Just For Kicks

By Al Chase

Sunday, May 6, 2001

Players of all ages
off to Mainland

Congratulations to the players and coaches of the six girls and seven boys teams that won Hawaii Snickers SYNC State Cup age division titles. They will represent the 50th State in the Far West Regional at Albuquerque, N.M., on June 24-30.

The girls teams are the Under-12 National Soccer Academy '89 coached by Jose "Peep" Balloon, the U13 Honolulu Soccer Club Bulls '88 Red coached by Steve Watanabe, the U14 Riggers Athletic Club coached by David Mena, the U15 HSC Bulls '86 Red coached by Michael Guidry, the U16 Mililani '85 Gold coached by Norman Beter and the U17 HSC Bulls '84 Red coached by Craig Nosse, Morris Oshiro and Phil Neddo.

Hawaii also received a wild-card spot in the girls U14 division, filled by Kailua under coach Chris Nied.

"We were offered a wild-card spot in the U15 girls division, but we didn't have another team to send," said Scott Keopuhiwa, Hawaii Youth Soccer Association president. "We're holding our breath that we'll be offered a wild-card spot in the U16 girls division because we have a team that can go."

The boys teams are the U12 HSC Bulls '89 Red coached by Jose Dydasco, the U13 HSC Bulls '88 Red coached by Michael Guidry and Jose Andres, the U14 Mililani Illusions coached by Tony Hart, the U15 HSC Bulls '86 Red coached by Paul Soufl, the U16 HSC Bulls '85 Red coached by Phil Neddo, Ray Shiraishi and Jeff Carlson, the U17 Windward Soccer Club Volcanoes coached by Matt Houar and the U19 HSC Bulls '82 Red coached by Jeff Lau and Jeff Carlson.

The U17 HSC Bulls '84 girls and U16 HSC Bulls '85 boys will participate in a college showcase tournament in Seattle prior to the Far West Regional. During this event, seminars detailing the recruiting process are held for players, parents and coaches.

A decade of dominance

The He Kini Popo over-40 women, coached by University of Hawaii head coach Pinsoom Tenzing, made a successful journey last month to Las Vegas where they won the Friendship Cup tournament.

With a couple of roster changes, He Kini Popo will participate in the United States Veteran's over-40 tournament in Beckley, W. Va., on June 21-24.

This is basically the same team that won the United States Open over-30 women's championship in 1991 in Dallas. That team also was coached by Tenzing.

Team members that played in Las Vegas are Stella Allen, Laurie Baker, Kathy Carey, Martha Chock, Kathy Farley, Alma Ho, Lee Kalama, Patty Kim, Holly Lau, Kiki Lau, Corinne Mewhirter, Cheryl Shimizu, Lois Tiedemann, Cathy Todd, Maris van der Lee and Isabell Kurt.

He Kini Popo posted a 6-0 record in the tournament, outscoring its opponents 16-1. Shimizu scored 12 of those goals.

In the championship match against Camp Springs, Md., the score was 1-1 after regulation, but He Kini Popo easily claimed victory in the shootout, 4-1.

"It was one of those games where we hit the post, hit the bar, did everything but score. But, we smoked them in the shootout," said Holly Lau.

Camp Springs is the defending national champion.