Tara Brown and the Story of ‘Ohana
Long before Ohana Sports existed, my life was defined by two things: discipline and helping others function at their absolute best. As a former varsity athlete, triathlete, and half-marathon runner, I tried to push my own physical limits. As a licensed Occupational Therapist, my true passion was taking that resilience and applying it to kids. There is nothing I love more than watching a child figure out how to overcome an obstacle, build unshakeable confidence, and truly thrive in their environment.
In 2017, my background as an athlete and an OT collided with a community crisis. A local martial arts program was dissolving, and 60 students were about to lose their dojo. At the exact same time, a local woman reached out to me while I was acquiring the dojo, desperate for self-defense training. I couldn’t stand by and watch a Kona youth program disappear. So, with only six weeks of formal training, I stepped into the gap.
I didn't build the curriculum from scratch. My Sensei, his Sensei in Oklahoma, a Sensei who was able to step in until he moved 10 months later, and a generous community of mentors poured their time and wisdom into me. Synthesizing their lineage with frameworks like 'Just Yell Fire' and my OT background, we built a practical, empowering curriculum. To protect this mission, I converted the program into a 501(c)(3) non-profit, working my first three years entirely as an unpaid volunteer.
In 2019, we built an outdoor sports camp program to meet the community's need for healthy activities for elementary-age children during school breaks. In 2020, we moved to a completely outdoor setting and have continued to be nomadic, but mostly housed by Kealakehe Elementary.
Watching our kids tackle these outdoor camps and push their boundaries changed me. They drove me to want to do bigger and bigger things. Because of Ohana, I evolved from a triathlete into a Spartan and multi-day Adventure Racer. I realized that to teach these kids how to navigate the hardest obstacles in life, I had to be out there navigating them myself.
Today, that mutual evolution has exploded into a program reaching over 400 local youth every year. We host up to 120 campers a day in the summers, continue to offer martial arts classes year round and run community self-defense talks across the island.
In the summer of 2025, this deep commitment to our youth was recognized in a way that brought my journey full circle. I was deeply humbled to receive the "Excellence in Parenting Award" from the Pacific Rim Education Foundation. To be honored alongside incredible local advocates—like the founders of the Keiki Museum, Humanity Hale, and Kokua Academy—was a milestone. But what meant the most to me was the core criteria for the award: serving the community's children with the "heart of a parent." That has been the exact pulse of Ohana Sports since day one.
But the ultimate payoff has been the 'Ohana Pipeline.' Of the 20+ staff members, 18 are teenagers who grew up right here in our program. The dojo we saved in 2017 is now raising the coaches, leaders, and navigators of Kona’s next generation. We aren't just a sports program; we are a family.
