May 9, 2011
Contributed by Thomas Yoshida
Souza came to the Kapālama Heights campus as the varsity head football coach and assistant athletic director in 1996. The 1963 KS graduate started his long career in education as a teacher and coach in the Department of Education system.
At Kamehameha, Souza served for 10 years as an assistant and associate athletic director. He also coached football for 10 seasons from 1996 to 2006, taking a year sabbatical during the 2005 season when he served as a graduate assistant coach at Oregon State University. As head football coach at Kamehameha, he amassed a record of 87-28-2, and led the Warriors to the 2004 state and Interscholastic League of Honolulu titles, their first of each since the 1970s.
In April 2006, Souza sacrificed his first love—coaching—to assume the position of Head Athletic Director. During his time as the head of the athletic department, KS-Kapālama won 28 HHSAA state championships in 13 different sports.
"I would like to thank Kamehameha, in particular Principal Julian Ako and Headmaster Dr. Michael Chun, for providing me with an opportunity to serve KS-Kapälama, and to be a part of our beloved benefactor Bernice Pauahi Bishop's mission to produce industrious young men and women," said Souza. "It has been an honor and a privilege to work with all the student-athletes, faculty and staff of Kamehameha, especially the coaches and athletic department staff. It has been a great experience and I feel very blessed, but for me, it has never been about the victories and championships, but rather all the relationships that I've been able to foster over the years that I will truly remember."
Prior to his return to Kamehameha, Souza spent 12 years as an assistant football coach at the University of Hawai'i. He also coached at the University of Colorado for one season and at his college alma mater, the University of Northern Colorado, for five years.
Ako spoke glowingly of Souza. "For the past five years Kanani has provided solid leadership to our athletic program, ably steering it on a new course of excellence and helping to firmly establish 'the Kamehameha way' for athletics. Coach is an outstanding professional educator of the first order and we will all sorely miss his valuable contributions to the work of our high school Leadership Team, not only in athletics but also in the area of good quality education in general."
A search for his successor will begin immediately.
Kamehameha Schools’ policy is to give preference to applicants of Hawaiian ancestry to the extent permitted by law.
