Youth sports: Dedicated supporters, kids make Hawaii elite

Why are youth baseball teams from Hawaii so successful?

According to a Little League International official, it’s the personnel. And by personnel, sure, that means talented players. But there’s more.

“It is clear that the dedicated volunteers who help to run those programs have had a tremendous impact on the players, coaches, managers, and families (in Hawaii),” said Little League International spokesman Kevin Fountain, when asked why Hawaii has won three Little League World Series championships since 2005, including last year’s title.

Confidence is a key factor, said Gerald Oda, the manager of last year’s LLWS winners from Honolulu.

Call it a fear of the unknown or an inferiority complex. Whatever it was, it’s gone.

“We’re out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and especially when some of the (mainland) kids are so big. … Now it’s, ‘We can compete with these guys,’ ” Oda said.

“A story we share was about Roger Bannister being the first person to break the four-minute mile,” Oda added. “It seemed like an impossible barrier, but once he did it, others realized they could, too. We stress to the kids to see themselves breaking barriers, too.”

Hawaii also won the LLWS in 2005 (Ewa Beach) and 2008 (Waipio).

Youngsters from the islands have shined in other sports, too.

It’s not a huge surprise when someone from Hawaii wins a big surf meet. This is, after all, where the sport was born. But Punahou student Carissa Moore still turned heads in 2008 when at age 16 she became the youngest winner of a Triple Crown of Surfing event, capturing the Reef Hawaiian Pro championship.

And six-time Triple Crown winner Sunny Garcia from Waianae was still a teenager when he turned pro in 1986.

Team Aloha, a squad of all-star high school girl basketball players that coach Mufi Hannemann takes to California each year, is often very successful. This year it won the Elite is Earned Spring Invitational with a 5-0 record.

“The fundamental training here is good,” University of Hawaii women’s basketball coach Laura Beeman said. “Kids from Hawaii are also pretty athletic.”

Hawaii’s long history of volleyball greatness includes an incredible run of victories by teenagers: Ka Ulukoa club team standouts Micah Ma’a, Larry Tuileta and Evan Enriques did not lose in five years of national competition from 2009 to 2013.

Golf is another sport where Hawaii youngsters have flourished.

Casey Nakama, a longtime junior coach, said there is potential to play professional or college golf despite a lack of size.

“Eventually if they find they’re not physically big enough for other sports they might realize that for golf they can succeed whatever size they are,” Nakama said. “A lot of the girls on the LPGA Tour are not big, but they play like machines. You can be 5 feet 2, 5 feet 3 and still be a pro.”

Nakama’s most famous pupil, Michelle Wie, did not fit into that category, and she was nearly 6 feet tall when she was a teenager nearly making cuts at PGA Tour events. But Tadd Fujikawa is just 5-1, and was 16 when he finished 20th at the Sony Open in Hawaii in 2007, becoming the youngest player ever to make the cut at a PGA event.

Debate rages regarding overuse injuries, and Little League Elbow has become part of the youth sports lexicon. But while good year-round playing weather for outdoor sports could be dangerous if kids don’t take breaks, Hawaii’s climate is still an advantage over other states where snow could be covering the ground several months during the year.

Still, Oda said he makes a point of remembering that baseball is supposed to be fun and not work for kids.

“After states last year, (the coaches) were feeling too much pressure. And if we’re feeling pressure what about the kids? If we focus only on the winning and we don’t win it won’t mean anything to them,” Oda said. “Our No. 1 focus was for them to enjoy it.

“No matter whatever happens, we want these kids to have a great experience,” Oda added. “Everybody needs a moral compass, and you want to know that you’re doing it for the right reasons. If you want to change the world, do it at the youth level.”