Kalani High School has welcomed nine new faculty members this school year, including Dallas Correa, the newest Marine Science and Human Physiology teacher. Correa says that he is particularly interested in Human Phys as it relates to sports and how we move our bodies. As a baseball stand-out in high school and college, and the head coach at Hawaii Pacific University, the subject is particularly relevant to him. 

Correa started playing baseball when he was four years old and now coaches the team at HPU. His coaching career came to fruition as a grad assistant in 2015. Correa worked his way up to head coach in 2018 and he is currently the youngest NCAA head baseball coach in the country. 

Correa has been on his own since he was 15-years-old when he moved from Kauai to Oahu and enrolled at St. Louis Academy. According to high school baseball teammate Taylor Troy, Correa lived close to the Saint Louis campus. 

“He would welcome us if we needed something and he was always a positive influence,” Taylor says. “Being on his own during high school kind of made him mature faster than the rest of us so he was always doing something to better himself.”

It’s apparent to others that baseball has had a huge impact on his life.

“I always knew he wanted to continue his career of playing in college but I never knew he would take it to the next level and make a career out of it,” Taylor says. “He’s always been passionate about it so it doesn’t surprise me.”

Just like any sport, baseball brings a lot of people together.

“The community is large and accepting of everyone so baseball has made him the person he is today,” Taylor says. 

Correa says his biggest inspirations are his parents for creating unique opportunities for him and his siblings and for “motivating me to want to succeed and give back to my community.”

Throughout Correa’s high school years, he wasn’t as successful as he is now, but he learned to be resilient. He says it’s the key to his success. 

“As a sophomore, I was cut from the varsity team in the last round,” Correa says. “The following year I came back and started as a catcher, making the All state and All ILH teams as a catcher and helping our team win an ILH Championship being ranked number one in the state the entire year.

He struggled during his senior year but was still able to sign with a Division 1 program. Correa says going pro was always a goal, but he knew he also wanted to coach.

“I enjoyed the mental side of the game and the strategic side along with the relationships that are gained through this game,” Correa says. “I have always wanted to coach college baseball since I was a kid.”

Correa advises high school students to enjoy the moment and to understand that the sport doesn’t define the person.

“It’s truly my character, my ability to respond to adversity, and my ability to have self-discipline and be intentional every step of the way that defines me,” he says.