STAR-BULLETIN / JULY 2002
Goalie Gordon Queenan of Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., gave the customary end-of-the-game handshake to Joe Gray, co-coach of the Palo Alto, Calif., boys' soccer team at last year's AYSO tournament in Waipio.
The fields were built
and now they comeThe Waipio soccer park
is attracting big crowds
and big bucks
In two soccer tournaments over the past year, the $23-million Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park has drawn visitors worth about $21 million to Hawaii's economy, according to state estimates.
For the first time, the Snickers U.S. Youth Soccer Region IV Championships is coming to Hawaii next week, bringing as many as 10,000 visitors to the islands.
Some 430 games will be played Monday through Saturday at the Waipio facility, with free admission for all games.
The economic impact of those visiting is estimated at $13 million, based on figures from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
Preliminary games run Monday through Wednesday, followed by quarterfinals Thursday, semifinals Friday and championship finals Saturday. Of the 212 teams expected to come from 13 Western states, 19 will be from Hawaii.
The tournament has never taken place in Hawaii before because the state didn't have the facilities, said Ted Baker, media relations coordinator for the Hawaii Youth Soccer Association. The 288-acre Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park, which includes a 5,000-seat stadium, opened September 2000.
Last year, the American Youth Soccer Organization National Games took place at the Waipio fields, becoming the first nationwide soccer tournament in Hawaii. The week-long tournament brought more than 150 soccer teams and almost 6,000 visitors from 15 states to Hawaii, for an estimated economic impact of $8 million, according to Hawaii Tourism Authority figures.
Winners from this weeks' games will advance to the Snickers U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships, July 22-27 in Germantown, Md.
Snickers, a brand of Mars Inc., of McLean, Va., became title sponsor of the championships in 1993.
"This is the premier event for Region IV and a tremendous opportunity for us to display the aloha spirit by returning the hospitality mainland venues have shown us all these years," said Scott Keopuhiwa, president of the Hawaii Youth Soccer Association.
The association said it is seeing groups of 40 to 60 people arrive for 10- to 18-day sojourns in the state.
"It's really had a good effect that way," Baker said.
The Snickers regional tournament could return to Hawaii as often as every three years, Baker said.
Next year, the tournament is scheduled for Spokane, Wash.
U.S. Youth Soccer registers more than 3.2 million players each year.
