When conducting a Talk Story for this Sunday’s TGI at Thursday afternoon’s Kauai High basketball practice with Ipo Yoshioka, he reminded me of a trait of the Kauai Interscholastic Federation.
The competitive landscape of the KIF is fierce.
Whether it’s basketball, volleyball or soccer, you name it, some of the most competitive games are here at the KIF, and several teams proved how proficient they are against some of the off-island competition at the state level.
It’s easy to go with an adage “bigger is better” when referring to the size of the conference. Sure, the KIF is small with only three to four teams, depending on the sport, competing against each other, but that doesn’t make these games any less competitive.
In most sports, regardless of team records, the KIF doesn’t have as many lopsided contests as seen in other, larger conferences. The flip side of having a smaller conference is this: you have to be prepared for the opponent that knows you so well.
Having this level of intensity against opponents that know you so well makes preparation for your opponent more crucial.
The Kapaa High School football team, time and time again, has demonstrated they can play with some of the elite-level competition. Eventually, the Warriors will get over the hump to hoist a state-championship trophy.
Speaking of heart, did anyone demonstrate more of it than the Waimea High School volleyball team this year?
The Menehune overcame a lot of off-the-court adversity, played for something more significant than the game and rode that wave of emotion to a second-place finish in the state title game.
Last season, the Kapaa Warriors, led by quarterback Kahuna Davis, captured a Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II state soccer championship.
With the basketball season just starting up for both the boys and girls teams, one thing is very evident: Whoever gets out of the KIF will be battle-tested.
The hearts of the KIF athletes should make this conference a prime place for colleges to recruit athletes to go on to the next level.
After seeing prep sports all over the mainland, I have no doubt this is one of the most competitive conferences, top to bottom.
This conference is underrated, and at the dawn of a new decade the KIF should prove to the rest of the off-island competition they are indeed built Kauai-tough.
This mentality and the hard work and dedication of the coaching staff that puts in the necessary time and energy it takes to win is one of the character traits that makes the KIF so competitive.
As we are about to enter the new decade, don’t be surprised to continue to see the KIF represented in major championship games, as it has in recent times.
There is one thing in sports that you can’t measure. You can’t quantify, even with all of the resources we have available to analyze stats of players, games, etc., the trait of heart.
The heart of KIF competition is enormous, and the next six months should see plenty of individuals and teams prove this time and time again.
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Jason Blasco, sports reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or jblasco@thegardenisland.com.
