Those who have followed Hawai‘i high school sports over the years know of many recognizable names in coaching like Larry Ginoza, Jim Alegre, Dunn Muramaru.

But behind the scenes of these great coaches are many great assistants, whose names may not be so recognizable.

We lost one of these great ones last Tuesday when Clem Hew passed away after reportedly suffering a massive stroke. He was 77, but it was shocking to me because he appeared to be in good health and was helping coach varsity baseball at ‘Iolani even this past season.

In fact, I just saw and talked to him at the doctor’s office three weeks ago, and he looked and sounded fine.

To call Coach Hew simply “an assistant coach” does not do the man justice. He coached football, baseball and softball at ‘Iolani since 1963. Forty-five years.

And he didn’t just coach; he also was a tireless volunteer who helped the school in many ways, especially through the annual carnival and Family Fair (including last month’s) and through fund-raisers like the old huli-huli chicken sales. He dug imus, built booths, huli’d the chicken.

And he went into the community to sell tickets and solicit help.

Even as a coach, he did more than just show up for practices and games. I used to exercise at Ala Wai Park, and I would see Coach Hew there hours before game time, helping line the field and get it ready for play. He also helped with American Legion and other summer programs.

High school head coaches don’t make much money at all, and assistants make even less. No doubt, Coach Hew donated thousands of hours of free labor to hundreds of kids over the past 45 years, despite not even being on the faculty.

And he did it all behind the scenes and out of the limelight, without any public recognition.

This is an excerpt from the ‘Iolani School Web site, to give you a better idea of Coach Hew’s efforts:

At the annual ‘Iolani athletic awards assembly last May, Coach Hew was recognized for his lifetime contributions to ‘Iolani’s One Team spirit. He received a standing ovation.

At the awards assembly, students shared this: “With a coaching career that spans five decades, Coach Hew has coached both boys and girls, fathers and their sons, fathers and their daughters, ILH and state champions, over-achievers, players who are current coaches, professional baseball players, collegiate softball players, and he has done it all with a firm hand and a soft heart.

“Coach Hew is an old school coach who has withstood the test of time. He has adapted to coaching the athlete of this generation, without compromising his core values. ‘Iolani is lucky and owes a great debt of gratitude to Coach Hew.”

Services will be held Saturday in St. Alban’s Chapel at ‘Iolani School. Visitation from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Memorial service from 11 a.m. to noon. Parking available in the Kamoku Street structure.

I’m really glad ‘Iolani was able to honor Coach Hew last May, while he was still with us.

Hopefully, other schools will have the opportunity to honor their unsung heroes like him as well, because every school would be blessed to have someone like Coach Hew on their staff.

Aloha and mahalo, Coach Hew. We appreciate all you did for Hawai‘i’s youth.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 6:17 pm and is filed under Prep Talk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.