Another awesome team dinner

Tonight, we planned for another home cooked dinner for the boys.  Aunty Cecily treated us all to a huge pot of homemade chili which we complimented with rice, hot dogs, tossed green salad with veggies and tons of fresh fruit.

The boys spent time playing cards and we all had a great time talking about the days events and how much we are enjoying the trip.

We had a quick parent meeting and talked to Francis about Thursday's Summer Festival before calling it an early night.  Lights out very early tonight as we plan to leave at 6:15 tomorrow morning for our last game at 8 am.  Good night, everyone!

Game 2: Nevada vs Cyclones (7-2)

Today, we left the hotel at 10:15 for our noon game against Nevada.  The Nevada team is made up primarily of players from Mexican descent, short in stature with husky builds.  The Cyclones played a much better, harder game than the first which is not indicative by the score.

We were down by 4 goals when we were awarded a penalty kick for a Nevada handball inside the box.  David took the PK and put it cleanly in the back of the net.  Preston had an awesome 2nd half, aggressively dribbled his way inside the box to score just shortly after our PK goal.

Needless to say, the game was an aggressive one with 4 yellow cards being given (1 to Nevada and 3 to Cyclones).  The Nevada team was able to finish the game by scoring 3 more goals from their solid left forward with a pretty good left foot.

After the game - the boys were interviewed for additional footage that the parents had arranged with the videographer for the tournament.  We arranged for a professional videographer to tape our 2nd game and provide commentary throughout and player, coaches and parent post-game interviews.

The boys played a hard fought game today and we are glad to have put two goals away.  Tomorrow will be our final game in the tournament - we face Oregon and are hoping to pull out a win.  Let's go, Cyclones!  Let's finish strong!

A very special invitation

We received a very special invitation from Francis, one of the hotel workers that we've become acquainted with.  Francis is of Comanche Indian heritage and he invited the Express and Cyclones families to his tribe's reservation for their annual summer festival on Thursday.  We are so honored to be invited and gladly accepted Francis' invitation.

The festival is to honor St. John and it'll be a day filled with ethnic food, dance and tradition.  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity - we're so fortunate to be blessed with such an experience.  Will definitely post more about the festival and share photos after Thursday.

Mahalo, Francis, for your kindness and generosity - we look forward to seeing you on Thursday!

Hotel's daily breakfast and some dinner too

Our hotel provides a complimentary hot breakfast every morning which is a great convenience.  We have a varying selection of items daily which include biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage, bacon, pancakes, belgian waffles with all the fixings, yogurt, cereals and bagels, muffins, croissants and other pastries.

It's such a hearty breakfast we are very glad for the convenience of not having to worry about getting the boys fed in the mornings.  The hotel has committed to special arrangements for days where we have early games and also provides dinner for guests on Mondays and Wednesdays.  We have canceled two nights of plans to cook dinner for the team so this also helps us stay below our anticipated meal budget.  Staying at this hotel is working out wonderfully - the staff is also so helpful and have been really great to the Cyclones and Express players and families.

Game 1: Washington vs Cyclones (4-0)

Game day!  Our first game was at 10am this morning against Washington State.  These boys are big in stature, fairly quick and it was a tough game to open with.  The boys matched up evenly for most of the first half when the Washington team scored in the later part of the 1st half.  I wouldn't say that the Washington team was heads and shoulders better in skill level than the Cyclones however, they were definitely handling the heat and elevation better, considering they are also coming from a sea-level (and generally cooler) environment than Hawaii.

The boys played hard - it was evident that this first game would be a difficult one where our boys needed to fight through some pain.  With some players coming into the tournament less than 100% due to existing injuries and still recovering from recent injuries - as well as continuing to get acclimated to the NM environment - the boys played a great game nonetheless.

This wasn't quite the result for the tournament opener we were hoping for but we'll continue to press on.  We'll regroup, refresh and get ready for tomorrow's game.  Go Cyclones!!

