KAHUKU — Aspiring National Football League linebacker Tre Kubota can't wait to be part of big-time football.

So he did it yesterday, at age 11 — all 78 pounds of him.

Kubota, a 4-foot-11 sixth-grader, was one of 70 Kahuku Elementary School fifth- and sixth-graders who eagerly lined up for the kickoff of this week's series of NFL Pro Bowl Youth Football Clinics on O'ahu.

This one was held on a grass field adjacent to the Kahuku High and Intermediate School — home of the state football champs, the Kahuku Red Raiders.

Sixth-grader Catherine "C.J." Semones, 12, daughter of former Hawaiian Islanders defensive coordinator Doug Semones, boldly predicted she would one day be the first female NFL quarterback.

Her sixth-grade colleague, Melena'a Latu, also 12, was likewise determined to be an NFL pro. Her only question was whether she would be as a wide receiver or middle linebacker.

Cedric Jones, former New England Patriots wide receiver and NFL senior director of youth football, was in charge of the clinic, assisted by a number of Kahuku High coaches and football players.

The young athletes soon discovered Jones could be a tough taskmaster.

"Easy! This is not knock-out-your-partner day!" Jones yelled at the junior warriors. "Walk up to the ball. ... Did I say touch the ball? No! You gotta listen."

But Jones was quick to dole out praise.

"Very good!" "Excellent!" "Well done!" He let them all know when they did it right.

"They want and need discipline," he said. "They've got talent. It's hard to gauge at this age if any of them can play in the NFL. They've got to be lucky, they've got to want to work, and they've got to believe in themselves."

Each clinic features Hawai'i NFL Ambassadors — local players who have made it to the pros. For example, Travis LaBoy, formerly a University of Hawai'i defensive end and current Tennessee Titan, helped out at the clinic at Ka'a'awa Elementary yesterday morning.

Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, who has carried the ball for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Jacksonville Jaguars, signed T-shirts and handed out pointers in Kahuku in the afternoon.

"We didn't have anything like this when I was a kid growing up at Mayor Wright Housing in Kalihi," Fuamatu-Ma'afala said. "I'm just here to hang out with the kids, maybe sign autographs. I know they're going to ask me about money — how much I make as a NFL player."

And how much is that?

"At least $3 an hour," Fuamatu-Ma'afala said with a wry smile.

He recalled going up against Kahuku High back when he played for Saint Louis School.

"We used to beat 'em," he said. "Right now they've got the edge. But I wouldn't go out on a limb and say they're better. They're real good, though. Good coaches, good community."

A community that appreciated having the NFL drop by, according to Kahuku athletic coordinator Sam Izumi.

"Normally, people don't come so far out here to see them," he said. "So the students feel really honored that the NFL would come and do this — especially because football is so important to them."

After the clinic, the NFL guests were treated to a haka, a traditional dance of New Zealand's Maori people, performed by members of the Kahuku High football team and a handful of fifth- and sixth-graders.

"This is a dance they do in New Zealand before battle," Kahuku assistant coach Garth Spurrier said. "It's like a war dance."

In addition to being fearsome, the haka allowed the students to get by with making ugly faces and poking out their tongues at adults.

One of the younger dancers was Tre Kubota. After the performance, he said knowing how to make scary warrior expressions might come in handy when he's an NFL linebacker.