On February 21, 2026, more than 200 Key Club students from across Hawaiʻi gathered on Kauaʻi for a leadership conference centered on the theme Together We Serve. We knew we wanted to do more than simply speak to them. We wanted them to participate, compete, laugh, think and ultimately see leadership in a different way.
Through our connection with Leadership Kauaʻi, Spirit of CAN. was invited to lead an interactive session for these young leaders. Joining me were two people who have played important roles in my own support system: Makani Taniguchi, my friend, CAN. business partner and fellow Leadership Kauaʻi graduate, and Jason Carnegie, founder of Inspired Fitness and a coach who has helped me continue growing personally and professionally.
Together, we introduced the students to what we call the Cups Game.
It Starts as a Competition
At first, the activity looks like a simple game.
Students are divided into teams and asked to toss ping-pong balls into groups of cups. Some teams have many cups. Others have fewer. For one team, scoring feels relatively easy. For another, the same opportunity feels much harder.
The differences are intentional, but we do not explain them at the beginning.
Instead, we let the students experience the game. They begin developing strategies, encouraging teammates and reacting to whether the competition feels fair. The room quickly fills with energy, laughter and a strong desire to win.
The Key Club students were fully engaged. They embraced the activity, supported one another and brought exactly the kind of energy you would expect from young people already committed to leadership and service.
Then we asked them to look at the game differently.
What Do the Cups Represent?
The balls represent opportunities for support, guidance and help. The cups represent the people who may be there to receive us when we need that help: our ʻohana, friends, teachers, coaches, neighbors and mentors.
Some people move through life with many cups around them. Others may have only one or two. The same opportunity can therefore feel very different depending on the support system a person has around them.
That is when a competitive game becomes a conversation about compassion, connection and leadership.
We first developed the Cups Game for a presentation with seventh-grade students at Kapaʻa Middle School. It was created to help young people understand that we do not all begin with the same support systems or life circumstances. It also asks students to recognize and appreciate their own cups while considering how they can become a cup for someone else.
Bringing the activity to the Key Club Leadership Conference felt like a natural next step. These students already understand service. They volunteer, lead projects and work to strengthen their schools and communities. The Cups Game gave us a way to explore the relationships underneath that service.
Your Cups Require Your Time
One of the most important ideas we shared was that cups do not simply remain in our lives without effort.
Relationships require time, gratitude, trust and care. We strengthen our support systems by showing up for others, staying connected and making sure the people around us know they matter.
This feels especially important at a time when many young people experience loneliness and isolation, even while appearing more connected than ever. A strong leader notices who may be standing alone. A strong leader makes room for others. A strong leader understands that service is not only about completing a project; it is also about helping people feel seen, supported and included.
Key Club students are already choosing to take that responsibility seriously. They are using their time and talents to serve others. Our challenge to them was to continue building those networks of support, not only for themselves but also for the people who may need another cup in their lives.
Leadership Is Helping Others Believe They CAN.
At Spirit of CAN., we believe defeating “can’t” rarely happens alone. Behind nearly every story of resilience is someone who offered encouragement, guidance, patience or belief at the moment it was needed most.
Sometimes leadership means being that person.
It means recognizing that another student may be facing a smaller target through no fault of their own. It means choosing compassion before judgment. It means using your influence to make an opportunity feel possible for someone else.
The success of this session was not simply that the students enjoyed the game, although they clearly did. It was seeing how quickly they moved from competition to reflection. They understood that the cups were not really about scoring points. They were about people.
At the end of the session, we gave every student a CAN. hat. It was more than something to take home from the conference. We hoped it would become a visible reminder to believe in themselves, to keep moving forward when “can’t” enters the conversation and to help others believe in what they CAN. do, too.
That is the kind of leadership Hawaiʻi needs: young people willing to serve, willing to include and willing to become part of someone else’s support system.
We are deeply grateful to Leadership Kauaʻi and Key Club Hawaiʻi for the opportunity to spend time with these inspiring students. We also want to thank everyone who helped organize an event that brought young leaders from across the state together around a shared commitment to service.
The Cups Game may begin with a ball and a row of plastic cups, but the message lasts much longer:
Value your cups. Invest in them. And whenever you CAN., become a cup for someone else.
