The Westside Falcons Boys Under 8 soccer team came home with silver from the Hawai‘i International Cup soccer tournament held recently on O‘ahu.
The BU8 was one of four teams that travelled to the event along with a BU10, a BU12 and the Westside Titarellas to take part in the tournament, said Jane Garma, one of the Westside Falcons team moms, in an e-mail.
With that many teams on the field, the Westside Falcons supplemented its ranks with players from other teams in the Kaua‘i Soccer Association field.
Guest players included one from Real Waimea, two from Tunda Girls, one from Tunda Boys, six from Na Koa, three from the Lihu‘e Cougars and one from the Lihu‘e Tornadoes.
Garma said the tournament is hosted by the Honolulu Bulls Soccer Club with each team guaranteed four games.
“All of our teams gained valuable tournament and soccer experiences by attending this tournament,” Garma said in the e-mail. “This came from playing against some of the best teams in Hawai‘i, and in the upper divisions, against teams from California.”
The BU8 team took this bracket in pool play with a 2-1 record to send them to the championship game where they fell 3-0 to the top seeded Real Hawai‘i, a Honolulu team.
Coming off a 0-0 halftime stalemate, the Westside Falcon BU8 gave up a penalty kick and two goals in the second half in the effort, Garma said.
“On a great note, our referee for the championship game commented on our parents,” Garma said. “He really admired our parents for their positive cheering throughout the game for both teams. Most importantly, he commented on how tough and great our boys played while showing true sportsmanship and respect for the game. That comment was tops for us regardless of the score.”
Garma said the Under 12 boys and girls teams finished with 1-3 records for third place in their brackets. They went on to play in the consolation bracket for fourth place honors.
The Westside Falcons BU10 team played in a field of five teams and played well, but came up short.
Garma said the trip was a wonderful experience where the children made new friends, bonded well, and had outings to the water park as well as a night at Planet Fun in Kunia which was opened only for the soccer teams.
She noted that this wouldn’t have been possible without the numerous contributions and cooperation of soccer leaders and community organizations.
