Youths shoot for goal of playing at college level
By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Third-grader Kahekili Bray has only been playing soccer for four years, but he already knows what college he wants to play for.
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Southern Methodist, because that is where his favorite player, Duke Hashimoto, plays.
Kenji Treschuk, right, a 2000 graduate of Moanalua, gives pointers to Malia Brennan, center, and Kevin Wolff at a soccer camp.
"That's where Duke goes, and I want to be like him," Bray said. "He's good at soccer, he's very funny, and he always encourages me."
But Bray, 8, likes Hashimoto not only for his speed or skills, but because "he doesn't know how to play hand games, and Duke makes up his own."
Hashimoto, a 2001 graduate of Iolani from Kapolei, is one of the many college soccer players who return to Hawai'i and help out with clinics, forming bonds with future stars.
"The way I look at it, it is to keep them having fun, not to stress about certain aspects of the game," Hashimoto said. "But to get them to love the game, because that's what's going to get them to keep playing."
He remembers only one clinic he went to at Kamehameha when he was growing up.
"It wasn't something like college kids came down and did it," he said. "I didn't do camps when I was this young."
Hashimoto joined several other college players last month at Kapi'olani Park, helping to teach the boys and girls, ages 6 to 14, basic dribbling, shooting and passing.
But more importantly, they help show the youth that playing in college is possible.
"I didn't know of any college players," Penn State senior defender Kenji Treschuk said about when he was growing up.
"It gives them some hope, it's something that's attainable," Treschuk, a 2000 graduate of Moanalua from Honolulu, said. "They see people who have done it, people who aren't too old and you can relate to and have fun with."
Bray, of Kaimuki, said the fun and encouragement he receives make him work harder.
His older sister, Kahala, said she likes being coached by college players because "they want to have fun too."
Kahala, 11, said being coached by college players is inspiring.
"I know if they did it, I can do it too," said the sixth grader at Kamehameha.
Her favorite player was University of Hawai'i defender Shawn Higa, one of two Rainbow Wahine helping out at the clinic.
"When I was growing up, I never had people to look up to," said Higa, a 2003 graduate of Leilehua from Wahiawa, who is a redshirt freshman.
The other Rainbow Wahine, junior defender Seline Williams, said she enjoys working the clinics because during her college season, she sees a lot of the children at Hawai'i's home soccer games.
Williams, a 2002 graduate of Kamehameha from Mililani, said the only clinics she went when she was young were those with the former semiprofessional team Tsunami.
"I like working with the kids, they always have fun," she said. "It's good because they feel more comfortable with us, like they can have more fun."
One of the reasons the clinic remains fun is it incorporates games such as kick ball and soccer golf, which "help them pick up easy, basic skills," according to 2002 Pearl City alum Daniel Park, who is transferring from Pacific to Willamette this season.
Punahou student Chiemi Bryant teasingly calls Park "Referee Daniel," because he referees their youth games.
She asks the clinic coaches about playing in college, and said they talk about how challenging it is, but also how fun it is.
She said the clinics are fun because, "you get to tease them about how old they are."
It is an indication of how they can sometimes get out of control, said Pepperdine defender Ashlee Doi.
"Sometimes I feel like they don't look up to us," the 2002 Mililani graduate joked. "They're so rascal."
But Doi knows the impact that these clinics will hold on the future of the attendees.
"When I see it, I wish I had it," she said. "They are 6 years old, and they are already playing at a competitive level."
Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.
