On Kaua’i, it seems, the first taste of big-time athletics comes just about the same time as Yuletide greetings are being handed out. Much like their counterparts at the state’s universities and colleges, sporting participants on the Garden Isle do
On Kaua’i, it seems, the first taste of big-time athletics comes just
about the same time as Yuletide greetings are being handed out.
Much like
their counterparts at the state’s universities and colleges, sporting
participants on the Garden Isle do not get to take hiatuses from their duties
as members of a team just because school has broken for the holidays.
In
fact, for members of the high school soccer and softball teams, not only do
practices continue right through this time of year, but games are scheduled as
well. And that’s not the practice everywhere. In Florida, for instance, schools
may play in tournaments, but no league contests crowd the docket. Here,
however, Kaua’i Interscholastic Federation games are slated for December 23, 27
and 30, as well as January 2.
Though the commitment is nothing those on the
teams didn’t expect.
“We spelled it out very early in the season, back in
June actually,” said Alex Pascual, head basketball coach at Kaua’i High School.
“These are young men who understand that it’s a privilege to be playing.
They’re fine with the schedule.”
For the Red Raiders’ basketball team, that
means Christmas and New Year’s Day off, but nothing more.
“We’ll be
practicing from about 5:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. every night,” Pascual
said.
When asked why, even though school is out of session, he wouldn’t
move his practices to the morning or afternoon, the coach’s answer was quite
logical.
“We want to be on the floor at about the same time KIF games are
played,” Pascual said. “We want their bodies used to playing at that
time.”
Such is not the case for coach Pat Baniaga and the Waimea girls
softball team. Not only has the coach moved practices into the mornings during
the holiday break, but he also has mixed feelings about playing through the
vacation.
“As a coach, I would rather play through,” Baniaga said. “If you
don’t, then you have the girls doing very little for two or three
weeks.
“So when you get them back in January, it’s like starting over
again.”
Then there’s the more personal side.
“As a parent, I’d be
against it,” Baniaga explained. “The practicing and games take away from the
quality family time that these vacations are meant for.”
To accommodate
both sides, Baniaga said he will keep the girls for slightly shorter
practices.
“It’s really just about getting your team together,” the coach
said. “You just want to make sure they’re focused.”
They’d better be. The
Menehunes face Kapa’a Saturday at Kamakani Park in one of the more important
doubleheaders of the season.
Each softball team will play twice during the
break. Kapa’a faces Kaua’i at 5:30 p.m. at Kapa’a Ball Park on Wednesday, Dec.
27. Then the Red Raiders face Waimea in a doubleheader Saturday, Dec. 30 at
Isenberg Field.
As for the KIF-leading Kapa’a boys’ soccer team, the
Warriors will have off Christmas Day, as well as the day after. Then it’s back
to work as they prepare for their December 30 battle with defending KIF
champion Kaua’i.
“”We are excited for the next couple of games,” head coach
Wade Bosworth said. “The downside is that we have to play over the Christmas
break. It won’t affect us too much.”
The Yuletide
Schedule
Softball
December 23
-Kapa’a at Waimea, Noon,
Kamakani Field
December 27
-Kaua’i at Kapa’a, 5:30 p.m., Kapa’a Ball
Park
December 30
-Waimea at Kaua’i, Noon, Isenberg
Field
Soccer
December 23
-Waimea vs. Kapa’a (boys’ and
girls’ JV and varsity); Kaua’i vs. Island School, starts at 9 a.m. at
Hanapepe
December 30
-Kaua’i vs. Kapa’a (boys’ and girls’ JV and
varsity); Waimea vs. Island School, starts at 8:30 a.m. at Vidinha Stadium
