Veteran Leaders To Carry Young Mustangs In OIA White
By MidWeek Staff
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Del.icio.usOften the first step to a good season is a team’s ability to get out of its own way. So if the Kalaheo girls soccer team is to be undone, it will come from without and not from within, according to longtime coach Alan Heu.
“The cohesiveness on this team speaks volumes for the girls,” said Heu.“There’s no drama about this and no drama about that. With past teams we had drama, but we haven’t seen that with this group.”
Heu also likes his talent level as they prepare for their Dec. 1 OIA White Conference opener versus McKinley, although Kalaheo will be among the younger teams with only nine returnees from last year and 11 newcomers.
But while youthful may describe the Mustangs as a whole, veteran leadership will define them. Back in the fold are senior co-captains Kainoa Makua and Heather Osborn, as well as up-and-coming juniors Sara McAllaster and Monique Ishikawa.
Makua is projected to be goalkeeper, while Osborn is a defender.
“Kainoa is involved in a leadership program here at the school, which is one of the reasons why the team selected her,” said Heu.“She’s sort of a director - she helps guide her teammates. She has all the qualities of a good goalkeeper: She has good height and good hands. She usually has quite a bit on her plate, but she decided to concentrate just on soccer this year in hopes of having a good year.
“Heather is a leader, too,” he added. “Her GPA is over 4.0 and she brings those smarts to soccer. She knows how to read the game and see what’s happening. Kids like to talk but often forget how when they get on the field.
Communication is a key part of the game. She talks. She’s a director.”
While Makua and Osborn were chosen as captains by their teammates, McAllaster and Ishikawa have both been designated as junior captains by the coaching staff with an eye to the future.
“We’re trying to get all our kids to be a team year round so that they stay together. We want to keep the momentum going,” he said.
McAllaster is a mid-fielder, while Ishikawa is a center-mid.
“Sara has speed and speed kills with her,” Heu said of McAllaster.“She shows leadership, too. She attended a leadership council on the Mainland recently, and we’re hoping she can bring that to the team.
“She’s a good ball handler.
Her technical ability and her tactical ability are both good.”
Heu describes Ishikawa, who transferred from Iolani where she played as an underclassman, as “a diamond in the rough.”
“She’s almost a field general. Her technical ability and her tactical ability both rank very high on the team.”
Goals were hard to come by for the Mustangs a year ago, while defense was their forte. This time around, “It will be a total rebuilding year for our defense.
“Our offense has matured with that year (of experience), but now we’ll be real young in the back,” Heu added.
The Mustangs were in Division I last year before being moved down during the off-season. In the White Conference, their opponents will now include Kaimuki, Farrington and McKinley from the East and Leilehua, Waianae, Waialua and Radford from the West.
Kalaheo will play each East team twice - home and away - and each West foe once for a 10-game regular season.
Regardless of their affiliation, Heu expects his team “to be tested.”
The Mustangs were to play Kailua last week in a pre-season scrimmage. The Surfriders, ironically, are moving from DII to DI this season.
“We want to come out of the gate playing well,” Heu said.“Hopefully, that will help set the tone for the rest of our season.”
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