On a mission
Maui native Vainikolo is an interesting prospect at linebacker for Lobos
Football player left Hawaii to make things happen as a Lobo
Moana is the Hawaiian word for ocean, but thanks to an award-winning 2016 animated film by that name it has come to mean much more.
To Maui native and UNM inside linebacker Alexander “Moana” Vainikolo, it’s personal.
“If you watch the movie, it’s also about how there’s a mission,” Vainikolo said after Friday’s UNM springpractice session. “Moana, the character, had to leave her home. That’s exactly what I’m doing.
“I left home back in Hawaii to do a mission, to do something for the family, serve for the family. So, that’s the added meaning for me.”
Vainikolo hails from Kihei, on Maui’s western shore, where he grew up boogie-boarding and spearfishing — but not surfing.
“That’s a stereotype,” he said, laughing. “The bigger kids like me in Hawaii ... we wouldn’t be out (on the
waves).”
He and his older brother, Atunaisa, a defensive lineman, commuted 20 minutes each way across the island’s narrow isthmus to attend Maui High School in Kahalui. As seniors, they led the Sabers to the Hawaii state playoffs.
From there, the brothers came to the mainland to play at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif., some 45 miles from the Pacific Ocean. For the first time in his life, Vainikolo couldn’t simply walk to the beach.
“So I got used to not seeing water all the time,” he said.
But Vainikolo wasn’t expecting to go still farther from his beloved Moana Pakipika. He had committed to play at San Diego State and was planning to sign with the Aztecs in December.
Some sort of academic/ eligibility glitch, though, occurred at the last moment. San Diego State didn’t sign him and, eventually, filled its scholarship complement without him.
Other schools that had offered him a scholarship — Lousiana Tech, Louisiana Lafayette — also no longer had a spot for him.
Then, Vainikolo got a call from UNM offensive line coach Saga Tuitele. A scholarship was his if he wanted it. He did.
“I’m fortunate,” he said. “I’m blessed that New Mexico saw the talent in me to make that offer.”
And he’s far closer to home than his brother, who signed with Buffalo and now resides on the chilly shores of Lake Erie.
Life and football at UNM, Vainikolo said, are both easier and more difficult than what he experienced at Mt. Sac.
“The JC route, it’s a humbling experience, (going) from 20 heads in a threebedroom apartment to having your own room here,” he said. “Everything is kind of just given to you over here.”
Nothing is given, though, on the practice field or in the meeting rooms.
“You’ve got to pay your dues,” he said. “Day in, day out, you’ve got to get better and do what you’ve got to do for the team.”
He credits veteran inside linebackers Alex Hart, Evah Tohi and Siti Tamaivena, as well as graduate assistant Greg Svarczkopf, for helping him catch up.
“My only concern is understanding the plays,” he said. “Once I understand the plays I’m more confident, more confident to make plays.”
Listed at 6-foot and 240 pounds, Vainikolo stands out for his size among UNM’s inside linebackers.
“Mo’s a square and thick guy,” said defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach Kevin Cosgrove, who’s also serving as acting head coach while Bob Davie serves a UNM-mandated 30-day suspension. “He has suddenness. He runs very well.
“I’m anxious to watch him as he continues to develop, continues to lose a little weight, but he’s a very good football player.”
Meanwhile, Vainikolo calls home to Maui every day after practice. In addition to Atunaisa, he has six brothers and a sister at home.
He stays in close contact as well with Atunaisa, who finds himself an ocean and a continent away from the shores of Maui.
Atunaisa, he said, is “probably calling back home every hour.” Manzano slot receiver/ defensive back Andrew Erickson has committed to attend UNM as a preferred walk-on, the player’s father announced on Twitter.
Last fall, Erickson caught 39 passes for 745 yards, rushed 31 times for 419 yards, scored 16 touchdowns and made 33 tackles for the New Mexico Class 6A champions.