[ WAHINE SOCCER ]
STAR-BULLETIN / OCTOBER 2002
Hawaii sophomore Natasha Kai, the leading goal scorer in NCAA Division I soccer, credits her teammates for her success.
Hawaii’s Kai too fast
for conference again
Striker Natasha Kai has blazed through her sophomore season for the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine soccer team, easily handling any real or imagined expectations following a banner freshman year.
Kai pulled off a first-ever double last year when she was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year and the league's freshman of the year.
This season, she is the top scorer in NCAA Division I with 29 goals. Her goals-per-game average (1.61) and her points-per-game average (3.44) are second in the nation. Kai has put 60 percent (55 of 91) of her shots on goal in 2003 and scored with 53 percent of those attempts.
Kai scores with either foot, skies above opposing defenders to launch accurate head shots at the goal and possesses an athletic asset that can't be coached -- speed.
"Natasha's biggest improvement this year is in her ability to take coaching instructions and a little bit of information and run with it, so to speak," said Hawaii coach Pinsoom Tenzing. "I don't think she had a genuine appreciation for her speed. She would beat a defender and wait for her to beat her again. It was a bad habit, trying to beat people too many times. She kicked that habit. Now, Natasha leaves defenders for dead and that's a tactical adjustment she made in her offensive play."
Yet there was a time when Kai's parents, Sharon and Benny, were told by doctors that Natasha might not be able to walk properly again.
"We were at the beach, at Bath Tubs right across from the Polynesian Cultural Center that is real shallow for little kids. Natasha was about 4 or 5. She slipped off a rock and her left foot landed between two submerged rocks where there was a broken bottle," said Benny.
"There was a big gash on the bottom of her arch. She had stitches and a protective brace. A couple of weeks later she started walking on her toes. Even when the stitches came out and the brace came off, she still walked on her toes. I think it strengthened her legs. By the time she was a second-grader, she was outrunning the boys."
Natasha started playing soccer a year later, finished first in every grade-school physical fitness test except in the third grade and was the youngest player in the women's flag football league in Kahuku. She even asked if she could try out for the Red Raiders junior varsity football team.
At Kahuku she played guard on the basketball team, was a middle blocker on the volleyball team, ran cross country one year and won state titles in four track and field events beside excelling is soccer.
Kai waited a year to join the Rainbow Wahine program after graduating from Kahuku. She worked in the cafeteria at Brigham Young-Hawaii, did some running on her own and played touch rugby with the BYUH students.
She was recruited by several mainland schools.
"I've been to the mainland for soccer tournaments, but there is no place like home. That's what drove me to stay here because it is not the same on the mainland," said Kai.
She joined UH with a renewed desire to play soccer.
"I wasn't scared. I love competition. I just went out to help the team and do my best in front of family and friends," said Kai. "I knew I was coming to play with women. It wasn't going to be foo foo.
"Still, I had no idea what I was coming into. You are so independent in college. I was a follower and I made some mistakes that I wished I hadn't. I changed dramatically over the summer. I'm a sophomore and I'm turning 21 in May, so I feel like I have to take care of my younger teammates."
Tenzing saw the difference in Kai's approach this year.
"She matured just tremendously on and off the field and I think her solid family background has been a big help," he said. "I think she is going to be a tremendous leader next year. Our job is to edge her along in the right path."
Kai says her awards are team awards. She acknowledges her scoring prowess depends on her teammates.
"With Arlene (Devitt) and Robyn (deHay) up top with me, I have to look for every option because they are incredible players. I know everything starts behind me with the defense. Without my teammates, none of this would have happened."
Kai also is cooler, more under control on the field when opponents get physical in an attempt to change her focus.
"They were trying to get in my head last year, but this year I retaliate by putting the ball in the back of the net," said Kai.
She has done that 45 times in 35 UH matches. If Kai keeps it up the next two years, then she should realize her goal of playing professional soccer.
Tonight, her focus is hitting the net at the Western Athletic Conference tournament.
"It's up for grabs. I think the team that comes to the tournament with their heads screwed on straight and with a lot of heart will win it," said Kai.
