Feature on Jayson Rego

MN = Maui News

About being the first UH player to earn a civil engineering degree (the first in any type of engineering in at least 3 decades), Rego said:
''I'm proud to say if and when I graduate, I will be the first football player to go through the (civil engineering) program and in the engineering program, any engineering program, it has been 30 to 40 years since someone has done, is what I'm told. It is has been very tough - long nights, even longer days. The work is intensive, but it all pays off. You spend hours upon hours doing homework. A lot of it is bookwork, a lot of bookwork, but also and a lot of lab time and lab reports, so it is pretty balanced. It is a real awesome program, but it really is tough.'' (MN)

About how Rego being able to earn an engineering degree while playing college football is an extremely rare feat, Mac said:
''I have been coaching for a long, long time and I can count on one hand guys who have been able to do what Jayson is doing. They have so much to do just as football players, but Jayson Rego is a special person, a class act. His parents have done a great job raising him. He is a pleasure to be around, he always has a smile on his face, but he is also a tough, hard-nosed running back. And obviously he is smart enough and focused enough to get it all done. That is the toughest major I think there is to do, I think for any student, much less do it along with football.'' (MN)

MN Note: "Rego was the team's leading rusher through three games, albeit with 13 carries for 71 yards. In the final 11 games of the season, he carried just eight more times, for 20 yards."

About Rego's drop in carries after their first 3 games last season, Mac said:
''Well Jayson was a big factor for us when we had some injuries at the running back spot. We were struggling at quarterback at the first of the year and he was one of our three running backs that we went with and when he got his chances, he did a great job.'' (MN)

About how Rego should get playing time this season, Mac said:
''I think he will get playing time this fall - he did last fall and did a good job for us. He brings toughness and quickness and he has got that height that no one can see until he is past them. Last year, he did a good job for us, he helped us win some games. I like him a lot, not only as a person, but as a player.'' (MN)

MN Note: "Rego will be back at a familiar stadium on Saturday - the 5-foot-9, 205-pound senior played for Baldwin High School as a sophomore before transferring to Kamehameha Oahu for his final two years and leading the Warriors to the 2004 state title as the state player of the year. The practice will begin at 11 a.m. and will include a 60-70 play scrimmage that will begin about noon, according to McMackin. An autograph session will follow at around 1 p.m. The fan-friendly event is free."

Excited to be a part of their scrimmage on Maui, Rego said:
''I'm real excited, really, really excited to be able to come home to play in front of friends and family - the people I played in front of when I was little. I haven't been home in a while, so it'll be a great experience. The last time I was home to visit was last summer.'' (MN)

MN Note: "While Rego has spent most of his time at UH as the only player from Maui County, on Saturday, he will be joined by walk-on sophomore offensive lineman Andrew Faaumu of Kihei and Lahainaluna."

About how he knows Faamu, Rego said:
''I know Faaumu really well, me and him are really good friends. We go back way back - his dad works with my dad, so we go back to little-kid days. Now he is here at UH with me and it is really exciting. He has been working hard and I think he will see the field in the fall.'' (MN)

About playing against Kaluka Maiava in high school, Rego said:
''I did play against him and with him. He is actually my cousin. I played with him at Baldwin as sophomore and against him when I came here (to Kamehameha). I am excited for him. It is exciting. He has always been a great athlete and I always knew he was going to be a player. I always had hope and faith in him.'' (MN)

About how he never received a scholarship, Rego said:
''I'm still walk-on status, but, no, I have no regrets. I love being able to be home, being able to play in front of my hometown, being able to play in front of the best fans in world. At times, it is hard financially, but you always find a way to make it.'' (MN)

About his packed schedule with football and academics, Rego said:
''A regular spring day starts with practice. I get up between 5 and 5:30 (a.m.), head down to practice, get on the field around 6:45. After practice, I go to school from anywhere from 9:30-10 a.m. to 3 in the afternoon. Then I have team meetings until 6 or so, then go home and do homework to 10 or 11. Then, if I'm lucky to get done early, I try to get an extra lift or extra run in. Then it is time to go to sleep start all over again.'' (MN)

About how being with the team is his best memory of his career, Rego said:
''The best memory I have here - it wouldn't be anything big - just being able to wake up every morning, go into the locker room and get ready with all my brothers, get ready to go to to practice. That would be my best memory, seeing all my buddies every day.'' (MN)

Asked what he would tell any Maui athlete who wanted to play in college, Rego said:
''I would tell them work hard, work hard every day. Follow your dreams. Don't let anybody tell you you're not big enough, not fast enough, not strong enough. Use that stuff as motivation because if you want it bad enough, you can have it. You know, yeah, at times I have heard all that - I wasn't big enough, strong enough, fast enough. That just made me want to work harder to prove them wrong.'' (MN)

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