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Just For Kicks
THE Hawaii qualifying matches for the 2000 Snickers U.S. Youth Soccer Region IV tournament in Pleasanton, Calif., are Saturday and Sunday at Kapiolani Park. Hawaii soccer teams
work for spot in
tourneyThe first matches on both days begin at 9 a.m., with the last match starting at 3 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday.
The June 18-24 tournament, along with the Surf Cup in San Diego later in the summer, provide college coaches an excellent opportunity to scout the top talent in the 50th state.
Thirteen teams will play for the right to go to Pleasanton. Six teams have already qualified as the only entry in their age division.
With the coaches' names in parentheses, the girls' teams headed for the regional are: U-17 Leahi '83 (Scott Keopuhiwa, Michelle Nagamine) and U-18 Leahi '82 Fury (Wendy Thompson, Kari Morioka).
The boys' teams in are: U-15 Bulls '85 Red (Jeff Carlson, Ray Shiraishi); U-17 Mililani Strikers (Sean Richardson); U-18 Unified Aces (Ron Clavecillas), and U-19 Bulls Red (John Semenza, Phil Neddo).
Four U-13 girls teams, Leahi '87 (Scott Keopuhiwa, Laurie Baker), Aiea Jammers (Lloyd Okubo), Riggers (Mark Merrifield) and Kailua (Chris Nied), will try to finish on top.
THREE teams, the Mililani Illusions (Randal Furumoto), Volcanoes (Bernard Alvarez) and the Bulls '87 Red (Scott Ezer), will battle in the U-13 boys' division.
In the U-14 girls' division, it's a showdown between Leahi '86 (Lisa Wurlitzer) and the Bulls '86 Red (Mike Guidry).
The U-12 winners have been determined. The Bulls '88 Red team (Mike Guidry) won the boys' title and Kailua (Chris Nied) claimed the girls' trophy.
Also in this age group, the Bulls '88 Red girls, coached by Les Aubrey, have one of three wild card spots granted to Hawaii.
Hawaii's other wild card spots are in the U-14 boys and U-16 girls divisions.
The Maui Hurricanes (Chuck Nunes) play the Bulls '86 Red (Paul Soufl) for the boys' title and Ekahi (Tony Sitachitta) meets the Bulls '84 Red (Phil Neddo) for the girls' crown. The winner goes as the champion and the loser as the wild card.
According to Keopuhiwa, the Hawaii Youth Soccer Association president, not many teams are entered, mainly because of the expense of traveling (teams entering commit to travel if they win) and the strict rostering rules for the tournament.
Keopuhiwa estimates it costs the parents between $800 to $1,000 to send a son or daughter to the regional.
That same son or daughter also may be headed for an Olympic Development Program camp on the mainland later in the summer and/or be on a team entered in the Surf Cup.
The Region IV winners in each age group qualify for the national finals, July 23-30, in the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex at Orlando, Fla.
The artificial turf at Civic Stadium will be covered with grass when the 1999 World Cup women's soccer champions return to Portland, Ore., for a two-day exhibition tournament.
The U.S. women will join teams from Mexico, South Korea and Canada for the U.S. Women's Cup, May 5 and 7.
Before the World Cup, the U.S. played a "sendoff" exhibition against Canada at Civic Stadium before a sellout crowd of 27,000.
FIFA will not ban matches in Bolivia at high altitude despite complaints from some South American countries.
Matches will be played in La Paz, 10,300 feet above sea level, and Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, 7,500 feet above sea level.
President Sepp Blatter said FIFA is planning studies to determine the effect of high altitude on athletes.
