Donna Fouts insists she’s the nicest person ever you’ll want to meet.

Just not on the soccer field.

“I will accept a loss, but I really do not like losing,” she says, chuckling. “When I’m standing there in the goal, I’m thinking ‘No way. I’ll be danged if I let you get the ball past me.’”

Well known around town as executive director of the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Hawaii, Fouts, 64, spends her Sundays tending goal for Kulea in the over-30 division of the Women’s Island Soccer Association.

“It’s great to be able to compete at a level that I can be competitive in,” Fouts says. “There are players that look like nice old grannies but then you get on the field with them and you’re trading elbows. It’s a lot of fun, and afterward we’ll get together and potluck.”

Growing up in Kailua in the 1950s and ’60s, Fouts stoked her competitive fires playing with her two brothers. In the era preceding Title IX, Fouts made the most of limited athletic opportunities by participating in competitive swimming and track and field.

After graduating from Kailua High School, Fouts took her swimming prowess to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where she earned a degree in recreation. She would later add master’s degrees in education and public administration.

After a stint in the Army, Fouts returned home to  Hawaii in 1975. With her new husband, Harold, whom she had married while abroad, Fouts set the course for a happy future that would include a son, Joshua; a career as an administrator for nonprofit organizations; and many sun-splashed days “getting outside and running around.”

The Foutses enrolled Joshua in youth soccer and watched him excel. Before long, the family was immersed in the subculture of the sport.

Fouts joined in impromptu kids-versus-parents soccer matches and found that she enjoyed the sport. Soon, she was looking for her own opportunities to play.

Fouts, who picked up pointers eavesdropping on Joshua’s practices, joined WISA and found not only an opportunity to play but a network of sisters who loved and supported one another.

That support system proved invaluable when Fouts’ husband died of leukemia.

“They really were a wonderful safety net for me and they’ve continued to be that for my whole life,” Fouts says.

Joshua Fouts would go on to play in the collegiate and professional ranks. Donna Fouts continues to play for the love of the game and the love of the community that has grown around it.

This summer, Fouts will be a part of a mixed team of WISA players that will travel to Torino, Italy, for the World Masters Games. Her team, Holomua, is one of two that will represent Hawaii.

“I really enjoy being with women who are passionate about he same things I am,” Fouts says. “It’s not just the preparation to play hard; it’s also the anticipation of what else there is to do.”