Folding his arms across his massive chest, the zipper of his worn blue jacket open just enough to expose a thick silver chain, Shane McShane looks straight ahead to the 20-yard expanse of unmarked field where his gifted core of running backs are getting in their reps.

It's late afternoon at Booth Park in Pauoa and McShane, founder and head coach of the Hawai'i Young Warriors Football Association, has deferred the administration of the day's drills to his longtime assistants. Still, it's his approval the players' eyes search for at the completion of each play.

"It's tough for me," McShane says in a thick, barely audible voice. "I've got to stay strong for these kids because if I show them that it's affecting me, they won't come and talk to me.

"But I only have to think about him and I start crying."

These aren't words that pass easily from the lips of a man like McShane. Like many of his young charges, he grew up in nearby Papakolea and learned from a young age how some feelings are best kept private, how words can betray the weaknesses the rest of the world is all too eager to set upon.

But McShane is hurting, and so are his players.

It's been three weeks since 14-year-old Gjino Kanahele, a member of the Young Warriors program for eight years, died in a moped accident on Kaukonahua Road in Waialua. And while the team's preparations for the Pop Warner Oahu championship, scheduled for today at Aloha Stadium, have been focused and intense, the absence of the team's vocal leader is palpable.

"When he talked, everybody listened," McShane says. "He was a true leader."

KID FROM PAPAKOLEA

In the shock and grief that attend the death of someone so young, it's natural to remember the deceased in idealized ways. And, to be sure, friends, family, teammates and neighbors invariably refer to Gjino as "a good kid."

Yet all acknowledge that the term can only be appreciated with an understanding of how hard it is to be a good kid given Gjino's circumstances.

"The part of Papakolea that he came from is like the Bronx," McShane says. "He grew up in a poor neighborhood where everybody has to fend for themselves. There is a lot of alcoholism and drug addiction. It's not a good environment for kids."

Like many of his Young Warrior teammates, Gjino absorbed the preconceived notions of what he could and could not expect of his life and, like so many others, he responded to the low expectations with a furious impulse to live in the moment.

McShane and his assistants understand this as well as anyone. It's one of the main reasons McShane and his wife, Daphine, have devoted countless hours to the Young Warrior program.

"The reason I'm here is to give back to these kids because I'm from this neighborhood and I know what they go through," McShane says. "A lot of these kids have been in trouble or were headed for trouble, and I brought them under my wing because they need a place to go. We try to show them another outlook on life."

At the same time, McShane also realizes that the kids have to come of their own accord. Like other kupuna in the community, McShane and his coaches leave their proverbial hands extended for those brave enough or desperate enough to grab ahold.

Because they were neighbors, McShane had known Gjino for years before the undersized but relentless young linebacker showed up for his first practice, and he knew what it would take to try to keep him in line.

McShane recalls the time Gjino got into a scrape with a teammate during practice. Another coach grabbed Gjino and tried to shake some sense into the raging boy.

"But he didn't realize that his jaw was lined up with Gjino's fist," McShane says, chuckling. "And Gjino just punched him."

As years passed, Gjino's love of the game, and his appreciation for the steadying influence it had on his life, intensified.

"He never came late, never missed a practice," McShane says. "We start practice at 4, but he'd show up by himself at 3 and just wait. That's the kind of kid he was."

Gjino's Young Warriors teammates included his older brother, Taurus, and McShane's son, Kalae — Gjino's best friend.

"They were like brothers," McShane says. "And Gjino was like my hanai son."

At 5 feet 3 and 105 pounds, Gjino was smaller than most of the running backs he was responsible for stopping.

"He was small," says assistant coach Boy Palama, "but dynamite comes in small packages."

Powered by fierce, angry competitiveness, Gjino would regularly waylay backs a foot taller and 50 pounds heavier, McShane says.

Gjino was equally fiery as a motivator — even if his language was more colorful than game officials allowed.

"With him, everything was 'F-this' and 'F-that,' " McShane says. "One time, these game commissioners came over because they heard all this profanity coming from our sidelines. But it all came from Gjino. We had to tape his mouth shut."

Palama says it was Gjino's long-held dream to advance to the national championships, not just for the glory, but for the opportunity to see Florida.

"It was a big thing for him," Palama says. "These kids have never left the island. That was his opportunity."

And it was an opportunity that finally seemed within Gjino's reach this season as the Young Warriors finished their regular season undefeated at 8-0.

'NO WORRY ... I GET THIS'

Gjino's first love wasn't football, but motorized vehicles. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, mopeds — it didn't matter.

"Anything with wheels," McShane recalls. "When he was 3 years old, he could already recognize a 1920 Chevelle or a '66 Nova. He could barely talk, but he could tell you every car that drove by."

At 14, Gjino was legally too young to operate a moped, but he had been riding the vehicles for years. Thus, when plans were hatched for a caravan of moped riders to ride to the North Shore for a Halloween dance, Gjino wasn't about to be left behind.

"I wanted him to come home with me after practice, but he wanted to go to the dance," McShane says. "He just told me, 'No worry, Macky, I get this.'

"If he came with me, he'd still be alive."

About 60 riders made the trip that night, but Gjino and his brother, Taurus, had broken off with a much smaller group by the time they got to Kaukonahua Road.

Police estimate that Gjino was going nearly 50 miles an hour when he lost control of the moped on a tight turn.

Both Gjino and his brother wiped out. Gjino struck a guardrail and was thrown off the moped. He died soon after from multiple injuries. Taurus Kanahele was badly scraped but otherwise unharmed.

Word of the accident spread quickly. McShane was at home when his daughter called after seeing a report on the news.

The next day, a grief-stricken Young Warriors team convened to talk about Gjino and about the rest of the season.

"Everybody was crying," McShane recalls. "We were all in mourning. I gave a little speech and I told them that football is just a small part of life. I left it up to the team to decide it they wanted to go on."

They did, and after taking the day off to mourn, the Young Warriors resumed practice the next day, determined to make it to Florida as a tribute to Gjino.

"That first practice back was intense," McShane says. "They were so emotional and so fired up. I had chicken skin."

Danny Kirkpatrick, one of the team captains, says the practice was "good but kind of awkward."

"We want to do this for Gjino so I think we'll play harder," Kirkpatrick says.

There's one Kanahele left on the roster now, and Taurus Kanahele has no apparent reservations about carrying on his brother's dream.

With braided hair and a crooked smile that deflects any attempt at interpretation, 15-year-old Taurus Kanahele gives off a cool air of imperturbability.

"I wanted to play," he says. "We're determined to win."

FINDING THEIR RHYTHM

If the Young Warriors beat Kahalu'u for the O'ahu crown tonight, they'll play Maui for the Hawai'i Division 2 Pop Warner Championship on Saturday. If they win that game, they'll represent Hawai'i at the Pop Warner Super Bowl at Disney World on Dec. 9.

The Young Warriors have already beaten Kahalu'u twice, but the games were close and McShane says he expects a difficult game.

"With everything that these kids have been through, this will be one of our biggest tests of the season," McShane says.

The team is wearing Gjino's No. 10 on their helmets as a tribute.

"We're going to try to do it," says Kalae McShane, "for Gjino."

Despite a lukewarm performance against 'Aiea in a controlled scrimmage on Tuesday, assistant coach Palama says the team is beginning to find its rhythm again.

"We still have games to play, " Palama says, "so we're going to keep Gjino in our hearts and do what we need to do."

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.