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Just For Kicks
THE ambitious plans for Saturday's grand opening of the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex are complete. Festivities to mark
a dream come trueIt will be a day of celebration for the soccer community, a day to thank all the people who worked behind the scenes and upfront to transform an idea into a reality.
Ten years ago there would have been laughter if someone suggested building a 19-field soccer complex on Oahu.
However, from the sport's rebirth in Hawaii in the early '60s, through the early days of youth leagues in the '70s, to the rapid increase in high school teams shortly thereafter, to the annual five percent increase in youth participation in the '90s, the need for such a complex couldn't be ignored.
Every league and organization on Oahu will host matches on the complex's 18 fields Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Throughout the day there will be entertainment. Frank Maka'awa'awa of "The Sultans," Simplisity, John Basebase & Friends, Ho'olu, the Byl Leonard Band, and Honolulu The Band are set to perform between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
There will be food, beverage and merchandise booths, fun games, soccer skills games for youngsters and keiki ID by the Honolulu Police Department.
An Olympic-style parade of players into the main stadium will take place right after Mayor Jeremy and Mrs. Harris untie the maile lei at 6 p.m.
The Olympic flame used in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics will be passed among soccer players of different generations, then a fireworks display will conclude the formal program just before the women's match between Oregon State and Northern Arizona at 7:30 p.m.
And, for you fans who sit up high in the makai stands for any event in the stadium, look over the top of the stands on the far side toward Waipahu and the road leading into the complex. As the sun sets and cars need to use headlights, doesn't that sight remind you of the final scene in the movie, "Field of Dreams?"
JOSH Fouts has been named an assistant coach in charge of goalkeepers with the Gonzaga University men's team.
Fouts played three seasons for the Zags (1996-98). He rewrote the school record book, finishing his career with a 0.83 goals against average. He was a three-time All-West Coast Conference second-team selection and helped lead Gonzaga to back-to-back WCC co-titles during the 1997 and 1998 seasons.
After playing for the Spokane Shadow of the United States League Premier Division, he played professionally for one season with the Boston Bulldogs of the USISL A-League and one season for the Carolina Dynamo of the USISL Third-Division League.
Fouts will be working with Mike McCarthy, a 6-foot 4 sophomore goalkeeper who graduated from Kalaheo High School, Fouts' alma mater.
Other Hawaii players with the Zags are senior striker Brian Ching and senior midfielder Alika Cosner, both Kamehameha graduates, Owen Omiya, a senior defender from Iolani, and Zach Scott, a junior defender from Maui High School.
ADRIAN Cravalho has won the starting goalkeeper's job for Seattle Pacific University.
The 1998 Kamehameha graduate redshirted his first year with the Falcons, saw some duty last year while elevating his game, then posted a 2-0 shutout over Sonoma State in his first start this year.
He had two saves and also picked up a rare assist for a goalkeeper when his 70-yard clear was passed by Vadim Tolstolutsky to Dana Garner, who scored.
Cravalho was a four-year letterman for Kamehameha.
