"ILH Varsity Swimming Championship 2010"

Today, at Punahou School Waterhouse Pool, the 2010 ILH Varsity Swimming Championship was held and included the following schools, Pac-5, Punahou, Iolani, HAN-HI, PSC, Mid-Pacific, Kamehameha School Kapalama, Island Pacific Academy, and Le Jardin Academy.

I enjoy covering sports, events and new schools to recognize those kids that should be recognized and are not. Island Pacific Academy is one of them. I met with their Head Coach Ron Tsuchiya (photo top middle) who originally retired from Richmond Virginia Common Wealth University as their swim coach for 40 years, and returned back to Hawaii to take care of his mother.

After a period of time, Ron got back into coaching here in Hawaii for Hickam, Aloha Aquatics in Mililani and at Radford High School. He soon heard about Island Pacific Academy starting up in 2004 and got a part-time position there. The school headmaster needed to develop a sports program and in 2005-2006 created a sports program first with cross country, swimming and track and entered the ILH and were put on probation for one year, then accepted and that's how they got started in sports. Today they have over 16 sports in their program including cross country, swimming, track, wrestling, bowling, air riflery, football, baseball, softball, volleyball and soccer. As for their swim team, coach Tsuchiya related they are doing very well. In fact, last week the JV tied for 4th and 5th place and one of the girls received the bronze medal for the 100 yard breaststroke, and Austin Hirstein (photo top left) received two medals, a gold and silver in the backstroke.

At today's meet, IPA has only two swimmers, Austin Hirstein and Josh Elsen (photo top right). Austin moved to Hawaii from West Point N.Y. 5 years ago where he originally played baseball. He then attended IPA in 2004 as a 7th grader. He got involved in swimming because of his friend Jordon, and has been swimming for only 9 months. Coach Tsuchiya was very amazed by his talent. Today, he will be swimming the 100/200 yard backstroke. Their second swimmer, Josh Elsen who started with IPA back in 2005-2006, started swimming as early as the 3rd grade and he will be swimming the freestyle 50/100 yards.

Punahou took the win with 93 points, Iolani second with 59 points, Kamehameha with 43 points, Le Jardin with 18 points, Pac-Five with 12 points and Island Pacific Academy with 3 points. "Congratulations" to both swimmers in today's championship and especially to Austin Hirstein who placed 3rd in the 100 yard backstroke with the time of 56.43 and thank you coach Ron Tsuchiya for your time and information. I would also like to thank the coach for Le Jardin Academy who pointed out some of his top swimmers. More photos "click here."

"2010 (ODP) OLYMPIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM REGION IV CHAMPIONSHIP"

What is ODP? Gary Mitsuyasu who was at the 2010 ODP IV Championship which was held at Phoenix Arizona gave me the following story and information about this year's event. ODP, or Olympic Development Program is a national identification and development program for high level soccer players. The program identifies and develops youth players throughout the country to represent their state, region, and the United States. Players that qualify are selected and placed in the Hawaii State Team Pool and attend the U.S. Youth Soccer Region IV Camp on the Mainland. Some Hawaii ODP notables include Brian Ching and Natasha Kai.

This year's tournament will feature some of the best talent in the USA and nine teams will compete for the "2010 Region IV Championship Crown." The following teams this year are Arizona, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, two Nevada teams, New Mexico, powerhouse Cal South and Hawaii. On Saturday, January 16, 2010, Hawaii played against Cal South and in the first half, Cal South took a 5-0 lead and in the second half, Hawaii came back and held Cal South 0-0, but in the end Cal South took the win 5-0. On Sunday, Hawaii 96 girls played against Nevada 97 and Arizona, and shut out Nevada 97, 5-0 and Arizona 3-0. Solid defense and excellent mid-field helped our defense. Hawaii needed a win or tie against New Mexico on Monday to advance to the semi-finals. In the end, Hawaii came out 2-1 and advanced to the final four semi's.

At the semi finals, Hawaii played pool #2 champions, Nevada. Nevada is a very fast and physical team. At times we wondered if there were any referees out there! Our Hawaii 96's fought hard but in the end came up short with a 3-0 loss to pool #2 champions, Nevada. The whole experience wasn't a total loss, but a valuable lesson for all of our girls for the rest of their lives. The finals pitted Cal South against Nevada, with Cal South winning the tournament.

