December 22, 2006

The 'little school' that could ...

Mike Loveday
StudentSportsSoccer.com Staff Writer

They traveled more than 2,400 miles across the Pacific Ocean for the first time in school history, and many people are curious as to who this "little" team from Honolulu is and how they came to participate in the 2006 Tri-Valley Classic in California.

Iolani School is located about half a mile from Waikiki in
Honolulu, and this marks the first year the team traveled to the mainland for a high school girls soccer contest. The school's boys team twice participated in southern California events in recent years.

"A lot of these girls have played on the mainland at the
highest (club) level, but as a general rule it's going to be a lot more physical game for them and they were aware of that," first-year head coach Chris Nied said of the Tri-Valley Classic. "Across the board it's probably a more athletic game then we would typically find in your average game in Honolulu."

Nied knows it is important for the team to challenge itself
outside of their conference, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu (ILH). Iolani placed third the past two seasons in the conference where only the conference winner advances to the state championship. The conference winner won the last six Hawaii state championships.

"I told the girls that with everybody we've got on this team
this year we could be a contender for the state championship," Nied said. "I said if we're going to get ready for running at that title this is the perfect place to get tuned up for it. Every game's going to be a tough game and every game is going to be a challenge."

Iolani is 1-1-1 in the Tri-Valley Classic with wins over last year's Gold division champion Horizon (Calif.), a tie against Hockaday School (Texas) and a loss to Mayfair (Calif.). Overall, Iolani is 10-2-1.

When Nied took over the program the one thing he wanted to change about the team is its style of play.

The average height of players on the team is 5-foot-5 with two girls that "tower" at 5-8 and a freshman that does not break the 5-foot mark. Known mostly as a defensive team, Iolani matches were generally low-scoring affairs. Nied instituted a more aggressive attack style that utilizes the team's speed and athleticism.

"We're a fairly small team physically and the first thing I
wanted to bring to the program was to get these girls to realize that they have the ability to move up and down the field and challenge people 1-v-1 and put balls in the back of the net," Nied said. "My whole thing was I wanted them
to get some confidence and put the ball in the back of the net and not mind winning a game 3-2 as opposed to losing a game 1-0."

To achieve that goal, Nied knew that the entire team had to buy into the philosophy and that was not going to be a problem.

The school's motto is, One Team, and that motto is printed on the back of the girls' warm-ups.

"Because of our size, we usually come in as an underdog,"
Nied said. "The 'One Team' deal focuses on the fact that it takes every player on that team to make the whole thing work. Every girl accepts that and works toward that direction."

Two of Iolani's players are committed to Division I programs: Nicole Ha is going to Loyola Marymount and Sammi Teramae is going to the University of Pacific.

Among the underclassman that Nied believes will be the next wave of stars at Iolani are juniors Alyssa Simbahon, who is one of the team's leading scorers, and Kellee Murayama.

"She's very composed on the field and she's got great
footwork," Nied said of Murayama. "She's one of those people that the place could be burning down and you'd never know it if you looked at Kellee. She's always under control."

Sophomore's Presley Pawn and Kirsten Adams also lend depth and talent to the lineup.

Adams maintains skill with both feet and is one of the fastest players on the team.

Pawn is one of the bigger girls on the team and Nied said
because of her excellent field vision he relies on her for a lot of the team's distribution.

When Nied first took the job, returning to his alma mater
to coach the girls' team, he told the Iolani athletic director that his main goal was have the team to travel.

Nied's brother lives in the Walnut Creek, Calif., area where one of the host schools, Las Lamas, is located and is familiar with the club teams in the area. Nied's brother put Nied in touch with tournament director Tom Frangoulis and from there it was only a matter of the school's booster club starting raising the money to get the team to the Tri-Valley Classic.

Iolani has a rich soccer tradition with four state titles to its credit and the last one coming in 1998.

After the Tri-Valley Classic, Iolani gets a seven-day break
for Christmas and then will start on its 11 remaining matches.

With 15 players returning from last year's team and a new
offensive style and the confidence to go with it, Iolani aims to make the teams that overlook them because of their size learn that the school from "The Big Island" is here to stay.

"They know what they're up here for," Nied said. "They feel like they're challenged and they're up for it."