and Cubs Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux, so the diamond always seemed to be her destiny. Oh, she’s also the granddaughter of the guy UH’s baseball stadium is named after. Marumoto has committed to patrol the infield at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium, just yards away from Les Murakami Stadium.

Some names seem ordinary on their own but take on added significance with some context. For example, a team award goes to the Mililani soccer team, which has three Kylas (Lum, Okamoto and Yamada), two Kaylas (Arakaki and Sato), and a Kailee (Wilson) and a Karlie (Yamada) — not to mention (although I’m about to) Kalena and Kamalani Yamashita and Kamaile Lanias. The Trojans also have two Mias (Hirayama and Moss) and a Maya (George), plus Jade Alverio and Jaeda Edayan. I feel for coach Darren Smith and his staff.

Then there’s the Le Jardin volleyball team, which won Division II states this year with Sydney Kennedy, Sydni Gardner and Sydnee Walker on the roster. I’m a big fan of ‘90s R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné!, so if I had been a Le Jardin volleyball parent, I can say with 100% certainty that I would have put “Sydney! Sydni! Sydnee! has done it again!” on a sign to raise any time one of them put down a kill, as happened 33 times in the title-clinching win over Hawaii Baptist. Twenty-seven of those kills were Walker’s. She graduates, but it might not get any easier for coach Lee Lamb. The Bulldogs had three Olivias (Boyden, Kohler and Wong) on the JV roster last season.

Speaking of music, two athletes have Princely connections. Hawaiian Mission Academy had Maite Garcia on its volleyball team — the late music great’s first wife was named Mayte Garcia — and Kaiser softball had Paisley Kuba. Prince’s favorite color was purple, but he named his home and studio Paisley Park.

The pop culture links carry over to TV (possibly). Hawaii Prep had Parker Lewis on its D-II state-tournament volleyball team. “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose” — a Fox sitcom in the early ’90s — set a high standard, pretty much impossible for sports, and Ka Makani’s Lewis did her best, leading HPA in kills with seven as it fell to Le Jardin in the second round at states.

Seeing the name Joy Jeremiah on a state wrestling bracket representing Kamehameha made me wonder if her parents watched “DeGrassi Junior High” in the ’80s, which featured a clownish character named Joey Jeremiah.

Now on to my very favorite names in girls high school sports this year:

>> Mid-Pacific kayaker Knytly Sybounmy won an ILH kayak title in the 250-meter sprint. I love the twist on “Knightly” and all the y’s as vowels. The rising senior has represented the USA, so even after one more year with the Owls, we may not be done hearing from her.

>> I first saw the name Nevaeh nearly 20 years ago when an NFL player named his daughter that. I see it all the time now on rosters — no surprise given that it’s been in the top 100 of U.S. girls baby names for eight years running — but it works especially well for Konawaena volleyball player Nevaeh Havens-Seyler, the way “Nevaeh” and “Havens” nearly mirror each other.

>> Tifany Subramaniam represented Kalani at air riflery states, and I don’t know what her favorite subjects are, but I can’t help but hope she becomes such a force in science that they name a chemical element after her, like curium, einsteinium or nobelium. Subramaniamium has a nice ring to it, and I have a feeling it would cause Subramaniammania in East Oahu.

>> I’m not sure how Moanalua wrestler Jasmine Adiniwin’s last name is pronounced, but it looks like it might be similar to “I didn’t win,” so the senior lands on this list for defying it by winning state gold at girls 184 this season, avenging last year’s state final loss to Lahainaluna’s Catherine Asami. She didn’t have to say “I didn’t win” much during her high school career.

>> The name of Waianae softball player Moani Ioane doesn’t quite rhyme, but really, it’s close enough to sound great,. It has a really nice rhythm. Major props to her parents for coming up with a great name that sounds very natural. Ioane’s committed to play for Cal State Northridge, so she’ll be back at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium the next few years. The last sporting event I went to watch before the pandemic was a Wahine softball game against Seattle. Maybe my next will be to watch Ioane play against Madixx Muramoto.