Just For Kicks
THE Waipio Soccer Complex Advisory Committee, composed of community members and representatives from most soccer leagues, youth and adult, has been quietly working to help in the development of the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park. Soccer park
in Waipio is
in the works"The committee's first charge was to assist the designer on how the park should be laid out and what the uses would be," co-chairman Frank Doyle said.
"That came along pretty well. We were able to convey to the designer what we thought would be best. Then we got the land requirements.
"Now our job is to be there if anything comes up with design questions specifically related to soccer activities."
The complex is being constructed on 320 acres. The Navy is leasing 233 of those acres to the city for $1 a year. The city owns the rest.
The city's Parks and Recreation Department is in the process of receiving requests for information that will aid in creating a request for proposals. The next step will be to select a management team to operate the park.
"The big thing now is how the committee will interact with a group, no matter who it might be, to run the park," Doyle said. "The people from the adult leagues have formed a coalition. I believe they will show interest and make some kind of proposal to the city. When the park is ready, we want anyone coming in to go away saying this is a first-class facility."
The park is scheduled for completion Aug. 3, 2000.
Sometime next year, a grand-opening event will be planned. One suggestion made involved a tournament with teams from Honolulu's sister cities, which number about 20. That would be a huge logistical undertaking and financially a question mark unless the event is underwritten.
Another suggestion dealt with an invitational youth tournament. A third possibility is having national teams traveling to Australia for the 2000 Olympics play an exhibition here.
Other ideas will be floated before a final decision is made.
Senior All-American striker Katy Holland (Moanalua) had knee surgery last spring. She missed her Trinity University (San Antonio) team's first four matches.
Since returning to the lineup, Holland has scored 12 goals and has an assist in 11 matches for the Tigers, ranked No. 9 in the latest NCAA Division III coaches poll.
Alicia Vegas scored a goal and assisted on two others as Simpson College beat Wartburg, 6-0, in the Storm's final regular-season match Saturday.
Top-seeded Simpson is hosting the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs that begin tomorrow.
Vegas, a 5-foot-6 striker from Lawai, Kauai, has scored 26 goals and assisted on 16 others this season. She is third on the NCAA all-time, all-division women's career goal-scoring list with 112.
What's remarkable about her run to claim the Division III career record is opponents mark her man-to-man every match.
And Simpson head coach Aziz Haffar has Vegas stay close to the opposing sweeper, which has the effect of two opponents constantly marking her.
But that opens up space for freshman striker Tracie Whitney, who has 18 goals.
In the latest NCAA Division III statistics, Vegas is sixth in points per match (3.65), eighth is goals per match (1.41) and 18th in assists per match (0.82).
Ahead of Vegas on the all-time women's career goal-scoring list are Paulina Miettinen (Franklin Pierce, 1995-98) with 122 and Danielle Fotopoulas (Southern Methodist and Florida, 1996-96, 1998) with 118.
