Just For Kicks

By Al Chase

Monday, February 11, 2002

Mainland programs still
counting on Hawaii players

The annual rite of deciding which college to attend and whether to play soccer is under way for Hawaii's high school seniors. For some, the decision is easy. For others it takes time while numerous pro and con factors are weighed.

Romy Trigg-Smith, a Punahou midfielder, received inquiries from 207 schools. She made recruiting trips to California, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Pennsylvania before picking Princeton.

As an Ivy League member, Princeton doesn't offer athletic scholarships but was generous in the financial aid award given to Trigg-Smith who celebrates her 18th birthday today.

"Basically, I've always been strong in the academic field, so I took soccer out of the picture and decided to go where I thought I would fit in best," Trigg-Smith said.

Megan Omura, the Iolani goalkeeper, was packing for her recruiting visit to Oregon when the Texas coach called.

"I had sent Texas information, but never heard back so I didn't think they were interested. But their starting goalkeeper had shoulder problems and decided not to play again," Omura said.

"I have family there and think family support will be nice. After I visited campus and met the team, I just felt that is where I want to be. I was impressed with the coaching staff and also thought it would be cool to be the first Hawaii girl to play there."

The Lady Longhorns are the defending Big 12 Conference champions.

Mililani striker and leading Oahu Interscholastic Association scorer Mele French has committed to Oregon. She also made visits to Boise State, California and Hawaii.

"Oregon was the nicest school I went to," said French "It's in the Pac-10 and I wanted to go to the Pac-10 because it's the best conference in the West."

The Ducks had the sixth best turnaround in the nation among the 278 Division I programs last fall when they were 8-8-2 following a 4-15-1 2000 season.

Charlene Lui, a striker for Punahou who also has played midfield and defense, will go to Brigham Young on an athletic scholarship.

"I've always wanted to go to BYU. It's my dream school," said Lui, who made her wishes known early and didn't have to deal with a lot of recruiting pressure from other schools.

The numbers

After searching more than 600 college Web sites, here are the numbers on what level Hawaii's soccer players competed during the 2001 season. With a couple of exceptions for injuries, all 119 local players on mainland school rosters to begin the season saw action.

There were 66 women with 27 at NCAA Division I schools, 13 at NCAA Division II institutions, 19 playing for NCAA Division III schools and seven at NAIA colleges.

Of the 53 Hawaii men on mainland teams last fall, 14 played at the D-I level, nine at D-2, 22 for D-3 schools and eight for NAIA teams.

Another report

Mikala Kanae, a sophomore from Kamehameha, played an important role in the Dominican University Penguins' drive to the California Pacific Conference title.

"Mikala had a great season. She adapted well and started most of our games as a defender or outside midfielder," said DU coach John Brooks.