KAPA’A – The opportunity to learn from a champion. That’s the chance Garden Island youngsters were given Friday and Saturday, when Aiea girls basketball coach Fran Villarmia-Kahawai came to Kaua’i with some friends to run a two-day camp. Joining Villarmia-Kahawai
KAPA’A – The opportunity to learn from a champion.
That’s the chance Garden Island youngsters were given Friday and Saturday, when Aiea girls basketball coach Fran Villarmia-Kahawai came to Kaua’i with some friends to run a two-day camp. Joining Villarmia-Kahawai were her husband, as well as two coaches from Waipahu High School.
But Villarmia-Kahawai was the draw, having guided Aiea to an unlikely state crown in the 2001 season and serving as a standout for the University of Hawai’i from 1988-91.
Aiea beat favored Kalaheo in the championship.
Forty youngsters showed up to learn the basics of basketball on Friday night at Kalaheo Neighborhood Center and all day Saturday at Kapa’a High School. Kaua’i Youth Basketball Association coach Steven Matsumoto said there was an explanation for the low turnout.
“There’s just so much going on around the island today,” the coach said Saturday. “Too much competing for the attention of the kids.”
Indeed, with a 36-team softball tournament in Waimea and Kekaha, the state championship canoe races in Hanalei and a high school volleyball camp at Kaua’i High School, the hoops camp was bound to suffer.
The 40 who did attend got the full attention of Villarmia-Kahawai and company. The coaches led kids through drills teaching everything from jump stops and two-hand chest passes to defensive stance and rebounding.
Age groups of all kinds were represented, from the 10-and-unders to the 15 and 16 year olds. However, because of the low overall numbers, splitting them up proved difficult.
“It’s too bad they couldn’t have come on a different weekend,” Matsumoto said. “But we are very happy to have them. It’s not often that kids are actually taught the basic fundamentals.”
