Hilo High’s girls soccer team is gearing up for the season ahead of its first match, a road test on Saturday at Kealakehe.
This year’s Vikings squad is a mix of new and familiar. The roster is very similar to last year — with only four players graduating last spring and nine players returning as seniors.
“So far, so good,” said senior Kryslynn Nabarro. “I think we’re all adjusting to a new culture, but a bunch of us have been playing together for a while.”
The new element is first-year head coach Kari Hock, who moved to the isle two years ago, and has now brought her nearly 50 years of soccer experience to HHS.
“I think this is a fresh start for all of us,” senior La‘aulu Kalauoka‘ae‘a-Kahele said. “Even though, as seniors, it’s our last season, there’s still a fresh mindset from a new coach. I think it’s good for all of us, because it gives us a new opportunity to show what we have and what we bring to the table.”
A native of Seattle, Hock grew up playing soccer on clubs, in high school, for Washington State and Western regional select teams. She played soccer for two years at the University of Washington, also playing two years of tennis for the Huskies.
After graduating from Gonzaga University School of Law earning her JD, she worked as a lawyer in Guam and played for the Guam Women’s National Soccer Team for four years. In 1997, Guam participated in the FIFA World Cup Qualifier in China prior to the 1999 WC.
Coach Hock holds a FIFA C-level coaching license, and coached girls’ soccer in North Carolina prior to moving to Hilo with her husband and twin sons, Nathan and Henry, who are stand-out cross country runners for the Vikings.
So far, Hock and her new team are getting along well.
”I already love them,” Hock said. “It’s so crazy, because this job found me — I was not looking to coach. The opportunity came in a serendipitous way, and I’m just so excited to work with them.”
Hilo retained a few of its veteran assistant coaches, including Curtis Chong and Paige Hiraki.
“I think we have a lot of potential,” Hiraki said, “especially with the new head coach. She has fresh eyes, especially because she’s new here — she had never seen these girls play. She sees a lot of potential in these girls, and she thinks they can go far.”
Hock is stepping into a powerhouse team that, for the last few years, has fallen short in postseason play.
The Vikings won a three-peat of BIIF DI championships from 2016-2018, but have been runner up every year since — falling in the BIIF DI title match to Konawaena High in 2019 and 2020, and to Waiakea High for the last two seasons.
During the 2022-23 season, the Vikings went 9-2-4 — tying twice with rival Waiakea before the Warriors won the BIIF title match 2-0.
“We did pretty good and had a good turnout,” Nabarro said, “we came to BIIFs and fought really hard, but took a loss.”
Waiakea and Hilo both start their seasons this week, and the Vikings are looking forward to encountering their rivals. It will be a while, though, as the pair will not first face off until Jan. 12, with their second encounter following a week later. Until then, there will be plenty of other fresh competition around the isle.
“We always had Waiakea as a rival team towards the end of the BIIF season,” Kalauoka‘ae‘a-Kahele said. “I’m looking forward to playing them, and seeing what all of the other teams bring to us — since there’s freshmen at every school.”
Hilo has so far played two preseason matches, both during the Big Island Candies Hilo Bay Classic two weeks ago. The Vikings defeated Konawaena 4-1 and blanked Kauai High 4-0.
The Vikings’ level of experience is so far proving to be one of their competitive edges.
“They’re all just one year older, one year more mature,” Hiraki said. “The majority of them play club, so they’re able to continue playing in the offseason, and just build up on skills and their IQ that they already have.”
The ultimate goal this season is, of course, finally taking back the BIIF title.
“I think we’re capable of doing whatever we set our minds to,” senior Mia Lavarias said . “I really hope that’s gonna be BIIFs.”
“We really wanna win this year, because there’s so many seniors,” senior Naliipoaimoku Harman said.