Cyclones are in the Albuquerque Journal!

Yesterday, the boys were interviewed by a reporter from the Albuquerque Journal.  Our very own, Royce Romero (#17), was the most outgoing of the group and was quoted in the newspaper article.  This was really a stroke of luck - right place, right time!

The Far West Regionals is a big deal here in Albuquerque - there are 232 teams in the tournament from various age groups from U12 to U19.  Here's a couple of shots from the newspaper which shows the quote from Royce.  Good job, Royce - you presented yourself very humbly - we are so proud of you!

Father's Day Team Dinner

To celebrate Father's Day - we planned on using the gas grills at the hotel to cook bbq chicken, steak and corn for dinner.  It would be a perfect Father's Day dinner except we needed the dads to grill (oh well - they like to do that anyway, right?)  We started marinating chicken last night and Coach Creig put together his special grill seasoning for the steak.
The dinner was delicious!  Another great meal - kinda homemade but away from home.  We were missing all of our families who were not able to make this trip and hope that these posts and photos are helping everyone feel as though they're right here with us. 
The boys are really enjoying eachother's company and are looking forward to the first day of pool play tomorrow.  Lights out at 10:30pm tonight - we need to leave for the fields at 8:15am for our 10:00am game against Washington State.  Good night everyone, wish us luck tomorrow!

Visit to the Mall

After buying our souvenirs, we drove up the street to the Coronado Mall to let the boys walk around for a bit in the air conditioning.  The boys headed straight to the food court and bought bottled water to keep hydrated and some of the moms treated themselves to mani-pedis.  We found some of the boys in Lids picking out some 'stunnah shades' - they're so cool!


There were some cool kiosks in the mall - Godiva Chocolates had a mouth-watering setup showing off their decadent chocolate dipped strawberries.  Cup-o-Cakes is a super cute kiosk that sells designer cupcakes and also some fun cupcake shaped stuff like bath bombs, bath towels and lip balm.

We spent just a couple hours mall then headed back to the hotel to celebrate our wonderful Dad's for Father's Day!

Team Check-In

Earlier today, Coach Eric and Coach Creig went to check-in the team at the McM Elegante Hotel on Menual Boulevard.  We decided to stop by the check-in to see what kind of souvenirs we could pick up ahead of time.

The tournament provides a goody bag for each player that includes a program, pin and some other little giveaways (sunscreen, chapstick, etc.).  At the check-in, there was all kinds of souvenirs to buy - t-shirts, climalite jerseys, caps, water bottles, umbrellas and picture frames.

Most of the kids picked up t-shirts and these handcrafted bracelets which is a fundraiser for Mother's for All.  This is a non-profit organization that provides skills training and support for women in Botswana and South Africa who are caring for children orphaned or made vulnerable by AIDS.  The bracelets are really neat - the 'beads' are made out of cardboard packaging, magazines (old Eurosport and US Soccer Federation magazines) and other recycled paper.  Each bracelet is unique and comes with a card showing the name of the person who made it and where they are from.  The bracelet is earth friendly, serves a good cause and are pretty stylish on our boys.  If you'd like to learn more about this organization, visit www.mothersforall.org

While we were there, a reporter from the local newspaper chatted with the boys and interviewed Royce.  He mentioned he was writing an article about the tournament for tomorrow's paper so we need to check the Albuquerque Journal tomorrow morning and see Royce's comments in print!

Visit to the tournament fields

We drove out to the tournament fields which is about 30 minutes from our hotel.  The tournament is being held at the State Farm Soccer Complex.  The complex has about 20 fields which are very lush and green (despite being in the middle of the desert).  The grass is like a thick shag carpet - it will take some getting used to for the boys as it's impeding the speed of the ball and hard to run on. 

We had the fields to ourselves so we took advantage of being there before the crowds for photos.  The boys got into full dress and took team and family photos.  It was a clear, beautiful day - still hot, of course, but another great day in Albuquerque!

