Football teams from Lahaina, Paradise to meet in symbolic 2026 game

OAKLAND, Calif. - Two communities ravaged by fire will come together next year, to find hope and strength through football. 

Meet on the gridiron

The high school football teams from Lahaina, Hawaii and Paradise, Calif., have announced they’ll meet on the gridiron in September 2026, as they mark their shared experiences and resilience.

The town of Paradise came together in August 2019, when the football team took the field for the first time since the Camp Fire decimated their town nine months earlier. The fast-moving fire killed 86 people and displaced thousands.

"The fire was three days before our first playoff game, and the homes were burned down," said Jerry Cleek, the athletic director at Paradise high school.  "Probably 80% of the kids didn’t have a home, and so we had to drop out of football then."

Bonded by fire 

The town of Paradise continues to rebuild, a community rising from the ashes, but the painful memories of the wildfire linger for many. Survivors watched in horror as flames ripped through the historic town of Lahaina, Hawaii on the island of Maui in August 2023.

"It looked very similar, some of those aerial shots," said Christy Voight, the co-principal at Paradise High School.  "That was probably the hardest part."

Wind-driven flames killed 101 people and leveled Lahaina, more than 2,200 structures were damaged or destroyed.

"The first couple weeks, we were just trying to track everyone down, make sure they were alive," said Jonathan Conrad, athletic director at Lahainaluna High School.

Football was the furthest thing from Conrad’s mind. Though the school was still standing, it sustained damage, and many families lost everything.

"Everybody was displaced, in hotels," said Conrad.  "Three to four families in one house, pitching tents in yards, living in garages, doing what they had to do to survive."

Football transcends sports

Slowly amid the devastation and like in Paradise, the community rallied behind the high school football team and the hope that a game could provide.

"We could actually have a team, we could actually play," said Conrad. "That really was a catalyst to giving the community some excitement, some positive distraction in horrific times."

Driven by a deep empathy and understanding of what the Lahaina community was experiencing, the team at Paradise High School began to brainstorm ways to help from thousands of miles away.

"Being a sports person, I thought, what if we play them in a game?" said Cleek.

Cleek reached out to Lahainaluna’s athletic department and began a conversation that spanned more than a year. Recently, the schools announced the Paradise Bobcats will travel to face the Lahainaluna Lunas in Maui, in September 2026, a game that will transcend sports.

"I think they can help us way more than we can help them," said Conrad. "It’s a big testimonial to them in wanting to do this, because we’re still in the thick of it and we will be for years."

Organizers hope ideally this becomes a bowl game, where the two fire-ravaged communities come together every year to share a field and an unbreakable bond: a bond forged by fire and reinforced by resilience. 

The Paradise team is raising funds to help them make the trip to Hawaii.