World Cup memories fuel former pro’s mission to mentor Hawaii youth

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – As the highly anticipated World Cup continues, inspiration is growing on the soccer fields.

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The feeling is a familiar one for retired professional soccer player Kenji Treschuk.

“Just like coming from Hawaii, it always felt like you had to prove yourself. It didn’t feel like the road was easy,” he said.

When the going got tough, the Moanalua High School graduate remembered why he fell in love with soccer in the first place.

He said it started at 12 years old, watching the 1994 World Cup in California.

“Just looking around like, ‘Wow this is crazy.’ Just the buzz, the energy, that was probably one of the biggest influential moments,” said Treschuk.

That lit a fire under Treschuk, who graduated from Penn State and — after challenging stints overseas — made the Seattle Sounders roster in 2007.

“Going to Europe and saying I’m an American player for one, it wasn’t respected well. Then saying I’m from Hawaii, they’re like ‘What do you play with, coconuts?’” said Treschuk.

Treschuk’s determination made him the Sounders’ enforcer on the way to a United Soccer Leagues First Division title.

“Our banners still up in the stadium. It’s pretty cool,” said Treschuk. “I kind of looked at it like I paved the way for some, making it easier hopefully for some of the other kids.”

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After leaving Seattle for stops in Charleston and Hong Kong, it was time to come back home and share his knowledge with the next generation: the keiki at the Hawaii Rush Soccer Club.

“For me it’s raising humans, it’s raising people to be great people, great humans because realistically majority of us are not even going to get to college, and an even a smaller percentage of that is gonna get to the pros,” said Treschuk.

This week, Coach Treschuk is taking over 60 players to compete in the SurfCup Northwest Tournament in Seattle.

While they’re there, the team will attend the United States versus Australia match on Friday.

He hopes that some of the kids can gain the same inspiration he did at 12 years old.

“Being around all these people and all the different ethnic cultures, to me that lit a fire. It stayed with me for a long time,” said Treschuk.

If the World Cup has you hooked, Telemundo Hawaii is your home for every match in Spanish.

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Catch all the action on Spectrum Channel 1022 and Hawaiian Telcom Channel 1013.