The Farrington girls soccer team hasn't won a game yet this season, hasn't even scored a goal. But the stats and records are secondary for the coach of the brand new team. Farrington girls
soccer team just
getting warmed upBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com"I told them, 'I don't care if we lose all our games, if you play hard and have fun that's all I can ask for,' " Farrington coach Sara Wakabayashi said.
Not only is this Farrington's first year fielding a girls soccer team, but it's also the first time most of the Governors have played soccer. Of the 20 players on the roster, only two have played organized soccer before and most never played a team sport before signing up.
"Most of them are in my classes and I just convinced them to come out," said Wakabayashi, an English teacher at Farrington. "They didn't know what they were getting into."
Building a team from scratch hasn't been easy, as Wakabayashi crammed 10 years of soccer knowledge into seven weeks. But she put just three goals in front of her team for this season -- play hard, have fun and learn something.
The Governors are 0-5 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association's Eastern Division, and were outscored 11-0 in their debut against Kaiser.
But the loss did little to dampen the spirits of the players.
"After the game they were taking pictures, and I said, 'Girls, we have 10 games more games left,' " Wakabayashi said. "And they said, 'But it's our first game.' "
The team has 20 players on the roster, including 12 seniors. Wakabayashi, who played on an OIA and state championship team at Pearl City, said she'll try to get the underclassmen into community leagues next summer and hopes the Farrington program will help spark interest in the sport in Kalihi.
"I hope more girls come out and there's greater interest in soccer in the area," she said.
Bridging the gap: Hawaii boys basketball teams may not have caught up with the powers from the mainland yet, but if last week's Iolani Prep Classic is any indication, they're certainly getting closer.
Mainland teams claimed the top four spots in the tournament, but Hawaii teams went 4-2 against mainland competition over the final two days.
Iolani beat Northwestern (Miami, Fla) and Wilson (Florence, SC) to finish fifth in the tournament, and came within two points of upsetting eventual tournament champion Fairfax (Los Angeles) in the quarterfinals. Kalaheo scored a win over Northwestern for seventh place, and Punahou defeated Cathedral (Erie, Pa.) en route to claiming the consolation championship.
Two more local teams will get a shot at playing mainland competition this week in the Walter Wong Holiday Basketball Classic at McCabe Gym.
St. Louis and Kailua will be joined by Colony (Alaska), La Habra (California) and Northwood (California) and Guam in the tournament which begins tomorrow and runs through Saturday.
The OIA regular season opens Jan. 2. The ILH season starts on Jan. 4.
Athletes of the Week
Boys
>> Bobby Nash, Iolani basketball: Averaged nearly 16 points per game in leading the Raiders to a fifth-place finish in the Iolani Prep Classic. He was named to the all-tournament team.
Girls
>> Janelle Hanaike, Kamehameha wrestling: Won the girls 108-pound division at the Tiger Open and was named the meet's outstanding wrestler.
Honor Roll
BASKETBALL
>> Derrick Low, Iolani: Averaged more than 14 points per game and orchestrated the Raiders' offense to earn a spot on the Iolani Prep Classic all-tournament team.>> Jon Grobe, Iolani: Hit double-figures in scoring in three tournament games, including a game-high 18 against Northwestern (Miami, Fla.)
>> Ikaika Alama-Francis, Kalaheo: Averaged over 18 points in the Mustangs' four Iolani Classic games as the Mustangs finished seventh in the tournament.
>> Dio Dante, Maui: Scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the Sabers' 60-55 win over Berean Christian of California on the final day of the Maui High School Holiday Classic.
>> Brandon Chu, Maui: Led the Sabers with 23 points against Berean Christian.
BOYS SOCCER
>> Corey Asato, Kaimuki: Scored both of the Bulldogs' goals as Kaimuki tied Castle 2-2. Kaimuki entered the match at 0-1-2, while Castle was 4-0.>> Whitney Shimatsu, Mililani: Scored three goals in the Trojans' 7-0 win over Radford to move into a tie for the OIA West scoring lead. He has nine goals this season.
>> Desmond Rodrigues, Waimea: Scored a goal with less than a minute left in the game to lift the Menehunes to a 1-0 win over Kauai.
GIRLS SOCCER
>> Megan Suehiro, Kalani: Booted two goals as the Falcons beat Kaiser 3-1 and moved into second place in the OIA East.>> Carmen Calpo, Pearl City: Added to her lead in the OIA West scoring race with three goals against Campbell and four more against Waianae. She now has 13 goals this season.
SOFTBALL
>> Kate Robinson, Kamehameha: Was the winning pitcher and hit a home run in the Warriors' 19-0 win over Mid-Pacific. She went 2-for-4 at the plate and drove in five runs.>> Kaulana Gould, Kamehameha: Went 3-for-3 with three runs batted in against Mid-Pacific.
>> Pua Kalua, Kalaheo: Hit a home run and drove in three runs in the Mustangs' 16-5 win over McKinley.
WRESTLING
>> Jonathan Spiker, St. Louis: Won the boys 145-pound division and was named the boys outstanding wrestler at the Maui Invitational. His performance helped lead the Crusaders to the meet's team championship.>> Anna Tong, Kaiser: Won the girls 140-pound division at the Maui Invitational and was named the meet's outstanding girls wrestler.
>> Following is the complete all-tournament team from last week's Iolani Prep Classic. Now You Know
Most Valuable Player -- Kevin Bell, Fairfax.
Most Outstanding Player -- Even Burns, Fairfax.
All-Tournament team -- Nick Debban, Clovis West; Derrick Low, Iolani; Linas Kleiza, Montrose Christian; Ikaika Alama-Francis, Kalaheo; Raymond Dorsey, Wilson; Marcellus Kemp, Garfield; Devon Pearson, Northwestern; Bobby Nash, Iolani; Troy Haley, Montrose Christian; Brandon Roy, Garfield; Tyson Parker, Clovis West; Alex Bausley, Fairfax.
To nominate an athlete of the week, contact the Star-Bulletin Sports Department by 11 p.m. Sunday: To nominate ...
Phone: 529-4782
Fax: 529-4787
E-mail: sports@starbulletin.com
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