"Congratulations" to all who participated and to CJ Fajardo (Pearl City), Sammy Nishiyama (Aina Hina), Ellis Akana (Aina Hina), Megan Goo (Honolulu), Kristi Kaneta (Honolulu), Nycole Mitsuyasu (Ewa Beach), Lily Higashino (Maui) and Hannah Leialoha Kaina (Village Park) and especially to the following players, Nycole Mitsuyasu and Kristi Kaneta who made the 1996 2nd team, "ODP Championship Girls All Tournament Team." Also special thanks to Gary Mitsuyasu (his photo above), Kate Knight (head coach), Kris Oishi (Assistant coach) and Dru and Kalani Taylor (Administrators) for this awesome story to share on your trip and the "2010 ODP Region IV Championship in Phoenix, Arizona." ODP information and video/photos, "click here". ODP News Letter "click here"

26th U.S. & Japan Minyo-Buyo Festival

Today at Ala Moana Shopping Center, center stage, the 26th U.S. & Japan Minyo-Buyo Festival began with the following Hawaii local dance groups such as the Miyazono Minyo Buyo Kai, Omiya Minbu Kai, Hawaii Shinryu Kai, Yonezatokikuji Shinbuyo Kenkyusho, Dazzman Toguchi, East Minyo Dance Club (Kauai), Nishiyagi Suzsetsu, and Miyazono Kimie. Other dance groups were from Oita, San Francisco, Mie, Kanagawa and Tokyo.

What is Nihon Buyo? Nihon buyo is "Japanese dance". However, unlike forms of Japanese art more closely associated with daily life (Shinto ritual kagura, local art transmitted across generations, bon folk dances, minyo folk songs), nihon buyo is an artistic dance based on the tradition of classical techniques transmitted from preceding forms of art, and expressed through the medium of the stage.

There are four building blocks of nihon buyo. First and foremost is kabuki buyo, secondly the circular movements, thirdly the folk performing arts, and fourthly, a collection of creative, original works emerged as part of a trend to break away from nihon buyo's dependency on kabuki and to pioneer new ground as a dance form. Continued performances will be held at the Ala Moana Hotel "Hibiscus" Ballroom between 5:30pm-10:00pm. More photos, "click here".

Na Keiki O Kane'ohe AYSO Region 113 U-5

What a great day to enjoy a family outing! I originally went out to the Kaneohe District Park this morning to cover a story on skateboarding. But next to the skate park, I noticed a lot of keikis, parents and a lot of small goal nets spread out all over the field. After asking some questions, I found out that it was the Kaneohe Region 113 AYSO U5. They just recently started their season which runs from January 9 to February 13. It consists of 160 kids broken into 3 groups, and the idea is teach kids the art of soccer. Some of the warm up exercises include Jun Ken Po Train, Octopus Tag and Throw In Practice and good sportsmanship. It was hard at times for me to concentrate on shooting the kids because it was so much fun to watch. The participation of the parents was awesome, such great support for the kids. AYSO has been around in Kaneohe for the past 32 years, and this season's coach is Master Coach Kent Goya (photo, top left), and the regional commissioner is Nella Sword (photo, top right). They were both very nice to let me photo shoot their practice today, and were also nice enough to share information on their organization. More information go to http://kaneoheayso.org. Much mahalo and thank you both for giving me the opportunity to become part of the Kaneohe Region 113 AYSO U5 today. More photos "click" here.

King Auto Group Pro-Junior Skills Challenge 2010

This year's 2010 Sony Open in Hawaii started off with The King Auto Group Pro-Junior Skills Challenge which was held on the 18th Green. Five of Hawaii's top Junior golfers were paired off with 5 PGA Tour Professionals in a golf skill challenge. SkyDive Hawaii with 10 skydivers parachuted into the show, and the Marine Corps Band and the Kamehameha Schools Children's Chorus performed for the crowd.

This year's five Hawaii Junior golfers are Alika Bell, Lorens Chan, Allisen Corpuz, Cassy Isagawa and Justin Keiley. The five PGA Tour Professionals are Dean Wilson, Parker McLachlin, Tadd Fujikawa, Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly. Each pair performed four skills including 50 yard shots, bunker shots, sand shots and long putts. The scores for each skill will be added up and the pair with the most points will be awarded as the winners. A check in the amount of $10,000 will be divided among the PGA golfers, $6,000 for first place and $1,000 each to the other PGA golfers, and their winnings are all donated to the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association. The Junior Golfers received prizes and awards.

