A banner year for Hawai’i Preparatory Academy in girls soccer led to a sweep of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation’s Division II Girls Soccer Awards.
Senior midfielder Gabbie Ewing was named Division II Player of the Year, and her coach, Stephen Perry, received the Coach of the Year award.
“Everyday, she just showed up to play,” said Perry, who is also the Athletic Director at Hawai’i Prep. “I’m sure she was having a tough day sometimes or a great day another day, but you could never tell when she got on the pitch, and she just worked hard and just expected her teammates to be ready to play every day. She’s a mature girl, both athletically and out of athletics, too. That really helps.”
It wasn’t as important, though, for the pair to see Gabbie’s name on the All-BIIF awards. They were more excited to see her entire starting unit join her on the Division I First Team.
“The first thing we said was how cool it was that we got the whole starting unit on the First Team.,” said Perry. “All 11 girls really worked hard and I was really happy for them, more than just Gabbie being recognized.”
The toughest challenge for Perry will be replacing Ewing and five other seniors on the squad, considering Ka Makani has been a part of the last four Outrigger Resorts/Hawai’i High School Athletic Association Division II Championship games, including wins in the last two title games over Mid-Pacific.
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“They have had a helluva run, and especially the four that have been to all four state title games in a row,” said Perry. “Just their leadership is the hardest thing to replace right off of the bat, of course.”
The awards in Division I were split amongst its top two teams. Waiakea senior Sabrina Scott was named Player of the Year, while Konawaena’s Guy Miranda earned Coach of the Year after guiding the Wildcats to the BIIF Division I overall championship.
Scott was not a major goal scorer this season, but her ability to make her teammates better was a key reason as to why she got the award, according to her coach, Jason Nakayama.
“She’s like a leader on the field,” Nakayama said. “She has great vision as far as how she plays for the game of soccer. In the middle, she can really control the field because she knows when to distribute the ball and when to take opportunities in scoring.”
Miranda didn’t think he would win the coach’s award. He said as much after the BIIF championship game against Waiakea and echoed it once he saw the awards released.
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“I was kinda surprised,” Miranda said. “I thought the Waiakea coach should’ve won it. He did a good job this year. He really brought those girls up, and they had a fantastic season.”
Nakayama, however, agreed with the decision, which was based on a coaches vote. “Watching over the years, he [Miranda] has done a lot for that program, and he has really built up Konawaena girls soccer. I have so much respect for him, and I try to follow in step in his coaching ways.”
Miranda’s reaction was a modest one coming from a coach who took his team to the Outrigger Resorts/HHSAA Division I Girls Soccer Championship semifinals, where Konawaena lost to eventual champion Mililani 2-1. The Wildcats were the BIIF’s top representative, beating Waiakea in the league championship game.
Miranda noted the resillency of his Konawaena team after it struggled heading into the new year. “They were really determined and bound to win the championship. Just to see them working super hard trying to accomplish their goals, I felt really proud of them.”
Konawaena was 10-2 in BIIF play and finished fourth in the state tournament.
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