KAILUA-KONA — The Old Airport Soccer Fields in Kailua-Kona buzzed with excitement over the weekend of November 9-10, as youth players from across the island gathered to compete in the highly anticipated Big Island Hawaii Youth Soccer Association (HYSA) Championships.
While the two-day event drew enthusiastic crowds of parent and family supporters who lined the perimeter of the field with tents and coolers under Kona’s sunny skies, the less-than-ideal field conditions quickly became a big part of the championship drama.
As matches progressed, balls often stopped dead in waterlogged patches; simple passes over divots and muddy potholes turned into tactical nightmares; and sudden slips turned promising plays into moments of chaos. Yet players adapted well and embraced the challenges to keep their championship dreams alive.
Among the final championship matches, ten teams ranging from 8U (8 &Under) to 19U (19 &Under) won their respective “A Brackets” and emerged as BIHYSA Champions. Three of the winning teams are Kona-based clubs: Kona Super Sonics 8U Blue, Kona Super Sonics 10U White, and City SC Hawaii 12U Premier.
— 8U Kona Super Sonics 8U Blue
— 10U Boys Kona Super Sonics 10U White
— 10U Girls Kipu‘upu‘u 10U Girls
— 12U Boys City SC Hawaii 12U Premier
— 12U Girls Rush BI 2013G
— 14U Boys Surf U14B
— 14U Girls Surf U14G
— 16U Boys Rush BI 2009B
— 16U Girls Rush BI 2009G
— 19U Boys Na Hoa U19 Kane
City SC Hawaii 12U Premier head coach, Liam Carty, was ecstatic to see his team win after defeating Rush BI 2014B Premier, 5 to 1.
“It’s great to win!” Carty said. “Seeing their faces when the whistle blew and running off the pitch, that was great. We had a really good group of players, always giving 100%. And it’s a good feeling having all of the parents coming over and thanking you, and the kids asking if I could stay on as coach for another year. It’s a great feeling. Seeing the players develop, I hope to someday see them playing soccer on my TV.”
Originally from England, the 21-year-old moved to Kona in August to become part of the coaching staff for City SC Hawaii for one year after receiving a coaching opportunity through the Manchester Metropolitan University.
“I got so lucky!” said Carty who has also coached U12s in England. “There were multiple places that I could’ve coached like California and New York, but no one wanted to come to Hawaii which I think is the greatest place to come to — it’s paradise!”
Super Sonics U10 head coach, Eddie Lee, also shared his excitement after watching his team defeat Rush BI 2015B Premier, 2 to 0.
“It feels so good!” Lee said. “These kids started off at 6-years old playing in the U10 division. For these kids here today, this is their third year in the U10s. They went from being the youngest, then slowly progressed to the top. So, this is actually their first season playing in the right division. Having that experience of being younger and being pushed, these guys came together and played their best today.”
Lee added that what’s most important for his team is understanding that “it’s about teamwork and being a good person.”
“The winning will come naturally,” Lee said. “If they put in the hard work along with having the right values, the winning will come naturally, and it will carry them through life.”
Referee assignor, Jonathan Walsh, who has been involved in HYSA for 15-years with eight of those years as HYSA president explained, everything BIHYSA does from the start of the season till the final championship matches, revolves around their mission statement.
“It’s about using the competitive sport of soccer to develop young athletes in their emotional, mental, and physical development,” Walsh said. “Everything we do during regular season and eventually during playoffs is to use the sport to help develop them and teach them how to win and lose properly by setting examples and knowing that this is very similar to life — nothing goes the way you want to, calls don’t go the way you want it to, but how do you respond? What defines us as people are not the bad things that happen to us, but it’s how we respond to those things.”
Walsh added that the weekend was all about looking at how the players respond to challenges they were faced with by showing good sportsmanship.
“I think how we respond is the most important thing,” Walsh said. “We all have issues, we all make mistakes, so it’s about helping these kids understand what’s the right way to do things and try to role model that for them.
“Having these kids see their parents, coaches, referees and just everyone who is involved in the game handling themselves properly. We want these kids to have a guide, a mentor, to sort of show them how to win and lose properly. And that’s the most important thing for us. If we can do that then we are following our mission statement.”