Hilo’s Miya Clarke spends her summers on the soccer field much of the same way she spends the BIIF season.
Clarke runs up and down the right flank, terrorizing opponents with her speed.
The Maui Strikers had at least one player who could have tried to keep up with her, but she was on the bench Sunday at the Volcano International Soccer Tournament as Clarke scored a goal to help Hilo win 2-1 in the under-19 girls championship match, which got off to a physical start at Hilo Bayfront.
“It was good competition,” Clarke said. “Really good.”
It might have been even better if Kamehameha’s Chenoa Frederick, who plays with the club team from the Valley Isle, didn’t have to watch from the sidelines with an injury. As a freshman, Frederick set an HHSAA track and field championship record in triple jump in May and might have been able to give Clarke a run for her money.
“We were just talking about it,” said Clarke, the reigning BIIF Division I Player of the Year from Hilo High. “She is really fast too, and she does track. We’re really good friends. It would have been bigger competition.”
Nanea Rabang helped Hilo to a 2-0 lead, scoring on a rebound after the Maui goalkeeper stopped her penalty kick. While the majority of Hilo’s team members play with Skee Saplan at Hilo High, Rabang played her freshman season at Waiakea, and goalkeeper Kyanah Blas plays at Konawaena.
The match was chippy at the outest, forcing referee Troy Keolanui to tell both teams to take a breather. Saplan said the teams also played a physical match in Hilo’s 4-3 win Friday.
“This one had a little extra,” Saplan said. “Nobody wants to lose. Two competitive team going at it.”
This was his first Volcano U19 title after guiding Hilo High to repeat BIIF Division I title run with a group of sophomores led by Clarke. Also on the field were familiar Vikings players such as Hollie Saplan, Haley Miyasato, Alyeemomi Amaral, Karla Ishii, Paige Hiraki and Lacey Shiigi as well as Caneel Corpuz, who played her freshman season at Waiakea.
Saplan’s club team, Chicas, is getting set to visit California, giving Clarke a chance to show off her speed at showcase tournaments.
“Getting ready top ball out,” Clarke said. “Soccer, every single day. That’s how I like it.”
Whether it be players decide to play in the Hawaii Youth Soccer Organization, home to club teams such as Chicas, or the American Youth Soccer Organization, the Volcano tournament host, Skee Saplan said the two organizations can a should complement each other.
“That’s what we have to do,” he said. “Try too help each other out in whatever way we can, because it makes it much better.
“Especially on this side they’re doing a better job of making the work concurrently. If you look at the numbers that AYSO has and that HYSA has, I think it’s going good.”
In the U12 finals, Chicas beat West Oahu; Hilo Rush claimed U10, defeating Hilo Gold.
