University of Hawaii at Hilo soccer director Lance Thompson resigned his post Monday to accept a job directing a youth soccer club and coaching a college club team in Arizona.
The school named former assistant coach Gene Okamura the new director of soccer, on an interim basis. Okamura, who had also been the head coach for the girls team at Kamehameha-Hawaii prior to his resignation two months ago, has been deeply involved in youth soccer on the Big Island as director of coaching for Hawaii Rush Big Island.
“I’m definitely excited for the opportunity,” Okamura said Wednesday in the office he formerly shared with Thompson. “It has always been my goal to work my way up to running the soccer program here and now that I have been given a chance, I intend to give it my best shot.”
Okamura accordingly took a dive into the deep end of the pool as UH-Hilo is one of only two schools in the state that has one coach for two soccer programs in the same season.
This will be the last year of athletics for BYU-Hawaii, so if a new coach isn’t hired, UHH would be the only school in the state with one coach for two teams in the same season, and one of only three in the Pacific West Conference.
“It’s going to be a lot of work, but I feel I’m prepared,” Okamura said. “I’ve been as close to it as you can be, so I know what I’m getting into.”
Okamura, a graduate of Waiakea High School, was on of the first players recruited to UH-Hilo for its inaugural men’s soccer team.
In his three seasons at the school, Thompson accumulated a 17-29-5 record with the men’s team, 12-21-4 in conference play. His women’s teams were 22-18-1 and 15-17-5 in conference play.
Thompson left for financial reasons and not just because he was the lowest paid coach of the school’s seven team sports and had to coach both his teams in the season, playing back-to-games on the same day.
In a university issued “Athletics Payroll” report for the 2014 season that was obtained by the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Thompson was listed as being paid $42,000 as coach of both teams. The five other team sport coaches all made more and coached only one sport.
His wife, with ohana roots on Oahu, lost her job last year which made finances difficult, but she recently landed a position in student services at Grand Canyon University, a private, religiously affiliated school in Phoenix.
Thompson has a couple new jobs, but neither is likely to be as taxing as coaching two teams in the same season. He is the new director of coaching for the Arizona Hammers youth soccer program — similar to what Okamura has done in Hilo for Hawaii Rush — and will also coach the women’s club soccer team at Grand Canyon.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity,” Thompson said. “I’ll be coaching the coaches, basically, for the Hammers and then getting to coach myself with the women’s team, so we are all pretty excited.”
UH-Hilo athletics director Pat Guillen was hired 10 months and two weeks ago and was unable to find a way to keep Thompson.
“Lance was great to work with, our relationship goes way back,” Guillen said. “He has done a tremendous job of laying the groundwork for the program, getting everything pointed in the right direction, and I think this recent recruiting class shows it.
“We are so fortunate to have Gene on staff,” he said. “He has been here all; three years with Lance, nobody knows youth soccer better here than Gene, and I told him he’s earned the opportunity. We discussed it, and I told him I won’t give him the job, but I will give him the opportunity to prove he can do the job and make it his own.
“I’m confident Gene is the right guy at this time. Let’s see how he does; let’s give him a chance.”
Thompson, who was hired in August of 2013, said he held off the announcement of his decision until after recruiting because he didn’t want to leave the school in a bad place. His new roll with the Arizona Hammers requires him to assist in the development of players and help them find college opportunities.
“You better believe it,” he said when asked if that meant he might send players this way. “It’s a great place to be, a great place to attend school and I’m confident we will help UH-Hilo recruiting in the years ahead. This was our best recruiting class and Gene will be in good shape for his new role. He’ll do a great job.”
