Polynesian Bowl Exclusive: Kodi Decambra gives back to community

Since its inception, the annual Polynesian Bowl has become a premier celebration of the Polynesian culture. A culture rooted in family, faith, food, and respect, the annual event is coordinated with the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Over the years, some of the biggest names in football history – Junior Seau, Troy Polamalu, Jesse Sapolu, Vai Sikahema, Haloti Ngata, and Russ Francis – are but a few of the elite players inducted into the prestigious hall.

Sometimes, though, the biggest legends occur with those no one yet knows. When Talanoa Hufanga was selected for the game in 2018, he was just a kid from Oregon who was bound for greatness. This week, we got the privilege and honor to meet a young man who understands just what the community means to him – and saw his desire to give back.

Kodi Decambra was born at Kapiolani Hospital in Honolulu – and most fans who have followed his recruitment probably know he was raised in Hawaii prior to his family moving to Las Vegas in 2017. Many probably also know that he still has many friends and family on the island.

What few know, however, is that Decambra was born with a condition known as bladder exstrophy. Bladder exstrophy is a rare birth defect in which the bladder develops outside the fetus. The exposed bladder can't store urine or function normally, resulting in urine leakage (incontinence). Though usually spotted on a routine ultrasound during pregnancy, occasionally the defect isn't visible until the baby is born. Babies born with bladder exstrophy will need surgery to correct the defect.

As a result of the condition, Decambra spent the first two weeks of his life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit – also know as NICU. We spoke with his parents – Adams and Summer – about those times at first and the thing that really stands out in those moments is that you just cannot do the things many parents take for granted; you cannot cuddle with the newborn; smell their heads; feel their hands or feet. Any contact is through an apparatus allowing them to ‘feel’ the baby through an incubator.

After nearly 18 years, though he does not have any memory of those first few weeks of life, he is reminded often about just how lucky he was to have such great people working in NICU that were devoted to seeing him live a full, normal life with no complications.

Sometimes the anonymity in which NICU nurses work goes unnoticed and that is a tragedy. Their impact on the lives of many is immeasurable. They serve as a light in the darkness; as a life raft in a sea of uncertainty; they are beacons of hope for so many and yet they rarely get as many ‘thank you’s’ as they deserve.

Kodi Decambra sought to rectify that problem after his appearance as a defensive starter for 2023 Team Mauka who won the game 22-17 Friday night. The day after the game, Decambra set his sights on going back to Kapiolani Hospital to thank those nurses and doctors in the unit for their selflessness and compassion; their compassion and selflessness is not limited to Decambra, but he wanted to personally thank them for all they do. In an era when nurses have suffered as much as anyone through a pandemic that saw too many people suffer, moments of gratitude from a patient born 18 years earlier brought much joy to the weary.

Decambra and his family planned the event to show up with lunch, love, compassion, and most of all, many thanks for so much selflessness. Ultimately, it was those very restrictions which prevented an in person visit from Kodi to the nurses currently working in the unit as well as the children. Undeterred, Kodi will pay forward their compassion and dedication with new reading books for the unit to share with not just current children, but many future families as well.

“It was extremely important to me to be able to give back to my Hawaii community” Kodi told Duck Sports Authority. “I wish I could have done more, but I am excited for the next opportunity to give back wherever that may be.”

This moment alone might have been poignant, but Decambra was not done saying thank you and paying his gratitude and grace forward. On Saturday afternoon, prior to the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Celebration dinner, Kodi also made an appearance at a fundraiser for the youth flag football program which had introduced him to the game that would ultimately pay for a college education.

He was able to give back and donate his time by helping the flag football team – the Hawaii Packers – with their fundraiser to assist the Packers travel to compete in the NFL Flag football championship at the Pro Bowl next month in Las Vegas. When Kodi played for those same Packers in the 12-U division, the team won the NFL flag championship at Super Bowl 50 in San Francisco.

There is a word in Hawaiian for the concept of giving back to the community: mālama. The relationship between people and place grows stronger every time you mālama. When you give back – to the land, the ocean, the wildlife, the forest, the fishpond, the community – you're part of a virtuous circle that enriches everything and everyone.

Kodi and his family live this virtuous cycle. Later in the day Sunday, Decambra and his family showed up with lunch for a group of young boys and girls with the same dream as Decambra – to play college football someday. While everyone appreciated the lunch, it was the moments between bites that mattered more to young children. Laughter, love, family, food, love, and faith.

Before his scheduled flight back to Las Vegas Sunday, Kodi continued mālama buying lunch for the entire XLSportsHawaii staff who runs the most competitive youth 5v5 Flag and 7v7 league in the state of Hawaii. He also spent some time meeting with several. of the coaches against whom he played and was given the chance to speak to the upcoming generation about his journeys and where it all started – exactly where these children stood. Kodi knows he would not be where he is today without the background that started with 5v5 flag football.

Many people will consider the actions of Decambra on a scale beyond magnanimous and graceful; but the truth is that these moments are a reflection of his family and the Polynesian Culture.

When we spoke with Adams and Summer preceding the event, we were honored to be included in the concept. To share such a personal moment with Kodi showed what the family culture means to so many at this event. We come here to bring stories to football fans. Most of the time, those stories are about football. Every once in a while, however, those stories transcend football. This is one of those stories and it is stories like this that remind us just what we can learn from the Polynesian Football Bowl, the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame, and the Polynesian Culture. Football brings us to the culture which teaches us much more about life.

We are all but specks of dust in the sun, and not even so much, in this solemn, mysterious, unknowable universe, but Kodi Decambra and his family have shown that each speck can make a difference. Family, faith, food, and culture. No matter how each of us defines those words, the Polynesian Culture brings each of them home through sports. For all of this we are grateful.