Busy, busy Sunday!

Our Sunday began with the boys heading out for a final practice before the start of the tournament.  The moms stayed behind to prepare lunch for our hungry players once practice ended.  We had a healthy sandwich lunch - ham and tuna, grapes and granola bars.  The boys continue to hydrate - we are all hydrating profusely because the heat is super intense.  After practice, we headed out to the tournament fields for a photo shoot of our super stars.

An evening of food, fun and laughs with Express

The Express team was gracious enough to invite us to have a joint team dinner tonight.  We had a wonderful dinner catered by Olive Garden (thank you, Aunty Kea for coordinating!) and had tons of fun playing games with the girls (thank you, Aunty Denise!)

Everyone enjoyed salad, breadsticks, lasagna, chicken fettuccine alfredo and nice, ripe strawberries.  After dinner, Aunty Denise had the kids get into co-ed teams and do some funny quizzes to test everyone's Chinese translation ability as well as a "moron test."  Some of us parents thought the girls would beat the boys at the moron test but surprisingly - it was a tie!  The kids could not decide on a tie-breaker (suggestions ranged from dance off [requested by the boys but the girls did not want to take the challenge], some girlie game [which the boys refused to do], pk shoot out, scrimmage) so the night ended with no one claiming the title.  Which is probably a good outcome!

We ended the night singing Happy Birthday to our two birthday boys - Tyler and Preston who are both turning 15 (Tyler today and Preston tomorrow).  Happy birthday, boys - let's make the celebration last through next week with some FWR wins!

Practice, practice, practice

The boys headed out mid-morning to get in a good, solid practice.  It was another scorching hot day today but getting a good night's rest definitely showed.  The boys are just about back to their normal play despite the heat and thin air.

The boys showed stamina, speed and good ball movement.  We have one last practice tomorrow before our first game on Monday.  The boys are looking good - we hope for a good showing in pool play.

After practice, the boys headed out for a pizza lunch at Dion's which is a couple miles away from our hotel.  Dion's was named 2nd best pizza in Albuquerque in 1978 - not satisfied with being 2nd best, since then, they have been voted several times over as the best pizza in Albuquerque.  I think this is symbolic for the Cyclones, we will continue to strive to be the best we can be - as a team as well as an individual contributor.  We parents and coaches are very proud of our boys, not only for their accomplishments but for the wonderful young men they are growing up to be.  Go Cyclones!

Mexican dinner at Gardunos

Coach Creig got a hot tip on some authentic Mexican food near our hotel.  We headed out to Gardunos - a quaint restaurant about 15 minutes from our hotel.  The food is excellent here - we would definitely go back for another meal before the end of our trip.

Coach Rod and I sat at the bar for dinner so we could watch a replay of the England vs Algeria World Cup match.  The table next to us ordered margaritas in glasses that were as big as your head!  Of course, I had to have one of those but the server told us those were the last two glasses of those size so I had to settle for a regular margarita like the common-folk drink.  At least Mikey got to pretend to drink a huge Corona!

Again, the food is very good - we ordered Flautas tres Colores and Bistec (steak) and Shrimp Diablo.  The order came with sopaipillas (fried dough eaten with honey) and corn cake.  The corn cake is somewhat similar to a very popular Chilean dish - Pastel de Choclo (corn pie).  I told Rod that we need to go back to Gardunos and order their corn cake (in a big dish)!  Very, very good - que rico!!

Behind the bar, a different looking bottle of Patron was doing it's darndest to catch my attention - this Patron is a Platinum Patron which we had to try so we had two shots for dessert.  The bartender said this Patron is a 'sipping' tequila - don't shoot it, just sip it.  Which I guess is good because at $26 a shot, you should make this moment last as long as possible.  Platinum Patron gets two thumbs up - though I would not necessarily choose this over Patron Anejo which is some pretty awesome tequila at a reasonable price.

