A Jack of All Trades - The Band, Chorus, and Tennis Star: Makaiko Kafunda

Makaiko Kafunda is a senior at Walnut Grove High School. Kafunda played tennis this past season, sang in chorus, and played the saxophone for the Walnut Grove High School band.
by Drew Caraway and Ty Cameron

Makaiko Kafunda has a very busy schedule. He works at YourPie, is involved in chorus, plays the saxophone in the band, plays tennis, and has schoolwork, including dual enrollment work, to all balance out. However, he only really finds juggling school work challenging. 

Makaiko has been playing tennis since his Sophomore year. He first got into tennis thanks to his friend, Brett, during his Freshman year. “He was like ‘You’re really good at badminton, and you’re pretty fast, you should join tennis’. I was like okay.” When asked what his pregame meal and ritual are, he responded, “I don’t have a ritual. We stretch I guess. We don’t usually have this, but for meals, I would love to have two Oatmeal Cream Pies before [a match].” 

Makaiko’s favorite match he has played was against North Oconee this season, “It was really hard and we knew they were going to beat us so we gave it our all. We got some good shots on them and some got past them.” His favorite teammate to play against is Matthew Bovenkerk. “It’s just who I prefer [to play against].”

Any extracurricular activities he is fine with. Makaiko likes both band and chorus but he says, “I’m better at [band] and really it’s less tedious. Chorus [is] easier, so it’s really 50/50.” Makaiko has been playing the saxophone since he was in sixth grade.  

Makaikio has already been signed to Georgia Southern to attend college. He doesn’t know if he is going to be playing tennis in college, but he is interested in continuing with the Georgia Southern Band program.