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HONOLULU — The Hawaii soccer community breathed a collective sigh of relief on Tuesday morning when the City and County of Honolulu announced it is no longer considering the Waipio Soccer Complex as the site of a new landfill for Oahu.
Officials with the Navy, which controls land on the Waipio Peninsula, recently notified Mayor Rick Blangiardi that it is “unable to support the development of a landfill on this property,” according to a city news release.
“From the moment I got the news, I’ve had the biggest grin on my face all day,” Scott Keopuhiwa, President and Executive Director of the Hawaii Youth Soccer Association, told Spectrum News in a phone interview. “We’re absolutely thrilled that they’re no longer going to consider Waipio for a landfill.”
Concerns in the soccer community were high since the Islands’ central hub for the sport over the last two-plus decades was named in March as a leading candidate to replace the Waimanalo Gulch landfill, which is slated to shut down in 2028.
The sprawling Waipio Soccer Complex features 21 fields over 288 acres, including the 4,500-seat Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium where the University of Hawaii and small colleges play. High school and club teams compete for championships there.
Keopuhiwa and others first gleaned that it was being seriously considered for a landfill about a year ago. He said he considers Waipio a “second home” to put on events for HYSA’s roughly 7,500 members on a weekly basis. For HYSA and other organizations, it is viewed as an ideal site for league matches, tournaments, camps and clinics.
The city had floated the idea of constructing a new soccer complex, likely in West Oahu.
“As time went on, and it became more evident – right after the mayor’s state of the city address, where they said Waipio was the leading candidate to become a landfill – that’s when we really kind of were shocked that it was coming to that,” he said. “I think that really got our attention the most.”
A Change.org petition started by Hawaii Soccer Association President Sergio Bolioli to keep Waipio as-is had garnered more than 21,000 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.
“This is not about one team, one league, or one association. This is about the entire soccer community statewide,” Bolioli wrote. “The negative impact this will have across tens of thousands of players, coaches, referees and spectators is beyond anyone’s imagination.
“The Waipio Soccer Complex has been the heart and soul of Hawaii soccer for the past 24 years. It has helped produce national championship teams and nurtured many professional players. Every week, thousands of children and adults use this park alongside neighbor island, mainland and international teams.”
The city estimates about 30,000 soccer players regularly use the space.
University of Hawaii soccer coach Michele Nagamine told Spectrum News that a new soccer complex in West Oahu would put an added burden on families that have gotten used to making sacrifices commuting to the west-of-center location of Waipio.
“I think major sigh of relief for the soccer community, including my team,” Nagamine said. “I don’t mean to sound overly dramatic, but I think could’ve really, really adversely affected the youth soccer market in Hawaii.
“I’m so, so happy that the soccer community was able to band together and let their voices be heard.”
Her team will play its entire 2024 season at Waipio, and likely night games for future seasons, while UH’s new on-campus soccer venue remains under construction. After some delays, it is now slated for completion in January 2025, Nagamine said.
Before Waipio opened in September 2000, the closest thing Hawaii had to a soccer hub was at Kapiolani Park – but that was a totally different vibe with, at maximum, six fields for concurrent play, Keopuhiwa said. He was on a task force for the administration of then-mayor Jeremy Harris to get Waipio off the ground.
Keopuhiwa and others attended City Council committee meetings and submitted testimony to the State Legislature in recent months.
He said he was “shocked and pleasantly surprised” that the Navy would issue its decision this early in the process, but was grateful. If it didn’t, he was ready to keep fighting.
Admiral John C. Aquilino, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, signed off on the Navy’s decision due to “near-shore waters” and “the Navy’s mission critical operations and training activities in the vicinity of the Waipio Peninsula.”
The city, per its release, has already eliminated from consideration a site in Waianae on federal land, and the military excluded an option near Bellows Air Force Base in Waimanalo.
The city indicated it could pursue an amendment to reduce the “buffer distance” for a new landfill to make more sites available.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
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