HANAPEPE – There are no trophies handed out, no all-star teams named. Official records aren’t even kept. But at the 2001 Pony Baseball of Kaua’i Goodwill Tournament, the absence of such competitive motivators doesn’t get in the way of desire.
HANAPEPE – There are no trophies handed out, no all-star teams named. Official records aren’t even kept.
But at the 2001 Pony Baseball of Kaua’i Goodwill Tournament, the absence of such competitive motivators doesn’t get in the way of desire.
“These kids out here just love to play baseball,” tournament chairman Michael Koerte said. “It’s a lot of fun to watch kids who really want to play.”
For the most part, the participants in the 18-team tournament were not first-string players on their respective clubs.
“It’s a chance for kids that don’t get to play as much during the season to play a lot,” Koerte said. “The first-stringers go off to the all-star tournaments and they know they’re going to be playing. The goodwill tournament is for kids who don’t play in this kind of format very often.”
The tournament, held on three fields at Hanapepe Stadium, boasts no winners and does not allow protests. It’s run through Hawai’i Youth State Baseball and is designed to build camaraderie.
“There’s no pressure on these kids,” Lihu’e Bronco coach Ferdinand Dosono said. “Sometimes you get the best results from kids when you don’t put pressure on them.”
But that doesn’t impede the desire to win – or the joy. Proof of that was found when Dosono’s Broncos held off PAL B (Oahu) for a 6-5 win. The cheers went up and Dosono began climbing the fence.
“Well, it’s always nice to win,” the coach said. “We’re still out here being competitive.”
And perhaps finding diamonds in the rough.
“I had a second-string guy who said he wanted to pitch,” Dosono said. “He never got the chance during the season, but now we were able to give him a chance.
“He can really throw.”
The youngster wasn’t the only player trying out a new position. Without the pressure of victory, coaches seemed to feel more comfortable trying their players in different spots.
“These kids have a great attitude,” Dosono said. “They are very coachable, and that makes them easy to teach.”
Also relatively easy, according to Koerte, was the organization of the tournament.
The goodwill event includes two teams from Kona, four from Mililani and four Oahu Police Athletic League (PAL) teams. West Kaua’i has five teams and Lihu’e three. The same 18 teams travel from between the four regions represented from year to year playing the goodwill tourney.
Because the Lihu’e association was busy hosting the Hawai’i Region Mustang Tournament last week, West Kaua’i handled the organization of the goodwill tournament.
“It was awesome how our associations came together for this,” said Koerte, also the West Kaua’i Youth Baseball League president. “We’ve got six associations and they all came out to handle something.
“We have housed all the visiting teams and fed them,” Koerte said. “And it’s all come off wonderfully.”
Koerte said that between donations and food booth and T-shirt sales, the project becomes “no cost” for the host.
The West Kaua’i associations responsible are Koloa (Doreen Masumura), Kalawai (Kenny Meatoga), Hanapepe (Bert Nishida), Kaumaka (Chlorie Igne), Waimea (Naoma Resquer) and Kekaha (Edmond Acoba). Koerte also said the contributions of West Kaua’i vice president Gary Meckler were key.
