NAWILIWILI — The Kauai Youth Football 15 and Under All-Stars will kick off against Samoa Friday at Aloha Stadium on Oahu. “This is it,” said Brad Hiranaka, commissioner for KYF and offensive coordinator for the KYF all stars. “This is
NAWILIWILI — The Kauai Youth Football 15 and Under All-Stars will kick off against Samoa Friday at Aloha Stadium on Oahu.
“This is it,” said Brad Hiranaka, commissioner for KYF and offensive coordinator for the KYF all stars. “This is our last week to practice before we leave Friday. We play Samoa almost as soon as we land in Honolulu.”
Faced with the prospect of playing Samoa and a team from Washington, KYF all stars head coach Kalani Apilado said there was no holiday for the boys Monday.
“We’re going with what we have,” Apilado said. “Hopefully, we can do well on Oahu. We represent Kauai with players coming from the Westside, Lihue area and some from the Eastside.”
Hiranaka said the tournament will start Friday and continue at Aloha Stadium until Sunday.
“We had room for five additional players, but at this point, I think we’re pretty much set,” Hiranaka said. “We watched the Samoa team on YouTube and they are big. Hopefully, we’re quicker, and faster.”
Currently, the KYF team has 25 boys on its all star roster, including two boys who are in the sixth grade.
“They’re young,” Hiranaka said. “But they’ve shown they have the maturity that we can bring them up and give them this experience.”
The commissioner said KYF is currently accepting applications for players from the Westside, the Lihue area and the Eastside for its upcoming fall season.
Players are being accepted for two divisions, including players in grades 4 through 6, and players in grades 7 and 8.
Visit www.kauaiyouthfootball.com for application forms and more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.