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High school football brings Lahaina and Paradise, Calif., together in “Unity Bowl.”
Two football teams separated by thousands of miles recently met on a Hawaiian field with a story that went far beyond the scoreboard. Both schools hail from communities ravaged by devastating wildfires and their initial meeting was intended to be a celebration of survival, rebuilding and the connections made from shared loss.
Three years after the Maui wildfire and nearly eight years after the Camp Fire that destroyed Paradise, Paradise High School in California headed to Maui for the inaugural Unity Bowl against Lahainaluna High School. Most of the players at Paradise High were in elementary school when the 2018 Camp Fire tore through Butte County. As reported by Maui Now, on Nov. 8, 2018, the Camp Fire in Paradise displaced more than 50,000 people, destroyed over 18,000 structures and killed 85 people, marking it as the deadliest wildfire in US history at the time.
Five years later, on Aug. 8, 2023, a wildfire tore through Lahaina and destroyed more than 2,200 buildings, killing 102 people in the deadliest wildfire in U.S. history. The fire also decimated Paradise, and residents tried to pick up their lives after widespread destruction. Lahainaluna High students on Maui faced a similar disruption after the August 2023 wildfire destroyed Lahaina. Many of the current seniors at the school were freshmen when the fire happened and still live with its effects.
In both communities, their high school football programs have been important sources of identity and pride in difficult times. The Unity Bowl unites those experiences in sport, giving players from both schools a chance to meet others who understand what it means to rebuild after catastrophe.
A meeting years in the making
The concept for the showdown began in 2024 when Paradise High administrators reached out to Lahainaluna about establishing a home-and-home series.
The first game was played at Sue D. Cooley Stadium, with Lahainaluna as the host on September 5. The schools also are planning a return meet in Paradise in 2027. Paradise made it to Maui after fundraising efforts helped cover the cost of the long trip from Northern California.
Contributors included NFL quarterback and Butte County native Aaron Rodgers, who donated $15,000 toward the trip.
More than a football weekender
The teams’ visit was way beyond game day. Players, coaches and parents from both programs came together for a community event at the OUTRIGGER Kāʻanapali Beach Resort.
The players also had a chance to experience local culture and spend time together off the field with a lūʻau put on with Maui chef Zach Sato. The gatherings were designed to join young people who have suffered eerily similar disruptions while growing up on different sides of the Pacific.
Football: a source of strength
Both programs have shown in the past how sport can bring communities back to a sense of normalcy. Paradise’s 2019 season started with 12 straight wins, its first season after the Camp Fire.
Lahainaluna has been one of Maui’s dominant football programs for more than a decade and has won multiple state titles. The Lunas' impressive 46-game streak of Maui Interscholastic League wins ended in 2024 but the team bounced back to make the state playoff and Paradise entered the Unity Bowl this season at 1-1, Lahainaluna at 0-2.
But the records matter less than the meaning attached to the meeting.
A new tradition born from tragedy
For the Lahainaluna seniors, the game holds special personal significance. Some still live away from their homes, which have not yet been rebuilt after the Lahaina fire. Paradise’s players have also been displaced and rebuilt a community, but at a much younger age. Their common experiences create a rare opportunity for intergenerational and inter-geographic connections. The Unity Bowl is not just a first-time football matchup.
Two communities finding common ground, letting their youngest generation turn painful memories into lasting friendships.Image Courtesy: Hawaiʻi DOE
