Waimea Sports Expo puts fitness opportunities on display

Everything from CrossFit to table tennis were on tap at the 2nd annual Waimea Sports Expo at Waimea Park Complex Saturday.

The free event was a combined effort of Waimea Athletics and Hawaii County Department of Parks and Recreation to encourage health and wellness opportunities for youth, adults and families. The featured sports included soccer, football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, table tennis and baseball.

Each participant was given a card at the start of the day and after going through a brief demonstration to learn the fundamentals of each sport, they were given a stamp to certify completion. At the conclusion of the event, the completed cards could be entered in a drawing to win prizes from the expo’s sponsors.

“This is an important event for our community,” said Melissa Samura, recreation director for Hawaii County Parks and Recreation Waimea. “The sports expo was motivated by the need to inform the community of all the sports Waimea has available. There are a lot of people that did not know certain sports were even happening.”

The entire park was transformed into an athletic playground. While dozens played volleyball and tennis, others enjoyed pick-up basketball and soccer games. The Waimea Cowboys and North Hawaii Football programs staged football activities, and Five Mountain Fitness and CrossFit AllStar Waimea demonstrated key exercises to stay fit.

“Whether it’s children or adults, they can come in, try out a sport and learn how to play it,” said Samura. “A lot of people don’t know how to play some of the sports, so they would be intimidated and wouldn’t want to try to play it. This is an opportune time for the public to try the sports and see if they want to do it more long term.”

For more on the event and athletic programs in the Waimea area, visit waimeaathletics.org.