HILO — As he stood in the parking lot last July at Hilo Bayfront and looked at an empty soccer field for the island’s premier American Youth Soccer Organization tournament, Maurice Miranda could only shake his head.
Most egregious to Miranda, state AYSO director and Honokaa High coach, was the fact that Maui, with one entrant, represented better than East Hawaii boys teams in the oldest division.
One year later, the efforts of Troy Keolanui, Miranda and others will be evident with eight teams entered in the under-19 division for a renaissance edition of the annual Big Island Candies AYSO Volcano International Soccer Tournament, which begins Friday.
“Personally, I made a big push to support the summer high school league,” said Keolanui, director of coaching for Hilo AYSO (Region 274). “Basically what it is, we get the high school kids together during the summer, and we team them with younger players, at the intermediate level, and get them experience.
“I got most of those teams to enter the tournament.”
In terms of participation, the recently ended summer league was a success, Miranda said. While no playoffs were held, Volcano offers a de facto championship. Boys and girls champions title games will be crowned Sunday.
“We’ve been running the summer league for 15 years, but last year it was on life support,” Miranda said. “I’m was really encouraged by the turnout and (at Volcano) this year.”
The U19 field is bigger than the other three divisions (U14, U12 and U10), with four-team fields for boys and girls.
Miranda is always good to bring the Dragons down to Hilo Bayfront, first-year Kealakehe boys coach Alden Sawada has a team, Kamehameha has a presence with Kevin Waltjen-coached Hilo Thunder and Rush 99 is a Hawaii Youth Soccer Association club team, coached by Terry Yamane.
On the girls side, Maui’s Excel returns, teams formed by Waiakea coach Jason Nakayama and Hilo coach Skee Saplan are entered, and Kealakehe coach Kim Evan’s Kona squad includes an influx of Honokaa players.
“We give the summer league teams high school names, but they are not necessarily associated with each other,” Miranda said.
Nakayama’s team, for example, includes players who attend Kamehameha, and the benefits can be see during next the high school season at both schools.
“Any time you give players a chance to get extra touches or play with players they’ll see during the (BIIF) season and play in pressure-packed games, that’s a good thing,” Miranda said.
The U10 field includes a team from California.
Keolanui can be seen during the next three days wearing many hats, including coach/referee/facilitator, all the while spreading the AYSO pillars of sportsmanship, positive coaching and “everyone plays.”
“(AYSO) has pretty strong principles,” Keolanui said. “I’ve been involved for 20 years, and I keep coming back. Since everybody plays, it means the really elite players have to step down and help the team cause.
“We’re always looking for volunteers.”
While Volcano is an AYSO tournament, select club teams are allowed to enter.
Coaches would appear to face a conundrum when it comes to AYSO philosophies. All coaches want to win, but how do you balance that against the fact that you can’t just rely on your best players all the time and relegate less experienced players to the bench?
Miranda has a simple answer, and he proved the balancing act could be performed when he coached Honokaa, led by a core group of his former AYSO players, to consecutive HHSAA championships in 2011-12.
“It’s always been about development,” he said. “If everybody plays, somewhere along the line, winning and losing takes care of itself.
“Look at the end result. It’s not about winning. I’ve never coached a (future) pro player at Honokaa. We’re not training pros, we’re training good citizens.”
U19
Friday
1:30 Rush 99 Hilo Thunder
3:00 Waiakea Girls Excel
Saturday
9:00 Waiakea Girls Hilo Girls
10:30 Rush 99 Dragons
12:00 Hilo Thunder Kealakehe
12:00 Waiakea Girls Kona Girls
1:30 Excel Hilo Girls
3:00 Kealakehe Dragons
4:30 Excel Kona Girls
Sunday
9:00 Hilo Girls Kona Girls
10:30 Hilo Thunder Dragons
12:00 Rush 99 Kealakehe
1:30 Girls Championship
1:30 Girls Consolations
3:00 Boys Consolations
3:00 Boys Championship
U14
Friday
1:30 Hilo Storm Na Hoa
3:00 Leones Negros Kaneohe Knights
Saturday
9:00 Kaneohe Knights Hilo Storm
10:30 Na Hoa Leones Negros
12:00 U19 Waiakea Girls U19 Kona Girls
3:00 Hilo Storm Na Hoa
4:30 Kaneohe Leones Negros
Sunday
10:30 U14 Consolation
12:00 U14 Championship
U 12
Friday
4:30 Hookahi Rajah Dat
Saturday
9:00 Hookahi DFC
10:30 Hilo FC Rajah Dat
1:30 Rajah Dat DFC
3:00 Hookahi Hilo FC
Sunday
9:00 Hilo FC DFC
12:00 Girls Championship
1:30 Boys Championship
U10
Friday
12:00 Hilo Raptors Outlaws FC
1:30 Hilo Gators Catch A Fire
3:00 Rajah Dat Dabbing Pandas
Saturday
9:00 Hilo Raptors Dabbing Pandas
10:30 Hilo Gators Outlaws FC
12:00 Catch A Fire Rajah Dat
1:30 Dabbing Pandas Hilo Gators
3:00 Outlaws FC Catch A Fire
4:30 Hilo Raptors Rajah Dat
Sunday
9:00 Hilo Gators Rajah Dat
10:30 Dabbing Pandas Outlaws FC
12:00 Hilo Raptors Catch A Fire
