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Kailua Girls Soccer Rebuilds With Solid Building Blocks

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Kailua High School junior Pume Kanoa-Doctorello
dives to block a shot during a soggy Surfrider
soccer practice. Photo by Nathalie Walker, staff
photographer.

Kailua girls soccer coach Wil Kimura has found that there’s no ideal time to retire. He began his 15th season last week after having said that he would hang up the whistle last spring. But his enthusiasm for the game is just as high as it’s always been.

“My own daughters graduated a long time ago - I thought I’d have retired then - but it’s been great all of these years,” Kimura said.“Every year is fun. It’s always been fun. We’ve always had great kids here, and so I’ve hung around.

“This year, I have a lot of freshmen, some whose sisters have played for me, and they’ve told me I have to stay around until they graduate.”

Kimura has promoted assistant Kimi Kamiyama to the title of co-head coach, and should she inherit the job at some point in the future, she’ll find the program in good shape. The Surfriders have made the state tournament nine times in Kimura’s 14 seasons and were the “feel good” story of the local soccer community in February of 2004 when they made it to the Oahu Interscholastic Association title game, losing to West power Mililani.

This season could be one of the more challenging for the Surfriders. In addition to returning just two seniors from last year’s team, the OIA has also split into two divisions, meaning a home-and-home schedule with their East rivals will be in place, allowing each team to play each other twice in the regular season. The Surfriders will compete in Division I along with Kalani, Kalaheo, Castle, Moanalua, Kahuku and Kaiser. (Roosevelt, Farrington, McKinley and Kaimuki, formerly of the East, have been assigned to Division II).

“We’ll have two rounds of really competitive games - everyone is really tough - and we’ll play 12 games instead of 10,” said Kimura, whose team finished 6-4 last year.“In the (Division I) East, Kalani will be really strong. They have a couple of transfers, too. Kalaheo and Moanalua will also be strong.

“In my 15 years here, this will be my youngest team,” he added. “A lot of freshmen will play a bunch, so this will truly be a rebuilding year for us.”

Indeed, seven of the nine seniors that completed their eligibility late last winter were starters for Kailua. Forward Resi Lee and defender Tiare Siobal are the only seniors back in the fold, but both figure to be among the league’s best this season.

Lee was a First Team All-Conference selection (by the East coaches) last season, while Siobal performed well during her junior season after having transferred from Kaiser.

“Tiare is very coachable, and she has very, very good speed,” Kimura said of Siobal. “This is only her third year of playing soccer, but she’s (already) a good aggressive defender.”

Where on the field Lee will play this season is still to be determined, according to Kimura.

“If we had her playing forward, we would have a lot of speed there, but I don’t know if we’ll have the luxury of playing her up front,” he said. “We’ll rely on her heavily. She has it all - stamina like you wouldn’t believe, speed, skills ... she’s the whole package. She didn’t have size before, but now she’s about 5-5.”

Kailua’s defensive prospects are bolstered by the return of junior goalkeeper Pume KanoaDoctorello. A standout as a freshman in 2004-05, she was slowed by illness last year before returning to form late in the season.

“She had a fabulous season as a freshman, taking us to states, and she almost carried us to states again last year,” Kimura said. “She’s a great athlete. She has some height, she can dive well, she jumps well, and she has great hands.”

Kimura is also high on junior midfielder Mel Yoshida.

“She’ll be really strong in the middle,” he said.

Elsewhere on the field, the youth movement will be highly visible, according to the coach. But while a lot of familiar faces are gone, the underclassmen aren’t lacking in the talent department.

“A lot of the younger kids have good skills, and that’s a nice feeling,” Kimura said. “We have some decent speed.”

Kailua will play a pair of pre-season games at home this week. The Surfriders play Mid-Pacific at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, with Leilehua set to visit Kailua at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.