[ HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS ]
Thompson Academy holds
first basketball practice
Ten players showed up for Myron B. Thompson Academy's first basketball practice at Mother Waldron Park on Monday, according to athletic director and coach Andrew Aki.
The head man of the newest Oahu Interscholastic Association varsity squad was encouraged by the turnout.
"It's a 100 percent go," he said about fielding a team for the OIA opener in January. "If we had five kids, I'd go with five kids."
The Sharks are expecting three more players to come out sometime this week, including 6-foot-7 Trent Richards, who Aki said is "pretty athletic."
Two promising point guards -- Keo Gonda and Nathan So'osenu'u -- were at the first workout along with two post players with potential -- Aja Munci and Lance Chang.
Aki isn't worried too much about how Thompson Academy compares to the other well-established OIA teams.
"A lot of kids came to practice and were thinking, 'Oh no, we're going to lose,' " he said. "But the coaches had a long talk with them and told them it's not about winning and losing as long as they're having fun out there."
He also acknowledged that the Sharks "need a lot of work."
Thompson Academy is an online charter school with over 600 students in Grades K-12. More than half do their work over the Internet and the others are home-schooled.
The school's offices are on Pohukaina Street in Honolulu.
MBTA is also working on forming teams in paddling, girls basketball and football.
Important headgear: State tournament football players would be wise to keep their mouthpieces on while actively participating in the upcoming games.
According to Hawaii High School Athletic Association officials, a team will receive a 15-yard penalty the first time a player is caught without a mouthpiece.
The second infraction results in ejection of the head coach.
The state rule is quite a bit stiffer than during league play, when the first instance usually generates a warning and the second draws a flag.
In related news, HHSAA executive director Keith Amemiya reminded coaches at a Sunday tournament meeting of the importance of sportsmanship.
He said sportsmanship in football has improved this season, and he credited the coaches with doing a good job teaching it to the players.
While speaking about the problems of excessive celebration, he said, "spontaneous exuberance is good and something we very much want to see, but we don't need any of that planned mumbo-jumbo stuff."
Sato takes over Trojans: Former Saint Louis coach Dean Sato is the new baseball coach at Mililani, according to athletic director Glenn Nitta.
Sato, who is also a former assistant at Hawaii Pacific University, takes over for Cary Kihara, who stepped down for personal reasons.
Marauders seek coaches: Waipahu football coach Sean Saturnio is looking for offensive and defensive assistant coaches, including defensive coordinator. Interested candidates can fax resumes to Waipahu High School at 675-0257 or mail to 94-1211 Farrington Hwy., Waipahu, HI, 96797.
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