A Conversation With Pickleball Aloha Ambassador Kyle Kaneshiro

Kyle Kaneshiro at his home courts at Moanalua High School

Moanalua H.S.; Honolulu—It was a fitting end to my conversation with Kyle Kaneshiro.

As he walked back to the tennis/pickleball courts, he was followed by a rooster, scurrying to keep up with him as he walked down the hill.

Just before that: Kyle and I were chatting in the parking lot. The rooster strolled in. He proceeded to walk about in a small circumference near us, jumped up on the rock wall to see us from a higher vantage point, and just hung out, patiently waiting…for Kyle.

As I was leaving, I saw the scene above unfolding, and thought it was just so…apt.

It’s fitting because he loves animals, including that rooster—and he deeply cares about his students, his responsibility as a Coach, and for the facility at Moanalua that he helped transform.

Kyle with one of the cats he rescued; Moanalua HS’s mascot and bully —“Fluffy”

Not only does he run Moanalua’s prolific tennis program (the boys won the 2023 OIA Championship), but he creates numerous opportunities for O’ahu pickleballers to play and compete. Since 2017, K2 Pickleball has been providing group lessons, clinics, monthly tournaments and quarterly pickleball fundraisers for stray animals.

Join me in celebrating Kyle Kaneshiro, animal rescuer and whisperer, and tennis and pickleball boss!

(L) Moanalua H.S. courts before and (R) after he helped raise $200K to transform the courts

Let’s start out with the quintessential “Hawaii” question…where did you grow up and what high school did you go to?

I was born and raised in Waianae and went to Waianae High School. I started playing tennis in 12th grade. Yup, that late! I tell all my players at Moanalua High School, “I lost my last high school tennis match on court 3 at Moanalua High School. And look at where I ended up coaching……..at Moanalua!”

Tennis or Pickleball?

This is a really difficult one. I’ve been blessed with a long tennis career because of all the experience and opportunities I’ve encountered throughout my 43 years of coaching and playing. I’m the luckiest guy on earth because I’ve had so many awesome experiences no other person could encounter in their career, for example: watching top tennis players in the world, going to Stanford University and taking my students to watch tennis, taking my team to play in the USTA Team Tennis National Championship 6 times, taking my players to all the neighbor islands to play against other club teams, myself playing at the USTA National Championships…and more!

Don’t get me wrong—pickleball is a FUN sport and it’s still new and I haven’t had the experience I had in tennis yet.

You host all these events on a regular basis, which is a lot of work. Why do you do it and what keeps you going?

I think the secret is that I gotta give a lot of credit to my pickleball pro assistant Lori Tokutomi, because she is the backbone of all the things. We work well together and we keep brainstorming, we keep trying to make our programs better, and without her, there’s no way. If you surround yourself with good people, good things happen.

What do you do outside of tennis and pickleball?

My biggest thing is taking care of the animals. I spend at least 5 hours a day every day taking care of all the animals. God has given me a gift to communicate with these animals and they always appreciate and give you the unconditional love. That’s why my time is so valuable because so much time is spent trying to take care of them and giving them a good life. It’s pretty stressful when they are sick but it’s also rewarding when you save their life.

But…if I ever had a day to relax, I would stay home, eat ice cream and watch tv.

What do you love about pickleball?

You meet a lot of new friends. Like I tell my students, not just in pickleball and tennis, but in life too, surround yourself with good people. If you keep surrounding yourself with your good friends, it’s always gonna be fun to play pickleball.

Aaaaaaand…enjoy the below video conversation with Kyle!

NOTE: Kyle mentioned that the following people helped him raise money for the tennis court lights at Moanalua HS: Hugh Yoshida (former Athletic Director at the University of Hawai’i,) Wasa Electric’s Ron Yee, Mr. Yoshida’s son-in-law, a former student (electrical contractor), and the late Senator Daniel Inouye.

Connect with Kyle: www.k2tens.com