When the Hawai‘i Rush soccer team heads for the U.S. Club Soccer National Tournament, three Kaua‘i boys will be part of the roster. Kelsey Gaetjens, a junior at Kaua‘i High School and a KIF soccer all-star, Michael Chamberlain, a sophomore
When the Hawai‘i Rush soccer team heads for the U.S. Club Soccer National Tournament, three Kaua‘i boys will be part of the roster.
Kelsey Gaetjens, a junior at Kaua‘i High School and a KIF soccer all-star, Michael Chamberlain, a sophomore at Island School, and Joseph “Joe Boy” Enrique, a sophomore at the Myron Thompson Academy, just returned from a trip to San Bernadino where they earned gold in the SoCal Region, and the right to enter the National Tournament which will take place in North Carolina July 21-24.
According to the Hawai‘i Rush Web site, the Rush overcame a 4-1 halftime deficit to score three unanswered goals in 28 minutes of the second half to tie the contest.
The Rush nailed the victory with its final goal with three minutes remaining in the contest.
“They never told us about the nationals,” said Gaetjens, who was manning a fund-raising table outside of Wal-Mart yesterday. “When we started winning, that’s when they told us about the nationals. Up until then, we just thought it was another tournament.”
Because of the short notice, Gaetjens’ mom Sharon said everything is higher priced, especially the plane tickets.
To help compensate, the Hawai‘i Rush team has sent out fund-raising letters on O‘ahu, but on Kaua‘i, the boys must resort to selling Jamba Juice.
Sharon said they will be in front of Wal-Mart today from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., and then again on Sunday from 10 a.m. until about 1 p.m.
Sharon said a lot of the Kaua‘i soccer players travel to O‘ahu to become more competitive in the sport, and the three boys did what a lot of other Kaua‘i soccer players do.
“Kaua‘i teams have won a lot, but a lot of players go to Honolulu to get better,” Sharon said.
She estimates about 40 players make regular trips to O‘ahu to play soccer.
“The Rush and the Bulls have been working hard to get these boys, but in the end, they decided they would be playing for the Rush,” she said.
For the soft-spoken KIF all-star, soccer is in his genes, Sharon said.
Kelsey is the grandson of Joe Gaetjens, who was inducted into the Soccer Hall of Fame for his goal in the 1950 World Cup when the United States upset England with a 1-0 win.
“It was the soccer upset of all time,” Sharon said. “The U.S. team beat 500:1 odds, and Joe’s hard header sealed the deal.”
According to a Reuters story on the Angelfire Web site, Gaetjens dove about 12 feet to head the shot from teammate Walter Bahr. That caught English goalie Bert Williams wrong-footed and the ball got past Williams for the 1-0 lead that held for the game.
Sharon said the game was the basis for the “Miracle Match” movie that was released about two years ago about that game. The movie is available at Border’s.
