Every year, there’s more or less a handful of Kapolei Inline Hockey Arenas players who finish up their youth careers and also graduate from high school.
There are four this year who pretty much made it all the way through the ranks at KIHA, donned their cap and gown for commencement exercises and are now on their way to college — Ethan Rogers, Nate Simmons, Kailia Moylan and Namie Sato.
Rogers started playing in the 12-and-under division and for the first time in this summer 2021 season is playing in KIHA’s top adult division, aka D-I.
“Hockey is part of my plans in the future,” he said. “I’m not sure if it will be inline or ice hockey.”
Ethan Rogers, who played ice hockey in Massachusetts before moving to Hawaii, graduated from Campbell High last month.
A recent Campbell High graduate, Rogers — who goes by ‘E’ or simply ‘Rogers’ — will be attending Grand Canyon University to study software engineering.
Simmons started playing at KIHA in the 8-and-under division and is a recent Damien graduate. He’s headed to the University of Pittsburgh.
“(My favorite) memory is playing bubble hockey (arcade game) with the kids at NARCH tournaments,” said Simmons, who made it as high as the adult D-3 level.
He did not choose to go to Pittsburgh because of any allegiance to the NHL team there.
“I will always be a (Washington) Caps fan. Never Penguins,” he said.
Nate Simmons, now (above) and then.
Moylan and Sato, who are step sisters, are Kaiser High graduates. Sato is joining the nursing program at the University of Hawaii and Moylan plans to go to Kapiolani Community College in the fall. They both started playing in the Oahu Junior Hockey League in Hawaii Kai before KIHA opened in 2010.
Namie Sato and Kailia Moylan, step sisters
shown together after a championship season.
KIHA Veteran Youth Players/High School Graduates
Class of 2021
>> Ethan Rogers (Campbell)
>> Nate Simmons (Damien)
>> Kailia Moylan (Kaiser)
>> Namie Sato (Kaiser)
Class of 2020
>> Adam Harder (Hanalani)
>> Austin Harder (Hanalani)
>> Kaena Humber (Damien)
>> Jaden Nahoi-Baricar (Kapolei)
>> Adam Gooden (Kapolei)
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LAST YEAR’S KIHA GRAD STORY, only At BedrockSportsHawaii.com: Kapolei Inline Hockey Arenas 2020 Grads Are Off To College And New Horizons
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