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Sullivan helps his way
into Hall

Jack "Uncle Jack" Sullivan will enter the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame on Tuesday night at the induction banquet at the Honolulu Country Club.

Also being honored are women's volleyball coach Dave Shoji and sumo wrestler Fiamalu Penitani (Musashimaru).

A Massachusetts native, Sullivan came to Hawaii in 1957 to work for a CPA firm. He started his own company in 1964.

Describing himself as the biggest nonathlete (high school bat boy, hockey team manager, third-string catcher on his mountainball team) in the world, Sullivan was able to fill a need when the American Youth Soccer Organization was introduced to Hawaii in 1974 by Peter and Jackie Chaffey.

The need was fields. A volunteer teacher at the Koolau Boys Home, he convinced then-director Kayo Chung to let AYSO use the Home's field in exchange for Sullivan teaching soccer to the boys.

His volunteer involvement with soccer just kept growing, as a coach, publicist and a member of several boards.

Whenever there is an upcoming soccer event, Sullivan calls every talk, sports and news show available to spread the word.

He does the video play-by-play for Hawaii High School Athletic Association soccer matches at Aloha Stadium, is vice president and publicity director of the Hawaii Soccer Association, and is a United States Soccer Federation council member.

In the past, he was on the board that helped start the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine soccer team. He also served as manager of the Hawaii Pacific men's team, as a coach and board member in the Women's Island Soccer Association, as vice chairman of Hawaii's 1994 World Cup venue committee and as Hawaii state managing director and regional director for AYSO.

Sullivan was coaching Little League baseball in 1974, but switched to soccer because he embraced the AYSO philosophy that everyone plays.

"Soccer seemed to fit what I was doing at the Boys Home, build confidence in youngsters. Soccer is a game of mistakes, but no one stops and points a finger at you," said Sullivan.

He has coached more than 20 youth teams and started the girls program at Maryknoll. Three teams, the 1978 11-12 boys, the 1982 15-17 girls and the 1983 15-17 girls were state AYSO champions.

His big highlight was having his boys and girls teams from the correctional facility play in Aloha Stadium against adult coed teams in 1998 and 1999.

"I've loved every minute of it. My whole thing is building youngsters through sports," said Sullivan

"I cringe when I'm called 'Mr. Soccer.' It's not one person. It's all those mothers and fathers and coaches who have done so much over the years."

Winning run: The United States Under-20 Men's National Team had a successful run in the recent CONCACAF qualifying for the World Youth Championship. After winning its first match 6-1 against Trinidad & Tobago, the victories just kept coming.

In the second match, the U.S. solidified qualification with a 2-0 victory over Panama, then beat Costa Rica 2-0 in a match with little significance. The U.S. and Panama advance to the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in Holland, which runs from June 10 through July 2.