KAILUA-KONA — Alden Sawada had a good, simple reason he put his name in the hat to become the next head soccer coach at Kealakehe — being around the game is still fun for him.
The veteran assistant landed the job as the skipper of the Waveriders this week, becoming just the second head coach in program history. He takes over for Urs Leuenberger, who spent 19 years with the team before stepping down after last season.
“When I applied I was hopeful, but I knew anything could happen,” said Sawada, who has been an assistant and JV coach at Kealakehe for 14 years. “With my experience, I understand how the program works. After the JV season I would go help Urs with the varsity boys. I’m very familiar with the program, the way he coached and the kids.”
Leuenberger, the only boys soccer coach the school had known since it opened its doors in 1997, helped the Waveriders rack up nine BIIF titles — including the last five consecutively — and multiple top five state tournament finishes, including a pair of third place results.
Sawada knows he has big shoes to fill, but isn’t too worried about it.
“For me, it’s still fun. So I don’t think there is a huge amount of pressure,” he said. “We have a lot of talent and experience returning, so that should help the team.”
Sawada said he has tossed around the idea of adding some new formations, and maybe even a few slight tweaks to the system, but acknowledged a sturdy foundation has already been built, especially with a stable of a dozen or so seniors returning.
“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” Sawada said.
As for an early set of goals, Sawada has a few. But he will also focus on what happens once his student-athletes leave the pitch, looking forward to the future.
“My goal is to obviously win a state championship, something that has eluded us here,” Sawada said. “But while you want to win as much as you can, it’s not everything. We want to help our kids build character and be good members of society.”