Night of dancing, friendship for two O.C. teams

LA HABRA - In traditional New Zealand culture, when visitors travelled to a territory that was not their own, it was customary to offer up a sign of peace to those who lived on the land.

Sometimes this action was carried out by the placing of a rod or stick on the ground at the feet of the leader of the local tribe. It was then up to the leader to either accept or deny the offer.

If the offer was accepted, the stick would be picked up and the two groups would come together as friends. If it was denied then the stick would remain on the ground and the travelers would either leave or prepare for a fight.

It’s a powerful image, and it served as the heart-warming, goose-bump inducing moment at the center of a benefit show put on to help raise money for the Buena Park football program Saturday night at La Habra High.

The Buena Park “tribe” (members of the football team), dressed in traditional garb, stood at center court of the La Habra gym, looking fierce, when on came the La Habra “tribe” charging their way. The two groups stood only a few feet apart, yelling and whooping at each other until the peace offering was laid down --- in this case, a decorative staff.

The offer was accepted and the two teams immediately embraced, shaking hands and sharing hugs with one another.

After OCVarsity and Register columnist Jeff Miller wrote about the struggles of the Buena Park High football program and the effort to turn it around, some community members reached out to help. The La Habra football program was among them, even hosting a team dinner for the Coyotes.

Saturday's Polynesian Football Camp and Dance Extravaganza was another display of community togetherness that has flowed out to help an emerging football program in need.

Put on in a joint effort by the traditional Polynesian, religious dance group Ohana O Ke Akua, headed by La Habra parents Bob and Susan Karcher, and members of both the La Habra and Buena Park teams, the night was an effort to raise as much money as possible for Buena Park football.

“You can’t have a football team without a cast behind you to support you. This is our foundation, this is what we build off of. This is why we play every Friday night,” Buena Park senior David Fulivai said.

“We wanted everyone to know it’s more than just a school, it’s more than just a city … it’s one big family.”

“It’s just about unity. We’re really thankful to have our lives the way they are,” La Habra senior Vai Peko said, “(Buena Park) is struggling right now but we’re all family.”

The La Habra gym was packed and there was hardly enough room for everyone to sit. People kept pouring in, enough to make Buena Park coach Anthony White keep muttering and shaking his head in disbelief.

The feeling of joy and unity was practically palpable as players that were enemies on the gridiron Friday night were sitting next to each other, sharing jokes and stories as if they’ve known each other their whole lives. There’s no doubt some have, as Buena Park is only a few minutes down the road from La Habra.

The crowd was entertained by dancers, both professional and not (the football team helped) who displayed an array of dance styles from island nations such as Samoa, Hawaii and Tahiti.

Saturday morning there was a football camp headed by high school- and college-level coaches that kids from ages 6-18 could take part in for a nominal fee as part of the fundraising efforts.

At the end of the show with the crowd filing out onto the gym floor, Fulivai, who was among one of the students who helped set the event up, spotted a La Habra friend.

“It’s over man … We did it.” Fulivai said as patted his friend on the back.