Kealakehe senior Tyler Yates delivered at the right time on the soccer field to make history in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, earning a pair of top honors in different sports.
Kealakehe senior Tyler Yates delivered at the right time on the soccer field to make history in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, earning a pair of top honors in different sports.
The 5-foot-10 midfielder scored just seven goals, but he helped the Waveriders win their fifth BIIF championship in the last six years.
“He missed more than half the season and came back in the game before Honokaa,” said Kealakehe coach Urs Leuenberger of Yates’ six-game absence because of a broken ankle suffered in the BIIF football championship in November.
“But he was extremely talented, and in the BIIF finale against Waiakea he made a big impact with his goal. He really stepped up and showed a lot of flashes of his brilliance. He was not able to show that through the whole season, but in the finale when it counted, he delivered.”
Yates was named the BIIF Division I Player of the Year in voting by the league’s coaches, beating out a host of candidates. He even edged two teammates, cousin Keoni Yates, who scored 13 goals, and Cory Fisher, who had 14 goals.
Other strong contenders included Waiakea senior forward Cameron Boucher, who had a league-high 23 goals for the BIIF runner-up, and Hilo senior forward Jonathan Perez, who netted 19 goals. The Vikings lost to Waiakea 2-1 on penalty kicks in the BIIF semifinals.
Fisher, a senior forward, and Perez both made the first team. Keoni Yates, a sophomore midfielder, and Boucher received honorable mention.
In the BIIF championship, Kealakehe defeated Waiakea 6-2. Tyler Yates had one goal, giving the ’Riders a 3-1 lead. Keoni Yates and Cory Fisher also scored one goal.
At the Hawaii High School Athletic Association state tournament, Kealakehe took a two-game exit, losing to Iolani 1-0 and Pearl City 2-0.
Yates, a senior quarterback, was also voted the BIIF Division I Offensive Player of the Year for football, joining rare company as a two-sport top honoree in the same season. There hasn’t been a two-sport BIIF Division I player of the year in recent memory.
Pahoa’s Isaiah Ekau landed a Division II honor in his senior year. In 2010, he was the player of the year for basketball and volleyball.
Honokaa’s Sage Johnson also got the award for football in his senior year in 2010 when the Dragons were Division I. He also made it a double-double, but Honokaa soccer is on the Division II level.
“Getting the honor means a lot,” Yates said. “I didn’t expect much out of the soccer season, coming in midway and having to work extra hard because I was behind. My first game back I was a little nervous. Before that I was doing a little running, but as far as my touch on the ball, I had that.
“After rehab for my leg, I’d go on the training bike and put in 250 touches on each foot, juggle and dribble to keep my touch on the ball. I was not totally out of it when I came back.”
He is weighing playing football at either Willamette, a Division III school in Oregon, or Menlo College, an NAIA school in Atherton, Calif. Yates has a 3.4 grade-point average and plans to major in biology, with an eye toward becoming a dentist.
Though football is his favorite, soccer is a lifelong sport and runs a close second.
“I’ve been playing since I was 4 or 5 years old,” Yates said. “Scoring is good, but I don’t think so much about that. It’s winning and coming together as a team.
“We began the season with a lot of young guys, and we didn’t know each other until toward the end. Winning on top of that made it better.”
That leadership quality also made Yates a difference-maker in his coach’s eyes.
“He was a team captain, and his teammates looked up to him,” Leuenberger said. “He just brings a winning mentality to the game. He was very important to us. As soon as we got him back, we had that mentality that we can do this.
“He got thrown back by his injury and was really relegated to be a trump card. In the end, he delivered when it mattered. That’s why he’s the player of the year.”
Not once but twice. He’s in rare company.
“It’s really exciting and feels really good, putting in the time and commitment into your season and to get rewarded on top of that,” Yates said.