Waiakea’s girls varsity soccer team has started practice and played in an invitational tournament — and is now less than a week out from its season opener.
The Warriors will defend the BIIF DI title for the second straight season — meaning that winning this year would make it a three-peat.
However, the Warriors aren’t letting title defense dominate their mindsets. Their current focus is creating a solid foundation.
“We’re just gonna take it a game at a time,” said fifth-year head coach Steve Petner. “You can set yourself some goals, but nothing’s guaranteed. Hilo’s always a good team, and I’m sure Kealakehe’s gonna be a good team. And — even though they’re in Division II — (Hawai‘i Prep) and (KS-Hawai‘i) are always tough games too.
“We just go through the process and build our team in this short window that we have. Try to be in good positions when BIIFs and states come around.”
Waiakea’s roster leans young this year, with seven upperclassmen and 15 underclassmen — including nine freshmen.
The team’s players are in good hands, as the coaching staff all bring next-level experience. Petner and assistant coach Terry Yamane are both assistant coaches for the UH-Hilo men’s soccer team, and Warriors assistant coach Keani Shirai is part of the Vulcans’ women’s soccer team’s coaching staff.
Also, the Warriors’ veterans have stepped up, and are helping their younger teammates get up to speed and integrate into the team culture.
“Things are going pretty good,” said senior goalkeeper Journey Morimoto, who is entering her third varsity season. “I think we should definitely practice more together. By the end of the season, we should be in the groove.”
Two veteran midfielders — senior Kira Kuramoto and junior Kalia Franklin— will return to play this winter after suffering season-ending injuries last year.
“Those two coming back will be helpful to our team for sure,” Petner said.
Between her injury and the pandemic, Kuramoto’s high school soccer career has been far from typical. However, she still managed to make the most of it — recently signing a letter of intent to play soccer for CSU Bakersfield.
This year, she joins her classmates in leading the young Warriors squad.
“I think our team is good this year, but it definitely needs some improvement,” Kuramoto said. “We’re a little bit bumpy, I think we just need to practice more together, and we’ll develop.
“I just think we need to improve on connecting as a team. We’re not always working well on the field, so I think having a better connection as a team will help us. We’re still figuring things out with some of the freshmen — making sure they’re feeling good and having a stronger connection with the team over all.”
Last weekend, the Warriors put themselves through a trial-run — playing in the Big Island Candies Hilo Bay Classic preseason tournament. It went pretty well, as they went 2-0 — dominating Kauai High 4-1 and routing Konawaena High 6-0.
Those results bode well for Waiakea’s season opener on Tuesday, when they will travel to face the Wildcats.
“I think we did pretty good,” Morimoto said. “I think if we come out strong again, we should be good.”
The Warriors’ home opener will be Saturday, Dec. 2, when Waiakea’s boys and girls teams will each face Kea‘au High.