The Gridiron Myth: Disrupting False Narratives of Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders

• In Event: Education Research in Search of Indigenous Truths: Language, Leadership, and Identity

Abstract

NHOPI high school student-athletes are highly sought after by collegiate athletic programs across the country, creating the Polynesian Pipeline phenomenon. However, NHOPI college graduation rates remain comparable to those of other minoritized communities. Utilizing an adapted conceptual framework of college access, this paper examines the role of the Polynesian Pipeline as a significant contextual factor in the college choice process for NHOPI student-athletes. Qualitative findings posit when the intersectionality of race and athletics is considered, the Grid Iron Myth emerges as a negative effect of the Polynesian Pipeline on the college-going perceptions and behaviors of NHOPI high school student-athletes. Additionally, a conceptual framework of the Polynesian Pipeline reimagined, which argues for the balanced development of NHOPI identity, is proposed.

Author

• Samara Suafo'a, Claremont Graduate University
  Presenting Author