The 9th annual FilAm Friendship Doubles Tennis Tournament kicked off Saturday morning at the Holua Tennis Center. As usual, the tournament is loaded with talent, most notably in the open divisions where members of Konawaena and Kealakehe High School help make up the field.
The 9th annual FilAm Friendship Doubles Tennis Tournament kicked off Saturday morning at the Holua Tennis Center. As usual, the tournament is loaded with talent, most notably in the open divisions where members of Konawaena and Kealakehe High School help make up the field.
“It is great that we can get so many high school players to come out,” said tournament director Lovette Llantos. “We want to try to promote tennis for the younger generation and it is good they are out here helping out.”
Llantos started the tournament shortly after coming to the Big Island. She was a volleyball player before moving to Hawaii, but quickly took up the sport of tennis thanks to the influence of her husband, Errol Llantos.
“I founded the tournament with my husband and others in the community,” Lovette said. “At the time, there were not a lot of tournaments on the island and we wanted to try and bring tennis back.”
The tourney has been able to draw solid numbers every year. Having some of the most talented players on the west side does help promote the game and the tourney.
Leading the group of talented young players at this year’s tournament are Konawaena’s Tayvia Yamagata and Kealakehe’s Michelle Uyeda. Yamagata came in last year as a freshman and quickly took over the No. 1 singles spot during the girls tennis season. Uyeda suffered a bit of a sophomore slump, but during her freshman campaign won the BIIF championship without dropping a match.
Uyeda teamed up with her younger sister Melanie for the weekend, while Yamagata joined her younger sister Trinity.
The two outstanding girls are just the tip of the iceberg of talent that is representing the west side high schools.
Kealakehe team captain April Wong, who won the women’s open division with Yamagata in 2013, will also be returning to the field. Kealakehe graduate Mia Kobayashi is also competing in the open division.
On the boys side, Konawaena will have four representatives in the open divisions, including Anakele Apisaloma, Tresen Arakaki, Brant Yamamoto and recent graduate Finn Gallagher. Brett Guccione will compete for Kealakehe.
Arakaki and Yamamoto made up the No. 1 doubles team on the Konawaena tennis team this past spring where they became the 2015 BIIF champions. The duo is playing separately in the tourney with Yamamoto teaming up with Gallagher and Arakaki teaming with Guccione.
The tournament is hosting 140 participants in a variety of divisions, but the main draw is the open divisions, which features three categories: men, women and mixed.
Along with the competition, the event — which helps raise scholarship funds for eligible West Hawaii college-bound seniors — is also offering prizes, games and a silent auction.