PO‘IPU — It was supposed to be billed as the (Kaua‘i) Macho All-Stars against the Gustavus Girls. Tom Edlefsen, manager of the Kiahuna Swim and Tennis Club, said the Gustavus College girls tennis team has been coming to the facility
PO‘IPU — It was supposed to be billed as the (Kaua‘i) Macho All-Stars against the Gustavus Girls.
Tom Edlefsen, manager of the Kiahuna Swim and Tennis Club, said the Gustavus College girls tennis team has been coming to the facility for the past several years, and thought it would be a good idea to get a group of old men with “fragile male egos” together to play against the college girls who are on scholarship and in shape.
“The Gustavus Mens and Women’s Tennis teams come here every year, so we thought we’d show them a thing or two,” Edlefsen said.
Heidi Carlson, the Gustavus coach for the womens team, said there were 15 players heading back from a month-long stay in Australia where the players were participating in a sports ethics program.
“We’re here until Thursday before heading to O‘ahu where we will be meeting up with Brigham Young University-Hawai‘i for a match Saturday,” Carlson said. “The players are heading back to St. Peter, Minnesota, from Australia and I just arranged to meet them here after they got in Saturday night.”
Originally, Edlefsen was trying to schedule the older men against the women as a “battle of the sexes” goodwill tournament, but after Glenn Ikemoto spread the word, there were several Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation players who showed up to play against the college players.
“Glenn told us about it, so I thought it would be a good idea to come out,” said Jonathan Tom, one of the coaches for the Kapa‘a High School tennis team. “Lyndsey was in a Maui tournament when Kiahuna had its doubles tournament earlier in the month so couldn’t come out for that event.”
Lyndsey, a junior at Kapa‘a, finished the 2007 KIF season as the school’s No. 1 Girls Singles player. Jonathan added that she just moved up to the 18s in the Hawai‘i State Tennis Association, and after just a year in that division, is already ranked at No. 5.
He pointed out that among the Kaua‘i participants at the Sunday tournament which was delayed slightly due to an early-morning downpour, Sarah Kukino will be entering the KIF arena when it opens March 18.
“She’ll be a freshman, but she’s already beaten some heavyweights,” Jonathan said. “She’s playing in the 16s, and even if she’s new in that division, has already beaten some of the players in the top five of that ranking.”
Tom said this year’s KIF matches will feature four high schools playing between Kiahuna and the Hanapepe courts.
“Three of the four high schools have Kiahuna as its home court,” he said. The schools that will be competing include Kaua‘i, Kapa‘a, Waimea and Island School.
Carlson said the Gustavus teams have been coming here every other year for the past six years.
“We love this trip,” Carlson said. “It works in as the players move back from Australia, and this is a good place to get ready for the BYUH match.”
The Gustavus teams go up against BYUH in La‘ie, O‘ahu starting at 2 p.m., Saturday.
