KIF girls flag football all-stars, ties highlight growing island talent

The Kauai Interscholastic Federation’s 2026 girls flag football all-stars, released Tuesday, showed just how far the island’s newest sport has spread: Koloahiaheahe Kuhaulua of Island School and Kylah Racca of Kauai High School tied for Player of the Year, while Jason Caldeira and Pono Pananganan shared Coach of the Year. The voting was close enough that coaches had to make hard calls, and the final list landed across multiple schools instead of concentrating on one roster.

The coaches again used a basketball-style all-star format, selecting the best athletes rather than building a traditional positional lineup. That approach fit a season in which many players handled multiple jobs on offense and defense, a reality that has become standard in Kauai’s 7-on-7 game. The spread of honors across Waimea, Kauai, Kapaa and Island School signaled that the talent base has widened from the first year to the second, with players no longer clustered only on the strongest teams.

Island School’s recognition reflected both resilience and depth. Kuhaulua shared the top individual honor, and freshman Cora Rosenthal also earned all-star notice after the school battled injuries and participation issues during the season. Kapaa showed one of the clearest year-over-year jumps in just its second season, with 10th grader Kailea Hanohano-Ragasa and senior Tyra Carvalho both named all-stars and Pananganan sharing the coaching award. The island’s first girls flag football overtime game also came from that same growing group, when Island School outlasted Kapaa 13-6 after regulation ended tied 6-6.

Waimea remained the standard. The Menehune won the Central Pacific Bank KIF title for the second straight year, beating Kapaa 24-8 on April 22 and then edging Kauai High 14-13 to clinch the championship. Kauai High had earlier beaten Lanai to earn the island’s berth in the state Division II championships, a reminder that every game mattered in a league with limited postseason paths and one Division II slot for KIF.

Girls flag football was sanctioned statewide in August 2024 and is played in a 7-on-7 format, with all 44 public schools allowed to field teams. On Kauai, the first KIF games were played at Hanapepe Stadium on March 6, 2025, and the all-star voting has already become a barometer for how quickly the sport is maturing. With ties again defining the top awards in 2026, the island’s next season should bring even more competition for roster spots, more recruiting film for college programs and a wider pipeline of athletes ready to carry the sport forward.