HONOKAA – The next reading assignment for first-year Honokaa boys coach Josh Robinson is an extensive one, if he chooses to accept it.
“I was cleaning out my office, and I got my soccer library and put it in the back of his truck,” Maurice Miranda said. “One caveat. If you don’t like it, give it back to me.”
After 31 years at the helm of the Dragons, he’s passed the baton to Robinson, and so the “weening off process” has begun. Now an assistant, the 71-year-old Miranda had the luxury of being able to get stuck at work Friday and showed up at halftime of Honokaa’s 2-1 against Christian Liberty. That didn’t stop him from handing out a few lectures to players in the second half when he detected a misstep.
“I’m really trying not to overstep my boundaries,” Miranda said, “but it’s hard for me.”
Saying ‘it was time,” it was his idea for his former player to replace him.
“No. 1, he’s going to own the program,” Miranda said. “I was looking for someone who felt like they had a piece of it and were a part of it.”
Somewhere in his truck, Robinson has a blueprint to guiding Honokaa to a state championship, though it’s a tale he knows well.
The 2011 Honokaa grad was among a core group of players that rose up through the youth ranks with Miranda – Dragons Football Club, AYSO, indoor soccer – so by the time they got to high school playing together had become second nature. In 2010, the Dragons won the BIIF D-II title and advanced to the state title game, losing to Mid-Pacific 4-0.
“We started winning games, and it got more fun,” said Robinson, who went on to play at UH-Hilo and graduated with a degree in computer science. “Once we made it to the state final the first time, we knew we could do it.”
Honokaa reached the state final again in 2011, and Robinson’s second goal of that match punctuated a 4-1 victory against Kapaa and the school’s first HHSAA crown in any sport.
“We felt like we had all the support behind us from the community and everything, that’s what kept us going, all that support,” he said. “We played for them and we played for each other.”
The 2012 Dragons were perhaps even better, blazing through the BIIF undefeated en route to winning a second consecutive state title. However, Miranda said it becomes a double-edged sword when a small-school coach concentrates on a single group without a larger overall feeder system to back things up.
Honokaa has been a perennial state contender ever since, but 2012 marks its last BIIF title.
“You do it for a stretch, but you’re not doing it with the youth level anymore,” he said. “Who’s doing it behind you? If nobody does, you have nothing coming in.”
Miranda said his state title blueprint would take at least five years to execute, and Robinson said he may just be up for the task.
“I think, like anything, it’s possible,” he said. “I kind of want to do what Maurice did and start a program. Bring kids up and feed them into high school and college.”
In some ways, it was just a win that Friday’s match was played. Of the 12 BIIF matches that were scheduled for the week, eight were postponed because of COVID-19 protocols.
Playing their opener, the Canefire had a potential tying goal on a corner kick waved off in the second half because of goalkeeper interference. Trailing 1-0 in the first half, Josiah Glenn drew a penalty kick, which Tim Costales converted.
Off the 22 boys in grades 9-12 at Christian Liberty, 18 are on the soccer team.
“I feel like we showed up and it’s exciting how we performed,” said assistant Morgan Zuhl, who was filling in for coach Troy Rimel. “We have a lot of games coming up, and we’re just excited to go from here.”
Honokaa (2-0) doesn’t have a girls soccer team this season, but Mikayla Pesta flashed in the sixth minute with a run down the left side, scoring back post.
“She can put it away, she knows where to be and she’s got speed,” Robinson said.
Late in the first half, Kana’i Carvalho netted the go-ahead goal for the Dragons, who are 2-0 early in Robinson’s regime.
“I want us to be very good defensively,” he said. “I want us to be hard to beat.
“Fitness is up there. If we possess the ball, I think that’s the best defense we can play.”
Somewhere in his truck, there’s probably just the reading material to fit his desired system.