The kids are completely exhausted but having a great time together.  Everyone has the option of sleeping in tomorrow as long as they are ready for noon practice.  Buenas noches!

Gotta get acclimated . . . heat and thin air

New Mexico's climate is very similar to Las Vegas where the heat is scorching but dry, little humidity - however the elevation makes the air very thin.  The boys took a quick rest then headed out for practice.

Coach Eric had the boys jog three miles, stretch and got some touches on ball to help get the boys used to the heat but mostly to help them get used to having to run in elevation.  US Youth Soccer has implemented a new substitution rule for this tournament where you can only sub in the amount of players (in excess of your starting 11) on your roster for each half.  That means, if we have 15 players, 11 are starting, we have four subs for each half.  The challenge is that once you sub out a player (or if an injury occurs and a player has to come out), that player cannot return to the game for the remaining half of the game.  So to make a long story short, we have 7 players who will need to be able to play the full 40 minutes of a half without a break (easier said than done).

The boys toughed it out and continue to hydrate - we have two more days to work things out before the tournament begins on Monday.

Out hotel is perfect!

We are staying at the Residence Inn Airport with Ka'oi Express - our U16 girls team who are also here to play in the Regional Championship tournament.  The hotel is great, very nice and the rooms are pretty awesome.  We all have full kitchens, living areas and just a lot of room which means we'll be comfortable for the next nine nights! 

1st stop . . . Phoenix, Arizona

We arrived in Phoenix early this morning - our flight was very full which made for a fairly uncomfortable flight for the boys.  We grabbed breakfast at the airport during our 4-hour layover (here is a picture of a bacon, sausage, egg and cheese focaccia sandwich from CPK-pretty good for airport food!) and caught some of the USA vs Slovenia World Cup match.  We were bummed that USA was down 2 goals but the game got exciting with US coming back to tie the game 2-2.  USA should have won 3-2 if not for a controversial offside call from the AR at the last minutes of the game.  Soccer is an unpredictable, emotional game - you can never tell what will happen.  Hopefully this will not cost Team USA the opportunity to advance.  Keep your fingers crossed!
At 11:25am, we left a very hot Phoenix (today's high was supposed to be 106 degrees according to USA Today) for a 51 minute flight to Albuquerque.

Leaving on a jet plane . . . to Regionals!

We left Hawaii late last night on the red-eye for Phoenix.  The boys were really excited to go - there were a lot of Hawaii teams flying out as well - Abunai, Blitz, Leahi and Ka'oi.  The airport was abuzz with teams.  We hope all of the Hawaii teams have a great showing in Albuquerque - good luck everyone, let's bring home a Regional Championship!

As we reached Arizona, we flew over a lot of mountainous desert - very much different terrain from our beautiful Hawaii but still pretty nonetheless.

Far West Regionals - get ready, the Cyclones are on their way!

In probably one of the biggest upsets in Hawaii youth soccer history - the Ka'oi Cyclones (BU15) pulled out a momentous win over Abunai 95B at the 2010 USYS Hawaii State Cup tournament. Ending regulation play in a 1-1 tie, the teams remained scoreless after two OT periods taking the game to a nail biting PK shootout.
The Cyclones came up victorious with 4 PK's to Abunai's 3, earning the right to move on to Far West Regionals in Albuquerque, NM. The boys played the State Cup final with such tremendous heart, it was truly inspiring to watch. This was definitely one of the most awesome games of the season. The outcome brought tears of joy and well wishes from parents and players alike from far across the island's soccer community.

The Cyclones have worked hard to earn the privilege of representing Hawaii at Regionals this year. With our trip just days away, the boys definitely have their work cut out for them. We create this blog for you, our family and friends, so you can join us on this whirlwind summer that fateful nite at Waipio Soccer Complex brought us just a few months ago. This will be an experience of a lifetime and we'd love to share it with you.

So come on Cyclones, let's bring that same spirit with us to Regionals - believe in yourselves and each other and good things will happen!