{"id":12889,"date":"2012-10-03T00:01:55","date_gmt":"2012-10-03T10:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/?p=12889"},"modified":"2012-10-01T10:21:49","modified_gmt":"2012-10-01T20:21:49","slug":"kanoa-leahey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/midweekpro\/kanoa-leahey\/","title":{"rendered":"Kanoa Leahey"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Photo courtesy Kanoa Leahey<\/p><\/div>\n

Referencing his grandfather’s archived tapes, high school student Kanoa Leahey worked to find his broadcasting voice, and in the process found a passion he continually finds both enjoyable and challenging.<\/p>\n

Son of Jim Leahey and grandson of Chuck Leahey, the former “Voice of the Rainbows” in the 1960s and ’70s, Kanoa was born into a broadcast family.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t know my grandfather that well, but I heard all the stories growing up in our household. I remember playing Wiffle Ball in the driveway and doing the play-by-play, making up names and the lineups, changing up stances to match players. It may have been borderline crazy, but was imagination-filled,” says Leahey, who was featured on MidWeek<\/I>‘s cover Aug. 26, 1998.<\/p>\n

Rehabbing a knee injury while at Iolani High School, Leahey was asked to help cover radio play-by-play of ILH girls basketball games.<\/p>\n

“Naively I took the position, not thinking about the ramifications of the fact I had no real experience other then sitting in the booth with my dad throughout childhood. I didn’t think I was good, but also didn’t think it was beyond me. When you fall in love with something, you allow yourself to be able to strive for excellence, and I think over the years I’ve been able to grow as a broadcaster because of my enthusiasm for what I do,” adds Leahey, who as a freshmen at UH-Manoa was offered a unique scholarship by then-Hawaii Pacific University president Chatt Wright to transfer to HPU to cover the Sea Warriors athletic radio broadcasts.<\/p>\n

Leahey then climbed the sports desk ranks of the local television stations and was offered the sports director position at FOX affiliate KHON2 in 2004, a position from which he has recently stepped down to concentrate on his play-by-play endeavors.<\/p>\n

“It’s the thing that brings me the most gratification – when you’re out there, essentially at a big community festival, and have this big group of people paying attention, hanging on to every movement, every bounce of the game that is at hand. I love being in that atmosphere,” says Leahey, who has plans to cover more NCAA basketball on ESPN’s national and regional networks.<\/p>\n

Leahey also continues to cover high school sports for Oceanic Cable station OC-16, a job in which he takes much pride.<\/p>\n

“That’s what it all comes down to. When I first started doing play-by-play, I did high school sports. It is essentially what I consider the purest form of athletics. These kids are playing because it is something they enjoy, something they want to be a part of. What we (broadcasters) have to stay away from is the notion that somehow we are a part of the story. The story is the people on the field, they surround the athletes and the coaches that are putting themselves on the line each and every game.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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