Just For Kicks
BRUCE Ellis, Tony Gomes and Mike Wong have an opportunity to bring the Hawaii soccer community a little closer to their mainland counterparts this fall. Isle refs will
work games
on mainlandThe three National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association referees have been assigned to officiate women's games on the mainland.
They will work the center (referee) aided by local assistant referees (linesmen).
It is the first time Hawaii officials have received such assignments, the result of discussions with West Region assigner Dan Keohane when he was here for a clinic last year.
Ellis will referee the Pacific at Fullerton State game Oct. 17. Wong is the referee for the Florida International at Denver game the same day. Gomes is scheduled for the Gonzaga at Loyola Marymount match Nov. 5.
Ellis got his start when Sherrie Ward handed him a whistle 19 years ago and asked him to referee Ranger League games.
Gomes also has been at it for 19 years and decided to get involved while watching his son play youth soccer.
Wong used to coach, didn't know the rules that well and went to a referees' meeting to learn. He's been officiating 10 years and is always looking for young men and women interested in becoming officials.
There are 25 members in the local NISOA chapter certified to handle college games.
One hoped-for benefit from having Hawaii referees work mainland games is a better and more consistent understanding of the mechanics of the three-person officiating crew.
Wong, Ellis and Richard Vasconcellos have been selected to participate in the NISOA national program and will attend the national camp next June.
"This would make them eligible for the national referee pool and enhance their training," said Wong. "We want to blaze the way for the up and coming guys in Hawaii."
The Hawaii Wahine soccer team will play the alumnae Saturday at the UH Soccer Field at 10 a.m.
The Wahine are picked to finish last in the seven-team Western Athletic Conference in the preseason coaches poll.
Fresno State, Southern Methodist and San Jose State each received two first-place votes. FSU had 30 points, SMU 29 and SJSU 28.
Texas-El Paso (21 points) was fourth followed by Texas Christian (14), Tulsa (13) and UH (12).
The Honolulu Bulls Red under 15 boys team reached the quarterfinals before losing to the eventual champion, Nomads (La Jolla, Calif.), 3-1, in a shootout in the San Diego Surf Cup.
The Nomads came into the tournament as U14 regional and Nike National champions.
The Bulls are coached by Jeff Carlson. His roster included Maile Tavepholjalern, invited to join the Bulls for the higher level of competition.
The Volcanoes United team, coached by Cesar Jube, competed in the boys' under-16 Gold division but did not advance out of pool play.
Other girls teams participating were Mililani Laulima under 15s, coached by Glen Ichinose, and Leahi under 17s, coached by Michele Nagamine.
Soccer's regional governing body, the Confederation of North and Central America and Caribbean Football will conduct its first women's championship in 2000.
No dates or sites have been announced yet, but the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup will include three national teams invited from outside the region.
CONCACAF has conducted a men's championship biannually since 1991.
