The U.S. Youth Soccer Far West Regional tournament concluded at Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Park yesterday without any teams from Hawai'i playing.

Still, coaches and players were happy with their performances and the way they personified what Hawai'i soccer is about.

"We're really happy we could represent Hawai'i," said Michele Nagamine, coach of several Leahi Soccer club teams. "To get three (Leahi) teams into the semifinals ... to have done that was pretty amazing.

"Hawai'i soccer has come a long way. I'm proud of the effort all the teams gave."

Eight of the 24 Hawai'i teams advanced out of the preliminary, pool-play stage.

Of those eight, five made it to Saturday's semifinals, only to see their tournaments end.

"There was one year a while ago where we had six (in the semifinals), but that was a while ago," Hawai'i Youth Soccer Association president Scott Keopuhiwa said. "Unfortunately no one got through, which was kind of disappointing, but we ran up against tough teams.

"We're proud of all of our teams that made it to the semifinals. None of our teams got smashed either; they were all close games. Our teams are right there with some of the best in the country. That's good for Hawai'i soccer."

Twelve teams — boys and girls in divisions from under-14 through under-19 — from the Far West will play in the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in North Little Rock, Ark., from July 22 to 27, joining teams from the East, Midwest and South. Under-12 and under-13 divisions are not included in the national championships.

"It's been fabulous," Region IV Cup chairman Tom Mendoth said. "The weather has been great, the tournament has run smoothly and on time, and there's been no complaints from a single coach on playing conditions.

"The local soccer association came up with plenty of volunteers to make these kids and parents feel at home. It's been a super week. We'll be back here someday."

Abunai 95 boys coach Darrin Goo said it was "a good measuring stick for us to see where we're at and to see what areas we can improve in."

The Abunai 95 boys, in the under-13 division, went 1-1-1 in pool play and didn't advance, but Goo said he felt the team was in every game.

Abunai 95 tied Crossfire Premier 94-Jenkins of Washington, which has "a hundred kids come out for the their tryouts. We had one," Goo said.

Their loss, to the Colorado Rush, included two Abunai defensive errors and three shots that hit the crossbar.

"From a coach's standpoint, overall the team played well and I'm happy we're able to compete with Mainland teams," Goo said. "We're right there with them."

Keopuhiwa said the tournament is changing with the addition of two automatic berths awarded to the winners of the Far West Regionals League spring and fall champions.

"Because they get automatic berths in the tournament now and the Far West Regionals League is dominated by Cal-South teams it ends up being possibly three Cal-South in semifinals as opposed to one or maybe two with a wild card entry," he said. "It makes it tougher for other states to break through."

Cal-South teams captured 10 of the 16 titles yesterday.

"I think the Hawai'i teams in our age group played really well," said Colin Lund, one of three Hawai'i players guest playing on the Colorado Rush, which went through two Hawai'i teams (the HSC Bulls 89B and Real Hawai'i 89B) to get to the championship game. Colorado lost to Arizona, 3-2, yesterday in the under-19 boys finals.

"It was a good experience playing in Regionals; it was a higher level of competition," said Lund, who was joined by Kody Adams and Josiah Motosue on the Colorado team.