Heavy rain and a flash flood advisory didn’t stop the 2024 Big Island Hawaii Youth Soccer Association (HYSA) Championships from happening, as youth club teams from across the isle — ranging from U8 to U19 — gathered for the playoff and championship games at Hilo’s Bayfront soccer fields.
Saturday morning dawned clear with sunny skies, which seemingly set the stage for great weather conditions. However, by early afternoon, the weather took a dramatic turn — echoing the heavy rain and flash flood advisory that had been issued earlier in the week. The famous saying, “It wouldn’t be Hilo without the rain,” certainly rang true as the skies opened up to a relentless downpour which ultimately transformed the fields into a slippery, muddy mess.
With the heavy rain continuing throughout the afternoon and night, safety concerns led to the cancellation of Sunday morning’s U8, U10 and U12 championship games. Despite these setbacks, BIHYSA organizers quickly adapted moving the older U14, U16, and U19 games to the nearby UH-Hilo field made of synthetic turf. The all-weather pitch proved to be a saving grace which allowed the championship games to proceed without further disruption.
Among Sunday’s championship matches, three Kona Crush teams — U14 Girls, U14 Boys Premier and U19 Boys made it to the final round which became an instant east-side versus west-side, or Hilo versus Kona matchup. In a gut-wrenching overtime followed by penalty kicks, the U14 Girls Kona Crush Soccer Academy were narrowly defeated by Surf 10G Academy. Later, the U19 Kona Crush Boys gave it their all but ultimately fell short (2 – 1) against Rush BI 2005B.
The Kona Crush U14 Boy’s Premier team faced off against their cross-island rival — the undefeated Rush BI 2010B Premier team — who had bested them twice during the regular season. The transition to turf facilitated an exciting game on both sides, showcasing adept ball handling skills, powerful headers and precision shots throughout the match.
Rush BI took a 2 – 0 lead during the beginning of the first half, but Kona Crush quickly rallied with winger Remi Heimgartner scoring a goal followed by a hat-trick from Bodie Buczyna giving Crush a 4 – 2 lead. From there it was a dog-fight till the end with Rush BI scoring four goals and Crush scoring another three from a combination of an own goal, Buczyna and striker, Carson Wilt.
For spectators the game were both intense and thrilling, but in the end, it was the Kona Crush U14 Boy’s Premier who emerged victorious 7 – 6.
Walking off the synthetic pitch after scoring four goals and wearing his championship medal around his neck, Buczyna had a wide smile. The 14-year old who attends Hawaii Preparatory Academy, said he started playing soccer at age 4. He follows Barcelona and his favorite player is Pablo Gavi.
“I was really confident going into it,” Buczyna said of his preparation for the game. “I think our team played just like we should have. We lost to Rush two games in a row (in the regular season), but coming into the game, we knew we trained for this so I knew we were ready for them. I knew we were going to win.”
Buczyna added that after his first goal, he kept finding open spaces. Soccer phenom and center mid-fielder, Koa Kreps, helped to create opportunities by providing key assists to make the goals look as seamless as watching professional soccer.
Fabian Rummel, who is the Director of Technical Development and Head Coach for U14 Boys Premier and U16 Girls, was ecstatic of the team’s win stating, “It was brilliant!”
“At the end of the day we won against Rush Boys who we haven’t won in a long while as they have been unbeaten all season,” said the 29-year old native of Germany. “I think we should’ve had a chance when we played the first game against them (in the regular season), and they got the better of us in the second game, but today was an open game on both sides and at the end of the day, we deserved to win and I’m super proud of the boys.”
Rummel added that the difference was the level of play and intensity that his team brought to the pitch.
“I think mostly it’s about bringing the intensity for the boys,” he said. “They know that if they show up and play up to their level, they are not beatable on the island. They also did well at the (Hawaii) State Cup, they got the feeling and the taste of how we can play really well. And ever since then, they know that when we show up, we have a quality team.
“I’m also super proud of the (U14) girls. I know they lost in the final today after being the regular season champions. To see them grow as a group and how they work together has been brilliant to see, and so I’m super happy for them and all the U14 teams.”
Players on the Kona Crush U14 Boys Premier team were Bodie Buczyna, TJ Detwiler, Carson Wilt, Cole Polhemus, Kauanoe Park-Vares, Remi Heimgartner, Koa Kreps, Hawea “Buffalo” Alapai, Makena Young, Leimana David-Champman, Wade Ritchie, ‘A’ali’i Wengler-Ioane, and Makana Shimabukuro. Other rostered players were Benjamin Harms, Cole Henderson, Hana Kreps, Vaiana Lussiaa, and Evangeline Lehmann.
The five club soccer teams who won their respective “A Brackets” in the BIHYSA Championships in Hilo and crowned champions were the following:
U14 Boys Champions – Kona Crush 14 U Premier
(Finalists – Rush BI 2010B Premier)
U14 Girls Champions – Surf 10G Academy
(Finalists – Kona Crush Soccer Academy 14U Girls)
U16 Boys Champions – Na Hoa O Puna 16UB
(Finalists – Rush BI 2008B)
U19 Girls Champions – Rush BI 2006G
(Finalists – Surf 06G Academy)
U19 Boys Champions – Rush BI 2005B
(Finalists – Kona Crush Soccer Academy 19U)