The waiting was finally over for Kaua‘i High School senior Skye Shimabukuro. On Tuesday morning, in front of family, friends, teammates and coaches, the Lady Red Raider soccer star officially signed her letter of intent to accept a scholarship and
The waiting was finally over for Kaua‘i High School senior Skye Shimabukuro. On Tuesday morning, in front of family, friends, teammates and coaches, the Lady Red Raider soccer star officially signed her letter of intent to accept a scholarship and play for the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa.
Shimabukuro verbally committed to the university in November, but due to NCAA restrictions, it wasn’t until Tuesday that she was officially allowed to sign with the school.
This fall, she will join Kaua‘i grad Tiffany Ikeda-Simao and Kamehameha Schools Kapalama grad out of Kapa‘a Mari Punzal on the Warrior squad.
“It was exciting,” she said. “But I think I was more excited when I committed (back in the fall).”
The senior has played all four of her years at Kaua‘i and plays on Real Hawai‘i, a club team on O‘ahu. She said she appreciated all the girls and coaches she’s met over the years and it is the experiences she’s had with them, that she said she will remember the most.
“Automatically, what stands out for me was that, of the four years, (Kaua‘i) advanced to the state championships three times. Each time, I’ve played with a different group of girls, and from being the baby on the team to being the captain who takes care of the others, it’s all the different girls who helped me be the person I am, on and off the field,” she said.
Shimabukuro finished her final Kaua‘i season with 20 goals — seven in the preseason, 10 in the regular season and three in the postseason state tournament — and helped lead Kaua‘i (9-1-1) to its first Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation title since 2006 and its second straight, third-place finish at the state championship. She is an honor roll student and has made the Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association’s state all-tournament team three times.
“(Of our state tournament performance), as a team, we were really strong and I think we did really well,” she said. “I just want to say ‘congratulations and good job’ to both the Kaua‘i and Kapa‘a teams who represented us really well at states.”
Shimabukuro is the third Kaua‘i athlete to sign with Hawai‘i this year. In the fall, softball player Jessica Iwata and baseball player Trent Allianic signed to player their respective sports with Hawai‘i.
Hawai‘i also already has a strong contingent of Kaua‘i athletes. Currently, Hawai‘i has five football players from Kaua‘i (Keala and Keahi Watson, Kenny Estes, Jett Jasper and Vaughn Meatoga), two tennis players (Crystine Ito and Dasha Lagmay), two soccer players (Mari Punzal and Tiffany Ikeda-Simao), a softball player (Jocelyn Enrique), a swimmer (Keenan Anaya) and a golfer (T.J. Kua).
For the rest of the year, until she joins the Warrior team, Shimabukuro plans to continue playing and training with her O‘ahu team.
At Hawai‘i, Shimabukuro plans on majoring in Kinesiology.
• Lanaly Cabalo, sports editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or lcabalo@kauaipubco.com
