WAILUA — On the South end of Lydgate Park, Natasha Kai didn’t stand a chance. As the former member of the U.S. Women’s National soccer team stood in goal, she prepared herself for an attack in which the numbers weren’t
WAILUA — On the South end of Lydgate Park, Natasha Kai didn’t stand a chance. As the former member of the U.S. Women’s National soccer team stood in goal, she prepared herself for an attack in which the numbers weren’t in her favor. Thirty kids. Four balls. One net. The latter was the target for the 30 10-to-12 year-olds and Kai happened to be the only thing blocking the desired meeting of rubber and mesh.
The first ball zipped past her right side into the net. The next went wide. Kai caught the third shot mid-air and booted it with her powerful right leg back into the fray, only for it to return in another wave of shots. By the time the melee was over, Kai, breathing hard, was just as ready as the kids were for the mid-day drink and snack break.
“These kids are great,” Kai said, catching her breath. “This is my first time doing a soccer camp. I didn’t quite know what to expect but it’s been awesome all around.”
Kai, a member of the Women’s Professional Soccer league’s Philadelphia Independence, was one of the several professional and former college players coaching Kaua‘i’s youth at the Kyle Nakazawa Soccer Hawai‘i Camp at the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Sports Park in Wailua this week.
This is the second year Nakazawa has brought a group of professionals to Kaua‘i. After last year’s inaugural camp, the campers returned in bunches. Nakazawa said well over 100 soccer players hit the pitch to learn from the impressive list of pros.
Nakazawa assembled his group of instructors from players that he’s met over the years. In addition to Kai, who Nakazawa — a member of Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union and former UCLA Bruin— met in Philadelphia, Nakazawa was joined by David Estrada, a former UCLA All-PAC 10 now with the MLS Seattle Sounders, Morgan Langley, a Honolulu native and teammate of Nakazawa in Philadelphia, and Trevor Hunter, a UCLA goalkeeper from 2006 through 2010.
On Wednesday afternoon each coach was assigned a group of kids and stations to work on drills. Estrada had the youngest campers and ushered them through basic drills.
“At this age it’s not so much on the technical skills as it is for them to be having fun,” Estrada said.
In the middle field, Hunter had the camp’s goaltenders running through jumping and diving drills.
The keepers cycled through the net with Hunter taking shots from the corner with a bare foot.
“Make sure you keep your hips open to the field,” Hunter said as he prepared to shoot. “If you’re open to just the shooter you can’t defend against anybody else.”
Kaua‘i High School girls soccer goalie Kawehi Louis-Diamond found Hunter’s instruction to be especially beneficial.
“He’s awesome. He’s fixing up our technique,” Louis-Diamond said. “I don’t really have much goalie coaching here so it helps me a lot. I’m the oldest one in the group and I’m still learning a lot of stuff.”
Later in the day, Louis-Diamond used what she learned to lead the Red Raider girls to a 5-0 shutout of the Kapa‘a Warriors.
Louis-Diamond’s implementation of what she learned was exactly what Nakazawa envisioned when he first conceived the idea of a soccer camp on Kaua‘i.
The Los Angeles native has family on the island. Growing up, he would spend summers and winter breaks here. In that time, Nakazawa grew familiar with the Kaua‘i soccer scene and now wants to help it progress.
“A lot of times kid down here are not exposed to what the kids on the mainland are,” he said. “It’s a shame because there is a ton of talent here.”
In the 1990s, Kai was one of those talented Hawaiian youth. Growing up on O‘ahu’s North shore, Kai was naturally gifted on the pitch. But she said for kids outside of the Honolulu metropolis, gaining proper training and exposure can be difficult. Part of her coaching at the camp was to show Kaua‘i’s soccer community that, although there might not be as much exposure here, soccer players can still make it big.
“Somehow the soccer god’s blessed me with talent, and I just want to come back here and do everything I can to help these kids that have that goal and dream to become where I’m at today,” Kai said. “A lot of times we’re missed because we’re in the middle of the ocean and paradise. I just want to open doors and help kids do what they love.”
Kaua‘i’s Mariko Strickland, also an instructor at the camp, said she can relate to the challenges that face Kaua‘i’s potential soccer stars. Strickland, a soccer standout at San Diego State and Long Beach State, said the quality of instructors at the camp is inspiring to the Kaua‘i soccer community.
“It isn’t something that happens here all the time,” Strickland said.
Nakazawa said because of the overwhelming success of this years camp, he plans to make the Kaua‘i camp a tradition. In the future, Nakazawa said he hopes even more campers will attend, and hopefully more quality instructors.
“We want these kids to be in a competitive environment where they’re learning,” he said. “Eventually I want to bring some college coaches over here. The more exposed they are, the more opportunity.”
• Tyson Alger, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or by emailing talger@ thegardenisland.com. Follow him on twitter.com/tysonalger.
