HondaReport.com - Baby steps, indeed: Defeat in first sporting event won’t slow Thompson Academy

Baby steps, indeed: Defeat in first sporting event won’t slow Thompson Academy

The black-and-silver roundballers of Thompson Academy took one on the chin Thursday night, but there's something significant about the persistence and dignity of this team of seven. On a gusty evening in Manoa Valley, the first athletic team ever from the virtual school took to the court against a school more than a century old.

HONOLULU—The Sharks of Myron B. Thompson Academy knew the job was dangerous when they took it.

And still, after landing on the short end of the first athletic competition in school history, they managed to smile.

Keo Evans-Gonda scored nine points as Thompson fell to Mid-Pacific, 72-16, in the opening round of the Mid-Pacific Invitational Tournament Thursday night.

Burton Woodhull scored 21 points and Bryson Bernie added 15 to lead the host Owls.

There are just seven Shark players. Perhaps more amazing is the fact that Thompson Academy is fielding a team when most of its players never played organized basketball until two months ago. The charter school will begin play in the O’ahu Interscholastic Association East Division in three weeks.

“If any of them wanted to pursue a career in basketball, you get better by playing the best,” Thompson head coach Andrew Aki said.

Located in Kaka’ako, the campus is not exactly what most parents would imagine. In fact, Thompson Academy is an online high school. The three-year-old school began as Hawaii E-Charter School and included the Oceanic Learning Academy—headed by heralded navigator Nainoa Thompson.

The Sharks practice daily between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Manoa Recreation Center, the only facility available in a town starving for open gyms. Because the Sharks don’t meet for class like other schools, that flex schedule comes in handy.

After the MPI tourney, the Sharks will not play another game until the OIA season begins. That’s probably wise thinking; the Sharks lack most of the fundamental skills and knowledge of basketball that most other varsity—and JV teams—take for granted.

The call for prospective basketball players went out to the school’s 260 students two months ago. Of the seven who turned out, only one—Lance Chang—is a senior. The Sharks don’t have a lot of talent, but don’t expect them to surrender to any foe. Even as Mid-Pac’s lead exploded, Thompson hustled, battled under the boards and kept a good attitude.

“They get frustrated a lot, but we remind them that they’re a young team that should be playing JV. We’ve pounded into them that we don’t expect them to be a professional team,” said Aki, who is also the school’s athletic director. “We stress (to them), have fun and get your education.”

Part of that education—and building character—is learning to accept defeat on the athletic courts and fields.

Mid-Pac roared to a 22-2 lead after one quarter and was never threatened. The Owls did their part in the second half, refraining from fastbreaks. They did not apply fullcourt pressure at all.

All the while, Thompson’s backers—about 20 in all—filled a mostly empty Mills Gymnasium with plenty of cheer.

Thompson Academy is not just a virtual institution. Sports will bring the students together, as do choir classes and learning centers, Aki added. “They get to do research. One example is our animation academy. Eventually, they’ll be doing MYA, which is what they do at Pixar,” he said. “This year, we want to start a film club, have some acting and hopefully produce a film.”

Lofty goals for such a young school, but obviously, Thompson Academy is not a typical school. “I’m a University Lab School graduate, and some of my friends thought Thompson was a private school,” Aki said.

Thompson isn’t the first addition to OIA athletics this academic year. Anuenue, a Hawaiian immersion school in Palolo, competed in girls’ volleyball during the fall.