LIHUE — Kauai High School has promoted coach Guga Tosi to head coach of the varsity boys soccer program.
“Fundamentally — as an educator, as a soccer coach above all — what I want is the kids to be better than the year from what they were the year before. Not just on the field but off the field,” Tosi said Friday. “The way I teach and coach, the way I try to impact not just the kids but parents as well and everybody around the program, the decision we make in how much effort we put in is what you (get) at the end of the day.
“My goal for the season is that every day, you come in and show up, give 100 percent and grow as a player. You’ll become a better player, but also become a better citizen,” he continued. “One thing I tell the kids all the time is I don’t do things half-assed. Everything I do in my life … is 100 percent. Once I committed to be part of Kauai High School, I give them my 120 percent. The only thing I expect back from the kids and parents is the same — their 100 percent back.”
Former head coach Martin Steinhaus stepped away from the position to focus on other coaching projects.
Steinhaus was the varsity head coach for Kauai High the last two seasons and was the junior varsity head coach the four seasons prior. The Red Raiders had a 2-7-3 record this past Kauai Interscholastic Federation varsity boys soccer season.
“I’ll miss the companionship. I have fond memories of the boys. A lot of them, I’ve received since the very beginning. I’ve coached them in JV as freshmen up to their senior game a few weeks ago,” Steinhaus said Friday. “Overall, it was a very positive experience. I’ll have good memories of all of it.”
Steinhaus brought Tosi into the program this past season.
“We were a team. At the end of the day, this whole denotation of who’s head coach or who’s assistant coach, we didn’t really care too much about,” Tosi said. “For us, we’re a team. Martin and I, we were both kind of the head of the program. We were both, together, trying to get this team what it can be. … Just one group of guys who are qualified to run a program, trying to do the same thing toward one goal.”
Steinhaus said of Tosi taking over: “I think he’s going to do a great job. He comes from a soccer background as well, just like I do. He’s enthusiastic. He’s caring. He’s well-connected with the kids. I think Kauai High has a bright future with him. The challenge for him is to make sure the kids play soccer offseason and not just during the high school season.”
As a coach, Tosi emphasizes developing individual talent but also making that talent work within a team dynamic.
Tosi also aims to help his student-athletes reach their goals after high school whether it be soccer or other things.
“For me, because I’m trying to focus on them as a person as a whole — in soccer and beyond soccer — I’m helping them through it,” Tosi said. “I’ve been helping kids, the seniors this year, write their college essays. How do we get them going into the next phase of their lives in a positive way. … For me, if it’s soccer, great. If not, we can at least give them a path toward beyond high school.”
