---

AYSO Rainbow tournament
in 25th year

THE American Youth Soccer Organization is hosting the annual AYSO Rainbow Soccer Tournament this coming weekend at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park.

This is the 25th year for the event, the oldest and longest running youth soccer tourney in Hawaii. The five-day happening, Thursday through July 4, is for boys and girls in the under-10 through under-19 age divisions. The teams, 101 strong, are from California and Oahu.

Besides being a competition, there is a strong emphasis on cultural exchange and good sportsmanship behavior by teams and spectators.

Teams earn sportsmanship points for participating in the various events as well as their conduct during matches.

The opening ceremony is at Kapiolani Park on Wednesday afternoon. The festivities include a team banner contest, with judging at 3 p.m., a parade of the teams and, after the welcoming ceremony, a dance open to all players at the Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio Hotel.

In news from AYSO's national annual general meeting Memorial Day weekend, Section Seven (Hawaii) director Mark Stewart was elected to the national board.

He is the second person from Hawaii elected to the national board. The first was City Councilman Gary Okino, who served from 1988 to 1991.

Breadan Carvalho, a 20-year volunteer with AYSO, is the new Section Seven director.

Hawaii won AYSO's Section of the Year award for the second time in three years.

Section Seven also became the first recipient of the new traveling trophy created for the section of the year winner. The Rick Davis Cup has been named after the AYSO Director of Programs, who is a member of the AYSO and National Soccer halls of fame. Rick started playing AYSO in 1965 and went on to a distinguished career in professional soccer.

The section was given a $1,000 check as section of the year. Stewart said the money award would be earmarked for the section VIP program.

AYSO began in Hawaii in September 1974. Local regions were attached to mainland sections until 1984 when Section Seven was formed. Section Seven is made up of 19 regions on all islands plus the American Samoa Region 1272.

Two other AYSO tournaments are on tap this summer.

The Big Island Candies Volcano International tournament is set for July 13-17.

"The tournament is in its 12th year and we expect from 35 to 40 teams," said Troy Keolanui, tournament director.

The 16th annual Big Island Cup, hosted by Region 403 North Hawaii, will be held July 21-24 in Kamuela.

For more AYSO information, go to www.aysosection7.org.

Elsewhere

Eryn Kishimoto, a goalkeeper from Mililani, has given up playing soccer for the Pacific Tigers after two seasons.

Ashlee Doi, a sophomore defender from Mililani at Pepperdine, took last year off.

"Ashlee chose to redshirt because of the numbers in our graduating senior class. She is very much a part of our team and will be playing this fall," said Pepperdine coach Tim Ward. The Waves come to Honolulu for the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine tournament Sept. 2-4.