Seven games, five goals, including a goal in each of her first two international appearances, a feat which has only been matched by four other US women internationals. Some might think Natasha Kai is on track to become Hawaii's best International Soccer player, and I would count myself one of them. Of course the list of Hawaiian Internationals is pretty short, but one that has grown quickly lately with Hawaiian son Brian Ching's own international call ups. And with the blistering pace Natasha Kai has been setting on the international level the future of the USWNT does look bright indeed.
There is some comparison to the rapid rise of Eddie Johnson during the men's qualifying, but I doubt the lure of fame and fortune will lead to the same attitude problems that have been reported with EJ. Even with no major domestic league in the US, it still seems a gamble at this point to try playing overseas. And I can only assume that the pay in the W-League or WPSL is a rough equivalent to what is offered in Europe at this time.
So with any luck Natasha will make the USWNT for the World Cup in China. Her success in qualifying and friendlies aside, the talent pool for the USWNT has grown exponentially in depth and quality. So here's to the rise of the Striken Hawaiian or is it the Flyin Hawaiian? Or how bout just Super Woman.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Aloha MLS
Honolulu Advertiser Article
Official Aloha Cup Site
It seems as though the Aloha Stadium Authority has decided to give both baseball and soccer the boot. And it now seems more and more that the MLS will not be returning to Hawaii in the forseeable future. And one wonders if the LA Galaxy's agreement to play a preseason friendly in Hawaii every year has been discarded as a promise unfufilled.
When the Galaxy came in 2005 the media reported that they had signed a five year agreement to come and play a J-League team in Hawaii each year. The first year the J-League side Hiroshima cancelled due to the J-League's descion to start their season earlier because of World Cup Qualifying. DC United (another AEG side) would come in their place to play. This past year CONCACAF commitments kept LA from paradise, that however is just my own educated guess, as nothing was ever reported.
With the locking of the stadium there would be few alternative venues to host a soccer game. It might still be possible to remove several rows of seats to bring the field up to the smallest possible allowed field size, but having been to the Aloha stadium I'm not sure how feasible this really is. Another alternative is the Waipio Soccer Complex, but after the first game drew more than 14,000 fans to the game on a cold and rainy night (yes we get those in Hawaii), limiting seating to 5,000 could be problematic.
Other Aloha Cup Articles...
Spotlight Cobi Jones
Color Commentary on the Game
Heres to hoping they come back.
In an aside, you might think that the Star Bulletin is a very soccer friendly paper with all of these articles, many of them very positive about soccer. However they have a tendancy to forget to publish MLS scores. Which is to bad, when they are otherwise the better paper in Hawaii I feel.
Official Aloha Cup Site
It seems as though the Aloha Stadium Authority has decided to give both baseball and soccer the boot. And it now seems more and more that the MLS will not be returning to Hawaii in the forseeable future. And one wonders if the LA Galaxy's agreement to play a preseason friendly in Hawaii every year has been discarded as a promise unfufilled.
When the Galaxy came in 2005 the media reported that they had signed a five year agreement to come and play a J-League team in Hawaii each year. The first year the J-League side Hiroshima cancelled due to the J-League's descion to start their season earlier because of World Cup Qualifying. DC United (another AEG side) would come in their place to play. This past year CONCACAF commitments kept LA from paradise, that however is just my own educated guess, as nothing was ever reported.
With the locking of the stadium there would be few alternative venues to host a soccer game. It might still be possible to remove several rows of seats to bring the field up to the smallest possible allowed field size, but having been to the Aloha stadium I'm not sure how feasible this really is. Another alternative is the Waipio Soccer Complex, but after the first game drew more than 14,000 fans to the game on a cold and rainy night (yes we get those in Hawaii), limiting seating to 5,000 could be problematic.
Other Aloha Cup Articles...
Spotlight Cobi Jones
Color Commentary on the Game
Heres to hoping they come back.
In an aside, you might think that the Star Bulletin is a very soccer friendly paper with all of these articles, many of them very positive about soccer. However they have a tendancy to forget to publish MLS scores. Which is to bad, when they are otherwise the better paper in Hawaii I feel.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Three Thousand Miles Away
At this point in my life I have never been blessed enough to live in a city with a true professional soccer team. I grew up in a city with fond memories of its soccer playing past, but with little hope of any soccer future. There were MLS teams in the region... but as a high schooler its hard enough to convince your parents to let you stay out past midnight, even harder to convince them to allow you and some friends to pack up and drive down to Dallas or up the Kansas City.
But, we did have Arena Football. And so soccer would be forgotten, lost in memory, while we watched guys smash each other into walls. Then, as if to remove myself further from soccer I moved to Hawaii. Where I have been, with a few trips back to the States, for the past three years.
I would come back to soccer slowly. The fact that Hawaii didn't have arena football after my freshmen year helped. Seeing the, then Dallas Burn, on TV in a match the announcers called dour, drab, and meaningless somehow enthralled me. Picking up FIFA05 got me a little more familar with various international players and teams and then buying a FourFourTwo at Borders one night gave me my first real glimpse into the real global and historical legacy that soccer has and pushed me that much closer to soccer fandom.
The LA Galaxy and DC United took care of the rest playing one of the only two games I have ever seen in person in Hawaii. The game probably wasn't that good. I hardly remember the actual game. But I remember the crowd, the oo's and aa's and the loud drums beating as if to my own heart. The was really the end of it. I have been bought and sold by the MLS and the wider would of soccer ever sense.
Sometimes I hate it. Sometimes I can't stand the other fans, the ignorant observers, or the know-it-alls, who are really know-nothings. Then their are the crashing disapointments after some games, the let downs you feel when players make mistakes.
Somehow, even though I fear soccer is driving me mad, I keep coming back.
But, we did have Arena Football. And so soccer would be forgotten, lost in memory, while we watched guys smash each other into walls. Then, as if to remove myself further from soccer I moved to Hawaii. Where I have been, with a few trips back to the States, for the past three years.
I would come back to soccer slowly. The fact that Hawaii didn't have arena football after my freshmen year helped. Seeing the, then Dallas Burn, on TV in a match the announcers called dour, drab, and meaningless somehow enthralled me. Picking up FIFA05 got me a little more familar with various international players and teams and then buying a FourFourTwo at Borders one night gave me my first real glimpse into the real global and historical legacy that soccer has and pushed me that much closer to soccer fandom.
The LA Galaxy and DC United took care of the rest playing one of the only two games I have ever seen in person in Hawaii. The game probably wasn't that good. I hardly remember the actual game. But I remember the crowd, the oo's and aa's and the loud drums beating as if to my own heart. The was really the end of it. I have been bought and sold by the MLS and the wider would of soccer ever sense.
Sometimes I hate it. Sometimes I can't stand the other fans, the ignorant observers, or the know-it-alls, who are really know-nothings. Then their are the crashing disapointments after some games, the let downs you feel when players make mistakes.
Somehow, even though I fear soccer is driving me mad, I keep coming back.
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