LIHU‘E — Ulu Oclit popped up and launched a shot from seven meters out to give the White youth team a come-from-behind 8-7 win Saturday. That match was the first time Kaua‘i Water Polo took the matches out of the
LIHU‘E — Ulu Oclit popped up and launched a shot from seven meters out to give the White youth team a come-from-behind 8-7 win Saturday.
That match was the first time Kaua‘i Water Polo took the matches out of the YMCA pool and into the community, setting up the game at the end of Hanalei pier.
The Blue youth team came out charging, dominating the first half with a 5-0 lead. But the White youth team came out in the second half with effective plays to deadlock the contest, 7-7 with a minute left to play.
Following a missed shot off a crossbar, the White moved the ball down the field and passed off to the middle where Oclit was waiting.
He shot the ball that settled into the high right corner just as time expired for the one-point margin.
“It was a great finish at the buzzer,” said Billy Brown of Kaua‘i Water Polo in an e-mail. “Follwing the youth game, the adults jumped off the end of the pier for the finale.”
Both adult teams battled hard with neither team getting more than a point lead. But the White adult team persevered, establishing a 5-4 first quarter lead and despite being outscored 4-3 by the Blue adult team in the second quarter, settled for an 8-8 halftime deadlock.
Taking advantage of the intermission, the White adults regrouped to outscore the Blue team 9-5 in the second half, icing the 17-13 victory with five points in the final stanza.
“The competition was outstanding, and the level of play was at an all-time high for our team,” Brown said. “The White (adults) ended up winning by four as time expired, but everyone swam under the pier and back to the shore with big grins.”
Brown said this was the first time KWP played a polo game in the bay, and it could not have happened at a better time. “The day was incredible with the games going off so well and everyone having so much fun,” Brown said. “Overall, we had 16 youth play and more than 20 adults playing. We actually had a guy on vacation show up to play after reading about it in the newspaper earlier in the week.”
Ro and Mary Davis, founders of the Swim Kaua‘i Aquatics program, were visiting and showed up to referee the adult game while some of the fire fighters from the Hanalei station coming down to check out the action, Brown said.
When the game started, a light rain was falling, but that cleared to beautiful scenery and a warm sun as the games progressed. Beach-goers were treated to the action because the goals were set right outside the width of the pier enabling them to enjoy the action from the beach.
“Our KWP team is growing by the week and the kids are getting into it,” Brown said. “Our plans are to have a kids team by next summer, training at the YMCA to compete in games with other Hawai‘i teams across the state.”
KWP will host The Kaua‘i Cup water polo tournament, Oct. 16-17 at the YMCA of Kaua‘i. This will be the final event for this year as KWP is already counting the days before returning to Hanalei.
For more information on KWP, or water polo, call Brown at 246-9090.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
