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Kelci Sumida laughs heartily about the time she scored a goal with her nose and was crudely rushed off the field by a referee.
“That’s one story I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” the Moanalua striker said in a Sunday interview. “There was a corner kick and I was trying to head the ball in. The girl in front of me headed it and it hit me in the nose and went in the goal, and then my nose started bleeding and the ref was, like, yelling at me not to get blood on the field and was trying to push me off. I told him I was still looking for my nose and said, ‘Oh sorry, I don’t have any Kleenex or anything.’ It was on McKinley’s brand-new turf field.”
Fortunately for Sumida, the rest of her 58 career goals have come from less delicate body parts. She also feels lucky to have had her fraternal twin, Kaylee, on the field all four high school years for Na Menehune.
Often it’s Kaylee — all 5 feet 2 and 95 pounds of her — who is tasked with making a physical defensive play in order to get the ball rolling to the scoring machine who came out of the womb 30 minutes later and has grown slightly bigger at 5-4, 114 pounds.
“Personality-wise, we’re kind of the same,” said Kaylee, who recently moved from center mid to center back and is loving it. “She’s the one who will be dribbling the ball more. I rely on her. I’ll send her the ball and expect her to get it.”
Even though they are not identical twins, Moanalua coach Nikki Dela Pena wanted to avoid any confusion on their first day of practice late in 2015.
“You’re (Kelci) Twin 1 and you (Kaylee) are Twin 2,” Dela Pena said that day, not knowing which one was older. “That’s still how they want me to refer to them.”
Dela Pena had no idea that they would become two of the most special girls she’s coached in her 20-plus years on the sidelines, girls who would become four-year starters and three-year captains and sign to play at the next level.
Kelci — who makes a point of crediting her scoring proficiency mostly to teamwork and others getting her the ball — will play at Hawaii, Kaylee at Hawaii Pacific.
“That’s great that both of them will be here,” Dela Pena said. “They’ve been successful at this level and the club level (Leahi) and are moving on as top recruits. It’s exciting as a coach to know you have these girls that can keep the young ones still excited about soccer.”
Staying on Oahu ensured they could stay, as Dela Pena says, “joined at the hip.”
“She’s one of my best friends,” Kelci said about Kaylee. “And I’m glad that we’re both going to go to school here so I can go and support her at her soccer games.”
Dela Pena believes both have the potential to shine at the next level.
“I saw since the first year they came here that size does not matter,” the coach said. “These girls play way bigger than their size. It’s their character within that makes them much bigger. They’re so coachable and are going to do well with just that. They take feedback, positive criticism and work hard to make corrections and will do whatever the coach asks them. They’ve never given me an excuse. I do tell them often that they could stand to gain 5 pounds.”
One of Kaylee’s stories illustrates her deep desire burning inside to succeed.
“We were playing Kahuku and it was an intense game when one of our players, Shania Mohika, who was really important to our team, got badly injured and taken away in an ambulance,” Kaylee said. “It was that bad. Something in us just clicked and we just came together and we knew we had to pull through for her. We played our hearts out for her to win the game.”
There will never be any confusion about their soccer styles.
“Kaylee knows how important that (center back) role is and she was willing to take it on,” Dela Pena said. “She calls people back, she runs back, she clears, she does the right things. She’s always been very physical and battles through everything. Kelci wants the back of the net. She’ll take the 1-on-1 or take the challenge, understanding there are three girls marking her but still want the ball. Both girls have played through injuries and getting knocked down by bigger girls, but they pop back up ready to go.”
Moanalua (7-0-1) is in first place in the OIA East and will try to break through for a league crown for the first time since 2012. The Sumida twins and Na Menehune have been knocked out of the state tournament in the first round three times, including a gut-wrenching 1-0 (9-8 PKs) loss to ‘Iolani last year, a game in which Kelci suffered a concussion and was unable to get into the penalty-kick lineup.
“Our team goal right now is to get first in the OIA East, secure that bye into the OIAs and hopefully can get through and then past the first round of states,” said Kelci.
KELCI SUMIDA
>> School: Moanalua
>> Sport: Soccer
>> Grade: Senior
>> Height/weight: 5-4, 114
>> College team next season: Hawaii >> Intended major: Kinesiology
>> Possible career path: Physical therapy
>> Favorite high school subject: Health
>> Mom and dad: Kim and Branden Sumida
>> Dogs: Hatchi and Nala
>> Favorite movie: “The Proposal”
>> Favorite TV show: “One Tree Hill”
>> Soccer honors: Three-time OIA East first team
KAYLEE SUMIDA
>> School: Moanalua
>> Sport: Soccer
>> Grade: Senior
>> Height/weight: 5-2, 95
>> College team next season: Hawaii Pacific
>> Intended major: Undecided
>> Possible career path: Musculoskeletal sonography
>> Favorite high school subject: English
>> Sister: Brianne Sumida
>> Cat: Enzo
>> Favorite movie: “The Proposal”
>> Favorite TV show: “Grey’s Anatomy”
>> Soccer honors: OIA East first team once, OIA East second team twice
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