PHOTO COURTESY OF MAKANA AND LELEHUNE REILLY
As a high schooler, Makana joined the Outrigger Canoe Club, setting hula aside to focus on sports. She played on the Club’s former indoor volleyball team and paddled competitively, eventually trading ocean waves for flatwater when she joined the University of Miami’s women’s novice rowing team — an impressive leap for a paddler from Hawai‘i. “Athletics, for me, is foundational in understanding how to push myself and what I’m capable of,” Makana says. “I think that’s part of why I’m so proud of Lelehune. She’s a full-time student, gets good grades, plays two different club sports, and she trained for Merrie Monarch. She’s 14, and she can handle all of that.” Lelehune carries both her mother’s passion for hula and her athletic drive. Now in her third season paddling for Outrigger, Lelehune recently added beach volleyball to her schedule — her first season playing for the Club. “Sports at OCC have taught me to work hard, be a good teammate, and always support others—and those things helped a lot in preparing for Merrie Monarch,” Lelehune says. “Both hula and volleyball are all about working together and listening to your coach or kumu. Whether I’m dancing hula or on the volleyball court, I always carry lessons and values I’ve learned through Outrigger.” Outrigger member Makenna Kinsler also took the stage at Merrie Monarch for
the third time this year. She’s been dancing hula since she was five, and this year’s performance was especially meaningful: her hālau, Hālau Hula Ka Lehua Tuahine, earned third overall — their first overall placement in a decade — as well as third in Kahiko and fourth in ‘Auana. Makenna credits her longtime kumu, Ka’ilihiwa Vaughan-Darval, for shap- ing her path as a dancer. “I’ve been very lucky because I’ve been dancing with my kumu for so long that it has given me so many more opportunities,” she says. To- day, she can proudly call hula “her job” and shares her love of dance through per- formances in Cirque du Soleil ‘Auanaand Kapaemahuin Waikīkī. Makenna has been part of the Outrigger ‘ohana since she was 13, playing on the Club’s beach volleyball team throughout high school. Now a student at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, she’s double majoring in Hawaiian Studies and Global Environmental Science. Between classes and hula rehearsals, she still finds time to return to the Club —whether it’s for a quick run around the area, a workout at the gym, or to catch some waves at her favorite surf spot. Outrigger truly remains a home away from home. “I hope to be one of those Outrigger moms who raises their kids here,” she says with a smile.
Diamond Head offers the per- fect backdrop as Makenna Kinsler dances hula just steps from the Club.
JULY / AUGUST 2025 | AMA 7
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