Unagi: A State of Mind

Unagi (oo-nah-gee) n. "It is not something you are, it's something you have. It's a concept, a state of total awareness. Only by achieving true Unagi can you be prepared for any danger that may befall you".


That was the name and motto of our U-14 Girls select team this year. At first we had a hard time in getting the girls to chose a name for the team. But once they agreed on the name Unagi, the team spirit really took off and a special type of bond was formed amongst the girls, one that went beyond being team mates.


Can't remember exactly who exactly came up with the name suggestion, but it came from an episode of Friends in which Ross pretends to "have Unagi".....pretty funny actually (see the clip): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z6yrcvPq10


Car Wash Fund Raise:The team took off right from the beginning. We started with a very successful car-wash fund raise in January. I was not able to be there due to a business trip, but parents and kids did a tremendous job and were able to raise nearly $900.00 in one day!


However, get 14 teenage girls some buckets of soapy water and sponges and a car wash guaranteed to degenerate into a full blown battle!After the car wash we got our uniforms and got ready for the winter season which would lead to the Kirk Banks tournament in Honolulu.


The first official "Group Photo":Hilo Unagi:
Back Row (l to r): Coach Romo, Carmen, Lolly, Sydney, Bailey, Amanda, Delcee, JC, Ivy, Coach Todd.
Front Row: Melia, Cookie, Mehana, Shayli, Caitie, Harley.
We started off playing the teams from Puna..Kona......,and North Hawaii ........ The start was a bit rocky but little by little the team started to come together on the field..... and most important, all the girls were giving it all on the field, and remain positive towards each other... A big part of the success of this team, besides the players was the great group of parents and families that we had, they made everything much easier and their help and support was invaluable for Todd and I.

Banner Moms!....
Unagi Moms giving their undivided support at the fields
Big crowds of loyal fans followed us all across the island, and to other islands as well!

Rowdy Unagi fans came in all sizes! So did our cheerleaders! And of course, lets not forget the Unagi dadsWell we even had fans come to see the games all the way from MEXICO!!

Kirk BanksThe moment we all had been waiting for finally arrived and we headed out to Honolulu to play the Kirk Banks Tournament. The team did very well in the group phase.

Hilo Unagi 3 - Mililani Silver 1

Hilo Unagi 3 - Mililani Bronze 0

Hilo Unagi 0 - Diamond Head 0

The tournament was filled with exciting moments:

Breakaway plays to goal... Injuries....Coaches analyzing the game...Team camaraderie...
Close calls against us...Incredibly missed opportunities (especially against Diamond Head)And Great goals to celebrate.... That last draw against Diamond Head put us in second place of our group and set us against North Hawaii in the quarterfinals round. The girls from North Hawaii are BIG and strong, and have a game style similar of the one the Dutch displayed against Spain during the first half of the World Cup final. We lost to North Hawaii in the quarterfinals, but the girls played their hearts out.

Kirk Banks was in every respect a huge success!.

After our elimination we took all the girls to the fair at night where they had lots of fun... At the airport on the way back home.... great memories.... After Kirk Banks Unagi had to take a break to make room for the regular AYSO season which was followed by the High School Summer league in which 10 out of the 14 Unagi players participated. After Spring season was over, and while HS Summer league was still going on we decided to start practice. But practice should not be all just about hitting a ball at the field, so in order to work on endurance and team-building, we spent some days going for a run around Liliuokalani park followed by short scrimmages on coconut island and wrapping it up with some swim time and jumping off the tower! and why not celebrate one of the team member's birthday there as well!?...

Happy Birthday Lolly!
Volcano Tournament Hilo

things did not go as planned for Unagi on this tournament. Three teams participated in our division, Hilo A'ali'i, Hilo Unagi and Kaneohe Storm (Oahu). We were going to have to play each one of these teams twice and the two best teams would play the championship. We knew that the Hilo A'ali'i would be a very difficult adversary (we have never been able to defeat them) so our chances to make it to the championship rested on Kaneohe.

The first game against A'ali'i was lost 4-0, however, the final score did not reflect wat took place on the field. The Unagi girls played one of their best games ever and were able to keep it a close game for a long time, but, we were outplayed. Against Kaneohe we displayed a good passing game, however, we missed our scoring chances and in one defensive error we ended up losing 1-0. Our second game against Kaneohe we went up 1-0, then they turned around 1-3 and although we battled hard and brought the game 2-3 we were not able to finish some scoring chances we had and ended up eliminated......The girls played hard, and they played well, however, in soccer it's not the team that plays best the one that wins, but the one that scores the goals.....It was fun though!

The Volcano Squad: Back Row: Coach Todd, Lolly, Harley, Syd, Mehana, Zena, Amanda, Ivy, Delcee, Coach Romo

Front Row: Caitie, Carmen, Bailey, Melia, Shayli, JC

(Cookie was gone to Australia, so we signed up Zena who turned out to be an outstanding GoalKeeper! thank you Zena!)

Unagi (oo-nah-gee) n. "It is not something you are, it's something you have. It's a concept, a state of total awareness"....

Thank you all we will be seeing you around