Bernard Victor, 82, Retires As Surfrider Softball Coach

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Kailua softball coach Bernard Victor. Photo by Nathalie Walker, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Coaching and playing softball have always been more than a pastime for Bernard Victor. It’s been a lifestyle.

“I used to play five times during the week and twice on Sunday,” said Victor, who recently retired after 32 seasons at Kailua High School. “Softball used to be my game, too. I had a love for the game, and baseball was kind of in my family.”

Under Victor’s charge, Kailua was a model program, winning six OIA titles (most recently in 2006) and four state championships in addition to turning out its share of local college players through the years. The Surfriders won three straight in the OIA from 1994-96 and three of their state titles in succession, from 1995-97.

Victor, 82, also built their state-of-the-art field, now named after him, which was completed in 2002 with help from several friends in the construction business. Considered perhaps the finest on-campus prep facility in the state, the field was the site of the 2003 OIA title game on OC-16, which Kailua won over Mililani, en route to its state championship the following week.

The land under the field had been there for a long time, and then-Kailua athletic director Mel Imai envisioned having a softball diamond on the site.

With the project slow-going and funding not a guarantee through the school, Victor proposed furnishing all materials himself, by way of donations from construction pals.

“Four or five years before that they were talking about building a field. Mel kept saying, ‘Next year, you’ll be playing on your own field here.’ They were just going to make a backstop at first.”

By late morning of most days - even in the off-season - Victor and his assistant coaches could often be found at the field, maintaining the playing surface.

“It’s hard to leave, but time to go,” he said, noting that he also coached Little League for 17 years in addition to coaching various softball teams. “I had five boys, so it took a while to get through all of them,” he laughed.

The MVP in the Victor household, however, has always been his wife, Mae.

“She’s been patient with me for all these years,” he said. “It’s why a lot of coaches quit - because their wife makes them. When I still played, she used to go to almost every game.”

Whoever takes over the Kailua program should find a smooth transition, according to Victor, who was an assistant for 12 years under Howard Okita prior to taking over as the head coach.

“Good luck to whoever comes in,” he said. “They’ll have a good team back, with three or four pitchers who can throw.”