Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 2, 1 February 2007 — Hawaiian athletes [ARTICLE]

Hawaiian athletes

Not enough has been made of Brian Ching's spectacular effort in the 2006 Major League Soccer Cup, the ehampionship game of the premiere soccer league in the U.S. The 1996 Kamehameha alumnus scored an amazing header in the second overtime, sending the game to penalty kicks. In the shootout, Ching booted through what proved to be the game-winning goal and was named MLS Cup MVP. Not bad for a boy from Hale'iwa.

What went even more unnoticed is that during 2006, two other Native Hawaiian athletes helped their teams capture championships in major U.S. sports leagues. Jason Kapono, a 6'8" sweet-shooting forward from UCLA a California native, helped the Miami Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association 2006 Finals. Kimo von Oelhoffen, a defensive lineman from Moloka'i, won a National Football League Super Bowl ring with the Pittsburg Steelers. In addition, Olin Kreutz,

a center with the Chicago Bears, has helped his team get to this year's Super Bowl, and guard Derrick Low has led Washington State University into the Associated Press's Top 25 college basketball poll. These Hawaiians should be saluted for their wonderful job of representing our Native Hawaiian community, and the state of Hawai'i, with so mueh class. M. Kawana'ao Higa Honolulu, O'ahu