[ OLYMPICS ]
Hawaii’s Okuda chosen
as an Olympic umpire
Hawaii may not be the place to find Olympic-caliber softball players, but it is the first place to look for an Olympic-caliber umpire.
Local umpire Leilani Okuda has been selected to work the Olympic games in Athens, Greece, in August, the pinnacle of a 23-year career of making decisions on dusty diamonds around the state.
Okuda was one of three American women selected to the crew, and the first from Hawaii.
"It is really an honor," Okuda said. "It was a surprise for myself because Hawaii umpires are so often overlooked."
Okuda, who is one of only two umpires in the state qualified to work international events, caught the eye of International Softball Federation President Don Porter at the recent Olympic qualifier in Australia and the World Cup in Japan. When she works such events, she always needs a play or two to adjust to the game since the only preparation she gets is working games locally.
"For myself I am at a disadvantage because of the level of play here," Okuda said. "Whenever I get into a game with these world-class athletes, the ball pops a little different and everything is faster. Softball is softball, but to these athletes the ball represents something different -- it is blood, sweat and tears."
Which is what Okuda has put into the game since her playing days at McKinley and through to the present day. For all that she has done for Hawaii softball, when she walks onto the field the handouts are over.
"She is the best umpire we have here in Hawaii and is very deserving," Hawaii Pacific coach Howard Okita said. "She is a very fair umpire, sometimes too fair to the visiting teams, and it comes from her background as a player and a coach. It is a big honor for her and the state."
Should an Olympic coach get too caught up in the moment and force Okuda to eject him from the game of his life, he can rest assured that the umpire harbors no ill will. Because the umpire has been in his shoes.
Okuda, who still coaches McKinley, took a select team called the Honolulu Brats to Canada to taste international competition. It was in that competition that the umpire took what she has been dishing out for so long. And possibly offered a glimpse of what sets her apart from other arbiters.
Okuda's catcher, Blythe Sakashita, complained to the coach about the home plate umpire's lackadaisical attitude toward the game. Okuda can tolerate an honest mistake, but not a lack of professionalism and walked out to the dish to make her feelings known. She was tossed from the game in short order, the only time she has been run.
"I didn't appreciate his mannerism and I told him," Okuda said. "I didn't yell, but I had to let him know."
Okuda doesn't consider herself a better umpire than her peers despite being the one to get the call to officiate softball's most prestigious tournament. She says it was more a matter of luck.
"I've never really considered myself good, just lucky," Okuda said. "In umpiring its hard to say who is good, it is all judgment and decisiveness."