Page 6 - MidWeek Windward - Dec 28, 2022

6 DECEMBER 28, 2022
Waimānalo’s Henry Castillo Honored For Decades Of Mentoring Youngsters
FROM PAGE 1
fully calls Henry “coach,” though, and the lessons he learned still resonate.
was so proud of, and keep his legacy alive through the younger generation.
“Wherever I went around the world representing the United States Army, I was special. I wasn’t only from Hawaiʻi, I was from Waimānalo, and that’s the pride that he gave to me at 12 years old,” Jamila says about Henry’s impact.
“He took care of the kids, both on and off the court,” she adds.
Andrew Jamila Jr. was one of the numerous Waimāna- lo youths that coach Henry mentored and became a suc- cess in life due to that influ- ence.
Besides his efforts as a coach, Henry is a proud pa- niolo and was the husband of the late kumu hula El- len Castillo. He rode in the 1986 Honolulu May Day Parade as the pā‘ū marshal, with his wife, Ellen, riding as pā‘ū queen.
Jamila is now 65 years old, but when he and other neigh- borhood youngsters were just hanging around in the street back in the 1960s, Henry gave them a chance to learn the right way to play basket- ball at the old Waimānalo gym.
Henry Castillo rides in the 1986 Honolulu May Day Parade as the pā‘ū marshal, with his late wife Ellen riding as pā‘ū queen. PHOTOS COURTESY SKYE CASTILLO
Well-wishers greet grand marshal Henry Castillo at this year’s Waimānalo Christmas parade.
“It pretty much connect- ed me with the sport and a whole lot of kids. Henry was a coach there, and he coached
Henry always sought to keep the keiki out of trouble, urging them not to smoke cigarettes like some of the neighborhood youth were
says.
Henry organized the kids
“We won 26 games straight and took the trophy back to coach Henry. We were all ec- static. We blended as a team,” Jamila recalls.
Later, Jamila entered the U.S. Army and traveled the world before coming back to Hawai‘i. He still respect-
a lot of kids,” Jamila says. “He was an excellent coach, with just a lot of time and ef- fort for us and empathy for us kids.”
doing, according to Jamila. “He kept us in the bas- ketball team away from any riffraff that was at the gym. Twelve years old is an im- pressionable age. He was like our angel that would keep us together and protect us,” he
and entered them into the Enchanted Lakes Basketball League (13 and under). The team took home the 1969-70 championship.
In addition, due to encour- agement from Henry, Jami- la ended up going to Saint Louis High School, where he played basketball and foot- ball.
“A big part of him was my grandma, because they did everything together. They complemented each other,” says Skye.
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