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An evening of aloha and achievement lit up Waikīkī as the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation hosted Duke’s Night, an annual celebration honoring Hawaiʻi’s rising athletes. Held on Wednesday, May 7, at Outrigger Canoe Club, the event recognized outstanding local youth athletes and reaffirmed the community’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of island leaders. All proceeds from the night will fuel future scholarships and grants, continuing Duke Kahanamoku’s enduring legacy of excellence and generosity.
Of the 41 local athletes to receive scholarship support from the foundation this year, seven were from Maui including: Kalia Kaneta and Kaysa Ong of Maui High School; Avery Kirkham of Maui Preparatory Academy; Kamakanōweo Kekauoha-Schultz and Bella Kuailani of King Kekaulike High School; and Kaili McMillin and Sage Ryden of Seabury Hall Academy.
Attending scholarship recipients were recognized on stage, and the top six scholarship candidates for the 2025 Duke Award Scholarship were showcased in a panel discussion led by ODKF Board Member, Bill Pratt. The Duke Award — a one-time student scholarship of $12,000 — recognizing an exceptional Hawaiʻi high-school senior who exemplifies the character and values of Duke Kahanamoku, went to Chalei Reid from Kahuku.
Chalei Reid is an accomplished volleyball player at Kahuku High School who will continue her athletic journey at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She was named ScoringLive’s OIA East Player of the Year in 2022 and earned OIA East First Team honors in both 2022 and 2024. Beyond sports, Chalei is deeply committed to service, organizing beach cleanups, leading a school supply drive for a school in Tonga, and hosting free volleyball clinics in American Samoa.
The other 2025 Duke Award Finalists, who will also received scholarships, are listed below:
The mission of Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation is to financially support the development of the individuals and organizations which perpetuate the spirit and legacy of Duke Kahanamoku – Hawaiʻi’s esteemed global ambassador of aloha. With active stewardship from generous donors and the waterman community – ODKF has gifted more than $3.9 million in grants and scholarships since its inception in 1986.
As Hawaiʻi’s young scholars strive to meet the rising cost of higher education, the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation (ODKF) aims to provide the necessary support for its recipients to achieve their education goals. Duke’s Night, now in its seventh year, seeks to celebrate the ODKF scholar-athletes while raising money for future scholarships.
“Duke’s Night is all about bringing amazing student-athletes together with their community to celebrate their success and their aloha spirit, and to let them know that Hawaiʻi is rooting for them, just like Hawaiʻi did for Duke Kahanamoku as he went off into the bigger world to represent us,” says Sarah Fairchild, Executive Director of the Foundation.
The program kicked off with an address by Sonny Tanabe, a swimmer in the 1956 Olympics and a Hawaiʻi Waterman Hall of Inductee. He passed on the same advice that Duke Kahanamoku gave him before the games in Melbourne, Australia, “Remember, you are representing yourselves and your family, your community that you live in, the territory of Hawaiʻi and the United States of America.”
A member of the Hawaiʻi Water Safety Coalition, the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation created the Duke Lifesaver Award to recognize a young person from Hawaiʻi who has demonstrated a meritorious act in or around the water to prevent a drowning or injury. As a Hawaiʻi waterman, Duke Kahanamoku demonstrated throughout his life that he cared about the safety of other people in the water, and continually invited people to enjoy all the ocean has to offer. Though there is no evidence he was a paid lifeguard, he performed preventative actions, rescued swimmers in distress, and even recovered the bodies of drowning victims. He worked extensively with the American Red Cross to promote swimming and water safety across the nation; he introduced surfing to people around the world; and he was the elected Sheriff of Honolulu for 13 terms, tasked with maintaining public safety.
Honolulu Ocean Safety Director Kurt Lager presented the 2025 Duke Lifesaver Award to Noa “Bubba” Puʻu, who has already conducted numerous ocean rescues at the age of 16. He plans to become a Honolulu Ocean Safety lifeguard after graduating from Waiʻanae High School where he is currently a junior. Puʻu comes from a well-known Mākaha waterman family. His father is Mel Puʻu of the Mauka and Makai Foundation; his grandfather, Buffalo Keaulana, and uncle, Brian Keaulana, are both Hawaiʻi Waterman Hall of Fame inductees.
Brutus La Benz emceed the evening, and Music & Rhythm, an up-and-coming teenage duo from the North Shore of Oʻahu closed out the evening with a dynamic musical tribute.
Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation President, Dr. Andrew “Keola” Richardson, thanked the Dukeʻs Night sponsors: host sponsor, Outrigger Canoe Clun; Gold Sponsors, Hawaiʻi Pacific Health Bone & Joint Centers and Raising Cane’s; and Silver Sponsors, Graystone Consulting of Morgan Stanley and First Hawaiian Bank.
Another youth, Anna Dao, was highlighted for donating a special lei t-shirt design; Dao, a student at Punahou, is a rising graphic artist and entrepreneur who owns XOXO, Anna Cards. She is also founder of Next Wave Hawaiʻi, a teen-run non-profit that seeks to break down inequalities.
