LIHU‘E — Just in time for winter break, Kaua‘i keiki will have the opportunity to head out on the pitch with some pro soccer players and coaches during a four-day camp, Dec. 20-23. Kyle Nakazawa, 22, who just finished his
LIHU‘E — Just in time for winter break, Kaua‘i keiki will have the opportunity to head out on the pitch with some pro soccer players and coaches during a four-day camp, Dec. 20-23.
Kyle Nakazawa, 22, who just finished his rookie season with Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union, will be heading up the camp for boys and girls ages 6-17.
Having grown up in California, Nakazawa spent just about every summer on Kaua‘i with cousins, aunties and uncles who all still live in Kapa‘a. This time, he brought some friends with him.
“I think it’s a pretty unique event to have professional players and top college players out there,” he said.
MLS players Jordan Harvey and David Estrada will join up as instructors. Harvey is a teammate of Nakazawa’s on the Union and Estrada was a teammate at UCLA, now a member of the Seattle Sounders.
UCLA senior goalie Trevor Hunter will be doing the goalkeeping training.
Lauren Barnes, a member of the USA Under 23 National Team, Anahola’s Mariko Strickland, a former standout at San Diego State and Long Beach State, and UC Irvine All-Conference player Nikki Forrest make up the trio of female instructors.
Nakazawa said that it didn’t take much convincing to get the others to come out.
He outlined the camp as “a really fun, but competitive environment.” Players can expect to learn technical fundamentals in the morning session, then build off those lessons in game-like situations during the afternoon.
Nakazawa’s accomplishments to this point include playing for Team USA at the FIFA Under 17 World Cup in Peru in 2005, a team that included current USA striker Jozy Altidore. Nakazawa was a major force in that squad reaching the quarterfinals, as he scored one goal in a 3-2 opening victory over North Korea, then scored the game-winner in a 3-1 win over Italy. The team eventually lost to the Netherlands in the knockout round.
He followed up that experience as a four-year starter for the UCLA Bruins and scored 20 goals with 26 assists in his college career.
Now a member of the Union, Nakazawa is very happy with his situation on the field, though as a west coast kid through and through, heading to Philadelphia wasn’t his ideal location.
“There’s no ocean, that’s the hardest thing,” he said. “Winters are super cold, summers are super hot, but playing soccer for a living is pretty cool.”
Philadelphia was an expansion team playing its first season, so the team has the opportunity to grow together and start fresh.
“A lot of guys I had played with previously also got drafted to that team, so we kind of had a real young camaraderie,” he said. “Our fans in Philly are awesome. They welcomed us with open arms. So as far as playing, it was a real ideal situation to be in.”
He wanted to head back to Kaua‘i and organize something where MLS players and pro coaches could come teach the kids because he hadn’t heard about any similar programs out here growing up.
“If you compare the US to the other countries that are the top nations in the world, it’s the youth,” he said. “They breed these young players, they put them in professional environments and that’s how they are raised… I think we’ll eventually be right there.”
As a young player, Nakazawa got a glimpse of the top levels of soccer life. It wasn’t always for him, as he said that a year he spent in Amsterdam at age 13 with the club team Ajax was difficult.
“I got really homesick without my family, so I came back,” he said.
He was then invited to the residency program for the U17 national team, which eventually sent him on his way to Peru.
Nakazawa has always been in the water when not wearing his cleats, having grown up around the Orange County waves and spending summers on Kaua‘i.
“I’d always be surfing a couple times a day,” he said of his visits to Kapa‘a. “I’ve always used surfing kind of as my cross-training in the off-season. I like surfing everywhere on the island… We surfed Donkey’s a few days ago. I like getting out to the west, too — Pakala, Polihale. Since my family is in Kapa‘a, we’d always surf the Eastside, Kealia.”
Two of the camp’s sponsors are run by family members — cousin Kainoa recently opened up Killah Steaks, as well as Kyle’s uncle’s Nakazawa Construction business.
Signing up for a half-day package (9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.) will cost $100 for the week. The full-day package (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) costs $140.
The sessions will take place at the Lydgate Soccer Complex in Kapa‘a.
For more information, or to register, visit kylenakazawa.com.
Kyle can be contacted at 823-6212 or kylenakazawa@gmail.com.
