KAILUA-KONA — The second-annual Kona Legends Kupuna Softball Classic was played last weekend at Old Airport Field, and was won by Scrubs, a team from Kona. There were six teams that participated in the tournament — the Kona Warriors, Local Boyz, Kua’aina, Sons of Hawaii (from Oahu) and Mixed Plate.
In 2022, the Kona Legends won the A-Division Championship at the Hawaii Kupuna Softball State Tournament on Oahu, earning the honor of being the best team in the state for one year. The team wanted to put on a softball tournament as a fundraiser, which a lot of teams have done. The vision was to have a tournament entirely different from other tournaments held on the island.
But how could it be different? By taking care of the field between games, providing all game balls, providing scorekeepers and umpires, having a schedule that didn’t change, having an announcer, having concessions, having a raffle of softball and non-softball related items and finally — having prizes to be awarded to each team.
The winning team would receive 12 half-sublimated jerseys, with its team name on the front and number on the back.
In some tournaments, the host team just collects the entry fees, has the teams play their games, and then are done with them. The Legends strived for teams to have a positive, enjoyable experience at The Classic.
A couple of things were made clear from the start. The Legends would not play in the tournament, they would just be the host. Secondly, the tournament would be only for teams that were in the lower brackets of the State Tournament. The reasoning was that there are no tournaments for the lower ranked teams.
The Legends wanted to provide an opportunity for these teams to win a tournament, the same way they have a chance to win their division in the State Championships. Teams are in the lower division for different reasons. They could be a new team just getting started, a team with a new coach that has a roster that he inherited, a team that has been together for several years and are enjoying growing older together or a team that just wants to have fun.
When the tournament was over, every single team thanked the Legends for putting the tournament on and said how much they enjoyed themselves. The Legends in turn thanked the teams for participating, especially the teams and players that came from the Hilo side of the island.
Donald Meinel, coach of The Sons of Hawaii team, called the outing “a fun and well-organized tournament.”
“We are looking forward to coming back next year and hope to bring a couple of other Oahu teams too,” he added.
“We really enjoyed ourselves. Mahalo for having the tournament and inviting us,” Doug Davis, coach of The Scrubs, said.
“I had a blast this weekend,” Sam Terry, a player on Mixed Plate, said.
The Kona Legends would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous contributions — Denny’s Restaurant, Longs Drugs, Umeke Fish Market and Bar and Grill, Sunbelt Rentals, Willie’s Hot Chicken and Joyce Fukumoto. An additional big mahalo to Roann Okamura, Jan Pakele, Missy Gomes and Victor McDaniel from Parks and Recreation, and Alan Bakke and Mike May from Kona Gold for all of their efforts in making this year’s Classic one to remember.
The third-annual Kona Legends Kupuna Softball Classic is scheduled for January 10 and 11, 2025, and The Legends are hoping to make it bigger and better than ever.
