Al Chase, who retired in 2007 after 39 years as a Star-Bulletin sportswriter, died Thursday at Kaiser Hospital.

Chase, 71, suffered from a blood disorder, family said.

Chase was a longtime beat writer known for his coverage of University of Hawaii baseball and women’s basketball.

“Al was the consummate pro,” said Don Robbs, the radio voice of UH baseball who worked decades in the same press box as Chase. “He was so thorough.”

But soccer was his true passion, and prior to covering it for the paper he helped develop the game in the islands as a high school and club coach in the 1970s.

“He was Mr. Soccer in Hawaii at the time. Al Chase looked and acted like a Marine sergeant on the practice field,” said Dalton Tanonaka, who played for him at Kalani High School, where Chase also taught P.E. “We needed that discipline because most of us had never seen a soccer ball before. He was a good man, also funny with a dry wit.”

Chase was born in Boston, raised in Mansfield, Mass., and graduated from the University of Hawaii. He is survived by his wife, Lee, daughter Lisha Moffat and two grandchildren.

Services are pending.