KAILUA-KONA — Despite a change in location, the annual Kona Crush 3×3 Cup was a success over the weekend, with 45 teams in attendance from soccer clubs all over the Big Island.
With Old Airport Park shutting down on Sunday, the Crush scrambled to find a location for the second day of the tournament, and found a savior in Makua Lani Christian Academy administrator Sandy Butler, who allowed the tournament to take over the school’s soccer field.
“We made a late phone call to Sandy and she gave us permission to use the field and anything else we needed for the tournament,” said Crush president Teva Beatty. “A big mahalo to her and Makua Lani for giving us the space on such short notice.”
The 3v3 Cups serves an an annual fundraiser for Kona Crush and it comes during a popular time for side projects during the club soccer season.
“This is our fifth year doing the tournament, and where we are at in the calendar right now, it just makes sense,” said Crush director of coaching Vinny La Porta. “My friends all around the island are hosting events at this time.”
Those events include 5v5 tournaments put on by Puna and Big island Rush. However, each tournament offers something different for youth soccer players.
“Puna’s tournament is played on grass with goalkeepers,” La Porta said. “Rush does it with keepers but it is played on a hard-court like futsal or indoor soccer.”
As for his 3×3 tournament, La Porta believes it offers kids something a little different, and works on a skill set that the DOC believes fully in.
“You cannot check out at any moment in this kind of tournament,” La Porta said. “A player always has to keep moving and the ball itself must never stop. It needs to be shared quickly, which is a fundamental basic of how soccer should be played.
“The second major benefit is that it demands tight ball control,” La Porta added. “These fields are very small, about 16×22 yards, and if you don’t practice your ball control throughout the year, you will struggle in this tournament.”
The tournament turnout was within the range of normal, though there were fewer teams than last year. However, La Porta said that was due to a large group of kids who aged out of the program and are now playing at the high school level.
“We do go up to U16, but those kids are pretty busy with high school and we don’t want to distract from that,” La Porta added.
While the tournament is used as a fundraiser and to help teach certain skill sets, it is mostly a way for the Big Island youth to have a little fun.
“We want to promote the beautiful game and further the love of soccer for kids,” Beatty said. “That is why they are here and that is why they are playing.”