Nishikawa finds there’s no need for finishing kick
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
K.J. Nishikawa's soccer career has been revived and she urges other young women from Hawai'i who want to play after college to check out the Women's Premier Soccer League.
University of Pacific photo
After playing in the NCAA Tournament on a Big West Conference championship team as a sophomore, and being named second-team all-conference her junior and senior seasons, Nishikawa "thought I was done" when she graduated from California's University of the Pacific a year ago.
K.J. Nishikawa "thought I was done" after her senior season at University of the Pacific.
"I didn't think I would ever play serious soccer again," said Nishikawa, a 1997 Iolani School graduate from Kane'ohe. But last November, one of her former UOP teammates persuaded her to try out for the California Storm in the highest-ranking regional amateur league.
Nishikawa has been a starting midfielder ever since for the Storm, who are 7-3 in the Premier League and contending for a spot in the championship game on Aug. 3.
"K.J. is a very dynamic force," Storm co-coach Jerry Zanelli said. "She has been a key in winning balls in the center of the field, which determines a lot more about a game than who scores.
"As the World Cup showed, if you lose the middle, you lose the game."
Nishikawa has remained at Pacific to earn her physical therapy degree and commutes 45 minutes from the campus in Stockton to Sacramento for home games.
"We play only on weekends, and we're responsible for our own conditioning," Nishikawa said. Last Saturday the Storm flew to Salt Lake City for a first-place showdown (they lost). On Friday they'll play at historic Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.
"It's a fun thing to do after college," says Nishikawa, but it's a one-year shot for her. "When I finish PT school in December, I'm coming home for rotations in hospitals or clinics."
Responds Zanelli: "I wish she would stay for another year and go for her doctorate."
For many of the players, the Premier League is much more than a fun interlude before they enter the real world.
"A lot of the girls are trying for WUSA (the Women's USA professional league)," Nishikawa said. The Premier League claims to have 70 graduates in the WUSA, and the Storm boasts Brandi Chastain and Julie Foudy among its professional alumni.
"Girls from Hawai'i who want to get to the pros should try to find a Premier League team to get experience and exposure," Nishikawa said.
Start by checking the Premier League web site. Try-out information is included.
CORNER KICKS: K.J. Nishikawa's sister, Shari Nishikawa (Iolani '00) has started two years for Loyola Marymount, where she will be a junior this fall. ... K.J. Nishikawa says of her personal soccer growth: "If I was this good in high school, soccer would be so simple, and my body would appreciate it." ... She is one of the smaller players in any game, but coach Jerry Zanelli says: "She bounces as hard as anybody I've ever seen. Size is not that important in soccer." ... In addition to California and Utah, the Women's Premier League has teams in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. ...Andrea Alfiler (Kapa'a '97), the only player from Hawai'i drafted by the WUSA, is back with the Philadelphia Charge, on the reserve squad, after being cut earlier in the season. Alfiler was NAIA national Player of the Year last fall at California's Azusa Pacific University.
