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Wednesday, January 24, 2001
Leading During the holiday break, when the Kamehameha Schools dormitories empty of inhabitants, it is common for neighbor island students to return home to visit family.
by example
Kamehameha goalkeeper
leads a stingy defenseBy Jack Danilewicz
Special to the Star-Bulletin
This past December, however, senior goalkeeper Noe Kamelamela reversed the trend, and her parents came from Hilo to stay with her in Honolulu.
Nothing, it seems, could keep her away from the practice field. If anything, those Christmas break workouts were reminiscent of the grueling practices she put herself through last off-season.
"I ran a lot, way more than I did last year," said Kamelamela of her off-season. "I was probably running about five or six miles a day. I lifted weights three times a week, and I joined cross country.
"Taking up competitive running made a huge difference. I wasn't one of the fastest girls, and even competing with the slower girls was hard, but it taught me a lot about wanting to win and being able to win, too. This year I'm much more confident being a goalie."
Says Kamehameha coach Michele Nagamine: "Last year she contributed; this year she's made the difference. And I'm the first one to admit that I had nothing to do with it. That took a tremendous amount of sacrifice for her to stay behind and make every workout."
Kamelamela and her teammates hope the preparation pays off tomorrow when they battle first-place Punahou at Kapiolani Park at 4:15 p.m. The schools tied, 1-1, in their first meeting on Jan 6.
It was the only time before yesterday Kamelamela and her teammates yielded a goal this season. Kamehameha beat St. Francis, 3-1, yesterday to improve to 6-0-3.
Punahou (8-0-1) defeated Maryknoll, 2-0, and second-place Iolani (7-1-2) downed Mid-Pacific, 4-0.
The Warriors, who have played to scoreless ties with Iolani and Maryknoll, must win their final two league games, according to Nagamine, and Punahou must lose or tie a game, to gain a share of the league crown."That's a tough position to be in," says Nagamine, whose team won back-to-back state championships in 1995 and 1996. "The kids are playing under a lot of pressure. I don't know which side is worse -- to know that you're the one being gunned for or you're the one with the gun."
One area Nagamine counts on this season is her team's defense, and more specifically, its net-minder.
"Noe is a prime example of dedication and commitment and hard work," Nagamine said. "When she first came into the program, she had no confidence."
Kamelamela earned a starting position by her junior year, but there were still some confidence problems.
"There was a phenomenal difference in her when she came back this season," Nagamine said. "She worked out really hard over the summer, lost a bunch of weight; her flexibility, speed and coordination got better."
Kamelamela has had a lot of help, too.
"Our defense is definitely what holds us together," Nagamine said. "They have been very, very consistent, very stable. We have a lot of team speed this year and that's helped us, but it's been a very low scoring season, and that's what you get in a very competitive league."
Kamehameha Schools