Visiting athletes excited to play ... in paradise
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
An 'ukulele version of the national anthem moved 10,000 soccer players and fans to screams of delight yesterday at the opening ceremonies of the 2003 Snickers U.S. Youth Soccer Far West Regional Championships.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
"He's wonderful," said Kimberly Teel, a Las Vegas soccer mom who, like most of the other adults at the Waikiki Shell, seemed starstruck by Jake Shimabukuro's sweet cascades of notes and unassumingly playful showmanship.
Kids toss around a soccer-style beach ball during the U.S. Youth Soccer's opening ceremony at the Waikiki Shell yesterday. Athletes from 14 states are competing in the regional championships at the Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Park.
"You're very lucky to live here," she said.
Teel sat in the front row of the Shell's seating areas, braving the late afternoon sun with other soccer families from desert realms. Athletes from 14 states are participating in the championships, held at Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Park. City official believe that the visitors attracted by the games are likely to pump $12 million into Hawai'i's economy.
The Arizona adults who sat behind Teel swore their children were concentrating on the championships first, delaying cutting loose in Hawai'i until after the competitions.
"Soccer first," said Mary Memken, whose 16-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son had both made it to the championships. "Then we go to Maui for vacation."
A group of 12- and 13-year-old boys from Wyoming, who made their way to the concession stands during the show, said that although they planned to do well in the tournament, they had managed to find a few moments here and there to take note of Honolulu's diversions, and had their own ideas about which ranked first.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
"The beaches are awesome," said Malcolm Taylor.
Las Vegas soccer teammates, from left, Stacey Brinkman, Victoria Chang and Eli Null, all 12, enjoy dancing in the sun during the opening ceremony.
"So is looking at the girls," said Logan Vierkant.
"The bikinis are good," Gentry Shreve said.
"I like the smoothies," said Trevor Edwards.
Also mentioned were Hawai'i's tree's. Not just the palm trees, they explained: just trees in general.
"We don't have many in Wyoming," one of the boys said.
Behind the boys from Wyoming, athletes were queuing up for junk food, most of them suspiciously eyeing the malassada truck and moving on to hot dogs, hamburgers and pretzels.
"I don't know what those are," Sebastian Peterlin of San Francisco said of his decision to bypass the pastries.
The 13-year-old girls from Juneau, Alaska, headed straight for the malassadas. They said they knew "fry bread" when they saw it.
Juneau athletes Elizabeth Tallmadge and Kelsey Messing said they were pretty impressed with just about everything in Honolulu, but were especially pleased with the shopping opportunities.
"Clothes," they said in unison, drawing out the word and closing their eyes dreamily. Clothes-shopping in Juneau was extremely limited, they said.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
"They actually have shops here," Tallmadge said. "Juneau is fun to visit: You can go to the glacier one day, and leave the next."
Hawai'i's Jake Shimabukuro plays the 'ukulele version of the national anthem to thousands of athletes and fans during opening ceremonies for U.S. Youth Soccer's regional championships.
The kids weren't blind to some of the state's more challenging qualities: those seldom mentioned in travel ads.
Tallmadge said the Juneau girls were having to guard carefully against sunburn, including wearing T-shirts at times when others were more sparsely attired.
"It's hot," Messing said. "Great for everything else, bad for playing."
The Wyoming boys talked excitedly and all at once when they described their encounters with Hawai'i wildlife.
"The bugs ...," one began.
"The roaches!" another said. "They're huge!"
"I counted 11 geckos last night in the dorm. And one other lizard ..."
"Two. Remember? There was that big lizard, and then there was the baby ..."
"And why are there so many wild cats here? And we saw wild chickens and roosters ..."
The boys moved off toward the food stands, still comparing insect, reptile, bird and mammal stories as they went. One glanced back with one more comment to share before getting back to the business of being boys.
"It's just more exciting here," he said.
Correction: Soccer players from Juneau, Alaska, were quoted in this story. Juneau was misspelled in a previous version.
