Sports Leadership students learn realities of life from annual ‘Baggage’ project
Twin sisters Nai’a (l.) and Nale’a Pomaikai particpate in a discussion in a Sports Leadership class during their junior year at Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada. PHOTO: Kaylie Phillips/Jades Media
By W.G. RAMIREZ
The blank notebook paper on Nale’a Pomaikai's Instagram story didn't reveal much that day, though the block lettering atop the page spoke volumes to me.
"BAGGAGE" ... it read.
Nale'a was dealing with tragedy and was looking for a release.
Now you have to understand that at 5-foot-8 and chock full of athleticism, Nale'a never reveals her soft side on the playing surface. Be it soccer or flag football, she's one of the most dominant and physical athletes you'll find in Nevada.
Her talent is unlimited, and there's no ceiling to her growth in whatever path of life she chooses. If she decides to become a walk-on athlete in Lincoln, where she'll attend the University of Nebraska in the Fall, a coaching staff and athletic program will be blessed.
Off the field, however, Nale'a has her moments like any other 18-year-old high school student, finding ways to grab hold of her mental health and taking charge the best way she can.
"The most important thing I've learned about mental health is it’s just as crucial as taking care of your physical health, recognizing your emotions, and when to ask for help," Nale'a said. "Also, that every little thing contributes to your mental health whether it’s good or bad, and that takes major effects on your mood, body language, etc."
On Jan. 18, when her two-month-old nephew Kyroh passed away, Nale'a recognized the bad signs.
Kyroh was born prematurely on Nov. 18, two months early in an ambulance on the road to the hospital. The paramedics attempted to give him oxygen for 25 minutes but because he was born prematurely and he was so tiny, they couldn't intubate him. After two months, he was taken off the ventilator as the family decided it was best to let him pass peacefully.
"It was hard for Nale'a because she didn't get to say goodbye in person," said her mother, Tiffany Pomaikai.
Thus, Nale'a turned to the "BAGGAGE" project.
FROM HASHTAGS TO BAGGAGE
Billy Hemberger and I became friends when he was coaching girls' basketball at Spring Valley High School. As a teacher, he implemented a special curriculum into a Sports Leadership class several years ago after attending Point Guard College (PGC) - an intensive five-day basketball camp that ran 14 hours and included several hours of classroom training. His intrigue in leadership training while building the mind and having a positive outlook while dealing with adversity turned into a passion.
During the camp, the director challenged those in attendance to share the material with people they felt could benefit. So Billy contacted "about 20 coaches" around Southern Nevada and hosted a think tank with 14 of his peers in attendance.
"From there I created a club at Spring Valley and my classroom was filled with student-athletes," said Hemberger, whose bookcases in his classroom are filled with self-improvement books tailored to coaches and athletes but would be beneficial to anyone hoping to grow mentally and emotionally. "That allowed me to pursue the path of presenting it to the curriculum commission of the Clark County School District and getting it officially an elective."
During the 2017-18 school year, Billy asked me to guest speak to his sports leadership students, sharing my life as a sports journalist while fielding questions from the young men and women who were set to venture into adulthood after graduation. The first two years we had fun with the kids, introducing a "Hashtag" project that allowed me to get to know the kids before meeting them. They submitted their names, the sports they played and a specific hashtag that best described them. I, in turn, crafted a personalized article about each class based on the hashtags while tying every student together into one story. It was a way to break the ice and get everyone a little more relaxed before the Q&A began.
The third year the project changed.
I read a story about middle school teacher Karen Loewe, who introduced a new activity to her students called "The Baggage Activity," which asked each of them to think about something that was weighing heavy on their heart and write it down before crumpling the paper and throwing it across the classroom. Kids from opposite sides of the classroom would pick up the papers near them and read them aloud. Students heartfelt essays brought their classmates to tears when finding out what they were going through.
Billy agreed, it was perfect for his class.
But talk about devastating, sheesh. It seemed as if roughly 80 students were dealing with the harsh realities of life and harbored a lot of feelings.
Hashtag: Mental Health!
Twin sisters Nai’a (l.) and Nale’a Pomaikai particpate in a discussion in a Sports Leadership class during their junior year at Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada. PHOTO: Kaylie Phillips/Jades Media
Young adults from 15 to 18 years old discussed depression, suicidal thoughts, sexual orientation and dealing with divorced parents. Some had parents in prison, while others saw drugs affect their home lives or were abandoned by their parents. Some essays revealed students struggling with death in their families. The most common themes included the pressure of grades, staying eligible, making varsity rosters or simply feeling like an outcast among peers.
It got deep.
When Billy switched schools, we carried the project from Spring Valley to Liberty, where I met Nale'a and her twin sister Nai'a the first year he taught at the Henderson-based school.
The Pomaikai twins were in separate Sports Leadership classes their sophomore year before sharing the same class as juniors. Both years they were two of the students brave enough to include their names on the option-to-be-anonymous Baggage essays, sharing their vulnerable sides that little resembled their infectious smiles and intoxicating personalities.
