Long before she became the entrusted associate head coach of the University of Hawai‘i soccer team, Kaula "Ula" Rowe was hungry to prove herself as a player. At least that's the initial impression Hawai‘i head coach Michele "Bud" Nagamine had of her.
When Rowe was a middle schooler, Nagamine, the head coach at Kamehameha at the time, had put on a prospect camp. Rowe was not one of the listed participants.
"Kaula was standing at the chain link fence outside in the parking lot, just looking at the soccer field like it was something to eat," Nagamine recalled. "She wanted to play so badly, but her family didn't have the means for her to attend a college ID camp."
Nagamine quickly asked around about the youngster standing at the fence. A coach familiar with Rowe's skills told Nagamine that even though she was a middle schooler, she'd be the best player at the entire camp. The next question Nagamine had was if Rowe had her soccer shoes with her.
"I remember standing outside the fence that day, and eventually they're like, yeah, let her play," Rowe told Aloha State Daily. "I remember that exact moment of being like, holy cow, I get to play with all the seniors and everybody that was a lot older than me.
"That day definitely changed my life."
Raised by a single mother in Section 8 housing in Waimānalo, soccer quickly became a passion for Rowe when her talent became evident on the youth circuit.
"I grew up, my mom was a single parent. My brother and my sister, she was raising the three of us on her own, along with my tutu," Rowe recalled. "I think in any of our predominantly Native Hawaiian towns, sometimes it's hard, especially single parents. Just very, very humble beginnings."
After attending Waimānalo Elementary School, Rowe gained admission to Kamehameha as a middle schooler, a moment she views as pivotal in her life. Not only was it a ticket to a prestigious education, but it also gave her an opportunity to further explore her Hawaiian heritage.
"While you're up there, you're like, this is so cool. You love it. But I think the true appreciation comes a little bit after you leave," Rowe said. "I think just taking a lot of pride in that, I even have (Kamehameha I) tattooed on my arm holding his arm out, because it's kind of the place that helped me navigate myself and and get ready for college."
Another element of the Kamehameha-Kapālama experience that stuck with Rowe is the school's annual song contest, which she says she watches nowadays with pride.
On the soccer pitch, Rowe was a four-year varsity player under Nagamine. She had her pick of schools and initially committed to the University of Louisville until a coaching change prompted her to choose the University of Nevada instead.
At Nevada, Rowe became the first player in program history to score a goal during the team's inaugural season in 2000. She finished her collegiate career with 18 goals, which stood alone as a school record until Emily Rich tied her in 2024.
Rowe moved to Arizona following college and wasn't involved in coaching until moving back to O‘ahu to become coach Chaminade, which launched its women's soccer program in 2006. With scant coaching coaching experience at the time, Rowe often leaned on Nagamine for advice, and Nagamine would offer as much help as she could despite being the head coach at rival Hawai‘i Pacific.
Rowe stepped down at Chaminade to follow her wife, Vickie Padello, who was moving to Texas with the Air National Guard. Rowe remained in the game, spending four years with San Antonio United, a local club team.
The couple's journey continued when Vickie was told she'd be moving to Alaska.
"I was like, 'Absolutely not,'" Rowe recalled with a laugh. "But joke was on me, because I ended up liking Alaska. I always tell my wife hey, thanks for dragging me out to Alaska. She's kind of kind of seen it all and supported me the whole way through."
For five years, Rowe coached at Bartlett High School in Anchorage and was also the executive director of the Wasilla Youth Soccer Association.
"Working in club (soccer), it is what probably helped prepare me for this role at UH, the people part of it," she said. "Just understanding how to deal with differences, how to manage players. ... We did evaluations, I did almost all 100 of them for our competitive kids. Just getting a lot of face time and and all that kind of stuff."
As much as Rowe grew to enjoy outdoor activities in Alaska such as fishing, she could resist an offer from Nagamine to come home and coach under her in 2021.
"If I think about every single stop that I've taken and all the people that I've met and all the experiences that I've had, if Bud called me 10 years before this, I don't think I would have been ready," Rowe said. "I've had to go through every stop and everywhere that I ended up, I think, in order for me to prepare myself to take this role on. Even my first year when I came in, the learning curve was huge."
Vickie stayed behind for a handful of months to wrap up her job before moving back to O‘ahu to join Rowe. The couple has been married for 14 years, and Vickie is currently retired. Vickie comes to every home game, as does Rowe's mother and siblings.
One of the players Rowe recruited to UH was Alaska native Tatum Porter, a junior for the Rainbow Wahine who played under Rowe during her club days.
"The second I found out she was coming here, I was like, I'm going to try my hardest to get [to Hawai‘i]," Porter said. "She's an amazing coach. She's somebody who can just get me going no matter what. It is an honor to continue to play for her, and I'm just so grateful to still have her as my coach all these years later."
Rowe initially joined Nagamine's staff as an assistant coach and was elevated to associate head coach in 2023. In 2024, the Rainbow Wahine won the Big West Conference regular season title for the first time in program history. In 2025, the 'Bows are 3-5-8 overall and 1-1-4 in conference play, looking to find their way into the six-team conference tournament. UH is currently in seventh in the conference standings.
With four regular season contests remaining, the Rainbow Wahine will aim to gain the points required to get into the Big West Tournament. As Rowe and the coaching staff go through the grind of another season and stretch run, they'll never doubt for a second that they're in it together.
"I think the reason why I coach is because I've met people like Bud and I've also had a couple other coaches that I think about in that aspect that have kind of helped me get through being raised by a single mom sometimes, and having a little bit of a rough patch. I'm just thankful that Bud gave me the opportunity," Rowe said. "I've got a really supportive group of people that have kind of helped me be where I am. I wouldn't be here without them."
Added Nagamine as tears welled up: "I wish Ula would write a book, honestly, because the story that that she has to tell is just incredible. Bringing her on board, she's one of the fiercest competitors I've ever coached. We both have very colorful backgrounds where it hasn't always been the easiest growing up and with Kaula, she has taken so much adversity from her young life and really just spun that into this incredible opportunity.
"We go way, way back, and for me to be able to work with someone who's family to me, it's just an incredible opportunity for me. I learn a lot from her every day. And I think the the players really feed off of her vibe because you can't fake it. I trust her blindly. My life is definitely better because of her, and my job is definitely a lot more fun."
For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
