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Just For Kicks
LEISHA Makinano, Ka'ula Rowe and Sarah Rothbaum, three of Hawaii's top seniors, have decided where they will continue their soccer careers this fall. Wolf Pack, Waves land
isle prep starsMakinano will play for incoming Western Athletic Conference member Nevada. She will be playing for her stepfather, Dang Pibulvech, who is charged with starting the Wolf Pack program from scratch.
A center defender who likes to attack, Makinano also made recruiting trips to Colorado, Pittsburgh and Washington State. She narrowed her picks to WSU and the Reno campus.
"I just kept thinking that Nevada is where I would want to be for four years," said Makinano, who played for Iolani in her senior year after growing up in Texas.
She didn't feel any extra pressure from Pibulvech, saying the recruiting pitches from all the coaches felt the same.
"She is a tough, commanding player who distributes the ball exceptionally well," former Raiders head coach George-Ann Derby said.
Rowe also picked Nevada after making trips to Louisville, Fresno State and Idaho.
She knew Pibulvech, who had conducted clinics here and helped coach Leahi last year.
"The most important thing was education. I plan to major in political science, then go to law school," Rowe said.
"It's close to my family in Arizona, plus I get to come home and play against UH. Also, the coach. He's a great guy and has coached at the national level."
Rowe scored five goals from her center midfield position for Kamehameha, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champions this year.
Rothbaum also visited Nevada as well as the University of San Francisco and Pepperdine, her choice.
"I liked Pepperdine's location. It's more me," said Rothbaum. "I like all the coaches, but I felt more comfortable at Pepperdine. The school has a sports medicine program and I want to test that out."
A striker for Punahou, Rothbaum feels comfortable playing up front or either outside midfield position.
"I'm basically an offensive player," she said.
Six of the best American prospects signed developmental contracts with Major League Soccer.
Nick Garcia, a defender who helped Indiana win two consecutive NCAA championships, joins UCLA defender Carlos Bocanegra and forward Bobby Convey, a star on the under-17 World Cup team, in MLS' Project-40 program.
Convey, of William Penn Charter High School in Philadelphia, is the youngest player to sign at 16 years, 8 months. He played in five of six games at the under-17 World Cup in November.
Also signing were Shaker Asad, a striker from North Carolina State; Rusty Pierce, a midfielder from North Carolina-Greensboro, and striker Sergio Salas of Falls Church, Va.
Project 40 is a program between the U.S. Soccer Federation and MLS that identifies the top 40 high school and college prospects in the country.
While earning a salary and training with a MLS club, the league also allocates money so the players can later resume their college education.
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FIFA recently sent an inspection committee to Morocco to examine the North African country's bid to stage the 2006 World Cup.
The king of Morocco, Mohammed VI, met with the FIFA team to press the country's claim to bring the World Cup to Africa for the first time.
Morocco, which made unsuccessful bids to stage the 1994 and 1998 World Cups, is competing against Brazil, England, Germany and South Africa.
