Big Island Soccer Tournament

 Zac was invited to join his Island School soccer team in a tournament on the Big Island--Friday to Sunday, just after Thanksgiving.  With Zac being a freshman and with new teammates we did not know we thought is was best to have one parent join him.  Zac left on an early flight with his team and I (Brady) took off a few hours later.

I took a quick photo out the plane window of Kauai because it never gets old.  Plus, I wanted to send a picture back to Kate and Owen.

The tournament was held at Hawaii Prep Academy (HPA), a private school in Waimea on the north shore of Big Island.  The campus was incredible.  Multiple playing fields, basketball gym, indoor tennis, wrestling room, track, football, equestrian, etc.  Below is a photo of one of the soccer fields.  The team won their first game on this field Friday afternoon.

The coach really wanted the soccer boys to stay together pretty much the entire time.  We thought they may let Zac join me on an adventure, but that was not part of the plan.  So....I took advantage of the time I had and woke up up at 5:20 am to set off on some great adventure.  Below is a picture of Pololu Valley at sunrise.  The valley was spectacular.  The only problem was the north shore was experiencing an atypically large surf that day.  The surf caused a surge of water at the lower valley and blocked access to the rest of the trail.  I set off to try and find a way around, but aside from boars of unusually large size, 

I was unable to access the remaining trail.

Instead, I found multiple adventures which involved stops and short trail runs.  Below are pictures from Keokea Beach Park.  The surf was raging and I enjoyed capturing some of the drama.

The next stop was Kapa'a Beach Park, then Mahukona Beach Park, then Lapakahi State Park, each with their own trail run adventures.  I don't know how many miles I ran, but had nearly 25,000 steps that day.  

One of the best parts of the day was grabbing this delicious acai bowl and relaxing in the back yard of the AirBnb--one room in a shared house--where I was staying.

The soccer team played the top seeded team Saturday afternoon.  It was a hard fought game and for a moment it looked like Island School might pull off the upset.  Unfortunately, the game ended in a 4-2 loss.  I wasn't able to spend much time with Zac that evening but was glad to hear he was enjoying his time there with the teammates.  They were staying in the wrestling room of the academy and when they weren't practicing or playing, the team would watch World Cup matches and check scores from other games in the HPA tournament.  

The next morning I woke up before dawn and headed out on another adventure.  This time I checked out Waipio Valley.  Unfortunately, the trail at the bottom of the valley was closed because of road conditions, but the view was fabulous.

I then checked out Hamakua State Park on the mountain side of the north shore.  There I found yet another trail and needed running.

That afternoon Zac was getting anxious to get some playing time.  Here he is on the bench patiently waiting.

Then he got in!!

I was impressed that he was able to hang with some big players, most of them Seniors.  There were some definite David-and-Goliath moments.

Overall, it was a terrific trip.  Zac was able to bond with the team and learn from the coaches.  The older teammates did a great job of providing feedback and encouragement to the younger players.  I came home feeling fulfilled and a little sore, and my knee is still swollen from overuse.

Meanwhile on Kaua'i: our neighbors and their kids were in town and Owen spent every spare minute with them in their pool, at their beach, and between houses.  One afternoon, Owen checked to see if they were home no less than 16 times.  I'm sure they loved checking their Ring camera that day.

Kate also had several playdates between Nutcracker rehearsals.

Back home, Zac crashed early, exhausted from a long weekend.

Roxy always crashes, and now believes she's entitled to our bed.  This coincides with the time I decided to start brushing her teeth, since she has "morning breath" all day long.

The weekend was a good experience but Karen claims she will never sit this out again.  We tried to find last minute tickets for her to come and bring Owen (while Kate rehearsed), but they were already sold out.   Instead, I gave her play-by-plays throughout the games and we both anxiously hoped for playing time.    She would not love the accommodations but next time around, I will get a house that doesn't have four other sets of guests.