Which was why I wasn't surprised one bit when Nale'a, now a senior, shared that blank page with "BAGGAGE" written across the top to her Instagram story in January. In the bottom right-hand corner, she told her followers she would forever be thankful for the project she learned 2 1/2 years prior because it gave her an outlet where to turn when she needed to release emotionally.
"The baggage project has meant so much to me, it touched me very deeply," Nale'a told me. "It has given me a safe space or something to turn to when I’m lost in my own thoughts and can’t come up with the right words to tell someone. I gained the satisfaction of knowing that a piece of paper and a pencil can make me feel understood more than a person ever could."
Said her mother, Tiffany: "She doesn't really talk about her problems. It's helped her because she has an outlet with that project. Some things you just can't talk about to certain people and Nale'a won't open up. This allowed her to talk it out on paper."
They say if you reach one person with your efforts the mission is accomplished, so I shared a screenshot of her Instagram story with my good friend Billy that day.
As Nale'a paid tribute to Kyroh that day, our mission was accomplished.
BEYOND BAGGAGE
For me, speaking to those kids annually has helped me with my well-documented mental health journey, too.
Remaining vulnerable to my own demons, be it suicidal thoughts or depression, I've been able to remind others 'it's okay to not be okay.' It's also provided me with uplifting days I can spend with some very special individuals.
Through the first three years at Liberty, I've become friends with many families. I've been able to mentor an aspiring photographer, Kaylie Phillips, bringing her with me on freelance writing projects and seeing her work splashed on the front page of a Sunday newspaper or in a glossy magazine.
Plus, Billy and I have been able to grow branches from the main artery, with newer projects that have helped flesh out his sports-leadership curriculum while preparing his student-athletes further in life.
Last year we introduced an NIL project and the media involvement with high-profile athletes. We put the students in controversial press conference situations, where they were given a last-minute topic they were held accountable for and were made to answer questions with very little prep time. It's something we're bringing back in April.
Liberty Track & Field athletes Satsuki Bradley (l.) and Kiana Harworth, who also play basketball, speak during an interview for Media Day.
Last month, during Liberty's Track and Field media day, I interviewed different groups for social media posts, asking them a variety of questions the same way I will in a month and a half at the Las Vegas Aces' media day.
"It makes you ready for the future and prepares you for what's coming," senior Kiana Harworth said. "Because, as you see online, a lot of freshmen in college don't know what to do, and this is just a good way to get you ready for that and prepare you what to say, what not to say, and just be quick on your feet and think fast."
Kiana has been part of the Sports Leadership class for the past two years and said all of the projects introduced by Billy have helped develop her mind and leadership skills.
"It's not only fun, it just gets your brain working," she said. "It just shows that you're not alone. It comes with being an athlete and it just helps that you have people around you in one full class that just support one another."
Lillian Hastings, a junior at the school, said she once looked at every situation from a negative point of view, a pessimist if you will. But after taking the Sports Leadership course as a sophomore she learned to look for more of the positive outlooks, transitioning to an optimist.
Lillian said the "What Drives Winning" unit hit home for her, as the class was split into individual readers and class readers.
"That helped me learn how to be independent and how to handle myself when it comes to the anxiety part and the mental part of the pressure that comes with playing sports, especially being a double sport athlete, and how to handle that and manage that," Lillian said. "To make sure that I can be a better version of myself as a person and as an athlete towards teammates and being coachable."
Lillian was one of many student-athletes who were able to use the lessons from many of Billy's units to find out their sports don't define them, something a lot of them struggled with because they've been made to feel their sport is everything. Whether it's pressure from their parents, coaches at the high school and club level, their peers, or themselves.
So, many of them didn't know what to do with the suppressed baggage they were clinging to deep inside. They hadn't realized it, but they'd become conditioned to depend on the pressure, which can weigh heavy on a teenager already carrying the burden of academic and social pressure as a high-school student.
Liberty graduate Kaylee Daniel, now a freshman track and field athlete at the University of Houston, said reading my mental health essay discussing suicidal thoughts helped reveal that not everybody is perfect and that anyone could be going through anything at any given time. It allowed her and her friends to do the same through the Baggage project.
"It was so tough, (Baggage) was a very heavy project for me," Daniel said. "I feel like that project was a slap in the face, like, 'Okay, let's talk about what you're feeling inside. And how is that affecting your game,' And I feel like the biggest thing that project did is made me kind of realize, 'Yes, I love my sport, but how is my sport affecting my life? Or how is my life affecting my sport.'
"I think it was a really good opportunity to be vulnerable in that project, just because we had the option to be completely honest (to) a stranger. You were a stranger to us when you first came in with that project, and so it was like, 'This guy really cares and he wants to know more.' And so we could really just tell you, literally everything."
Added Kiana: "The baggage project was a way to get my problems out there. With my situation, I really couldn't talk about it with anybody because no one understood my situation. But it's like talking to myself and just putting it on paper just made it better than just saying it in your head, or giving it to someone that's not going to judge you."
From hashtags to baggage, our mission feels accomplished.
Bring on the next group.