This year's winners of the Pro-Junior Skills Challenge was Team #5, Jerry Kelly (top left photo) and Justin Keiley (top right photo) with a final score of 19 points. Team #1, Dean Wilson and Alika Bell came in second with 14 points. Team #4, Steve Stricker and Cassy Isagawa placed third with 12 points. Team #3, Tadd Fujikawa and Allisen Corpuz took fourth place with 5 points, and Team #2, Parker McLachlin and Lorens Chan finished with 3 points. Congratulations to all participants in this year's King Auto Group Pro-Junior Skills Challenge, and much mahalo to Mr. Charlie King (top middle photo) & King Auto Group, and Bill Mickelsen, King Windward Nissan for the invitation. See more photos, click here.

Hawaiian Mission Academy Knight's "vs" Island Pacific Academy 26-29

Tonight's game with the Hawaiian Mission Academy Lady Knight's and the Island Pacific Academy opened up some eyes and questions about these two teams and which division they belong to. I was very curious myself and found out from head coach, Mark Kinimaka that the Lady Knight's have only 7 players. This is their first year in the ILH Division III with a team record of 9-0 coming into this game. Island Pacific Academy has 13 players with a 5-4 record for the season so far. Head coach Tommy Reyes of IPA says his team has really improved this second year considering their first year record of 0-10.

Talk about motivation and nothing to lose, the Island Pacific Academy took the lead at the half, 14-10 and it was back and forth scoring all night. Both teams played their hearts out and HMA showed no signs of giving up, especially when they fell behind in the fourth period, 22-16 with 7:37 minutes left. HMA came back with #23 Janae Wong shooting from the outside to tie the game 26-26 with 1:17 seconds left on the clock, but penalties against them allowed IPA to take the lead with several free shots. IPA took the win with a final score of 29-26 over HMA ending their season with a 6-4 record. HMA ends their winning season with a 9-1 record. The high scorers for HMA are #14 Kamalei Lene with 8 points, and #23 Janae Wong with 8 points. The high scorer for IPA was # 23 Jalen (photo above) Payongayong with 12 points.

Special thanks to HMA Leal Robert (AD), Mark Kinimaka (HC/AD), Nelson Katada, Sharolyn Rodrigues, Joseph Lene and Raquel Gonzales, assistant coaches; and to IPA Tommy Reyes (HC) and Kihau Debono (assistant HC) for the opportunity to attend this event and for sharing information on tonight's game. "Congratulations" to both teams. More photos click here.

Mid Pacific Girls Junior Varsity "vs" (#3 Seed) Kamehameha Blue 48-27.

The Mid Pacific Girls Junior Varsity Basketball team sprinted past the #3 seeded Kamehameha (Blue) Warriors Girls Junior Varsity Basketball team tonight. From the get go, I thought I was at a track meet or a football game because I've never seen so much speed, team work and most of all, the constant "hustle" by #14 Nicole Sato (photo bottom right) for the ball and the "steals" they piled up. During the first half, MPI took the lead and ended the half with a score of 18-11. MPI continued on to win it 48-27 over the Warriors.

Thank goodness for my telephoto lens. I don't think I would have had enough stamina to keep running up and down the court tonight alongside both teams. The Warriors also had a fast running team, but could not convert on their steals, and their

penalties didn't help. Their supporters on the sidelines were chanting "go defense." I could feel the bleachers rocking and both sides were really into the game.

The high scorers from MPI were #11 Megan Kinoshita with 15 points (above) and #15 Chandler Arce with 8 points and Kamehameha #15 Reyna Ae with 11 points and #22 Jasmine Tangonan with 7 points. Congratulations to both teams and also to MPI JV Girls Basketball Head Coach, Keao Miller and Kamehameha JV Head coach Scott De Silva on tonight's game.

The earlier game with Maryknoll and Kamehameha (White) was won by Kamehameha with a final score of 29-61. The high scorers for this game, Kamehameha #12 Amanda Wasko with 15 points and #30 Pu'uwai Ah Puck with 14 points, and for Maryknoll, #33 Carly Cooper with 9 points and #50 Rocky Ostrowski with 9 points. See more photos, click here.