Tony Medeiros makes a difference in Maui High School with his impact on girls’ soccer
MAUI, Hawaii — Coach Tony Medeiros is the first name that comes to mind when you think of sports and youth soccer development at Maui High School. Medeiros has had a remarkable influence on the girls’ soccer circuit in Maui, Hawaii and has held numerous roles including club coach, varsity coach, referee, and tournament administrator.
Medeiros has no plans to quit in near future, but it is time that the soccer community across the United States and the globe stood up for a local legend in Maui and appreciated his brilliance.
Medeiros went on to win the MIL Coach of the Year 10 times during his time with the Sabers girl soccer team and also won 12 MIL titles for the team. The school administration and parents have lauded Medeiros for his hard work on and off the field to help team members grow further and hone their skills.
“Coach Tony has always been dedicated to our athletic program. He has been a supportive fixture at all Maui High School celebrations, fundraisers, school registrations and athletic events,” Maui High athletic director Michael Ban said last Friday. “Coach Tony has always been a person that you can count on to help and support the kids.”
Medeiros is motivated by the sports community and the structure at Maui High. Medeiros embraced the girls soccer team at Maui High following his graduation in 1981. Besides just coaching the Maui High team to success, Medeiros has also been seen maintaining and overseeing the lush green gardens of parks and soccer fields across the state and city to give young girls access to fair playing grounds.
Raymond Cabebe, who worked under Medeiros as the assistant coach with the Sabers believed Medeiros made a great girls’ team. Not only did he expand circles, but he also helped players grow and become better at what they do.
“For soccer in general on Maui, he’s very influential– he’s probably been involved in every soccer league that’s happened,” Cabebe said. “I was pretty much in awe of him because of his experience, he’s been coaching for so long, so I was just on the staff trying to learn from him and basically what I learned from him is that you need to put the player first all the time.”
Medeiros considers the entire team as one huge family and keeps all signed game balls from different finals and state championships with him. The oldest game ball he has dates back to the 1984 state championship final against Punahou.
“It was pretty incredible, that’s something I’m pretty proud of,” said Medeiros. “Over the years, I’ve seen so many players come up and move along in their lives and now their kids are playing and they’re coaches — I’m so proud of a lot of them.”
Maui High School recognizes the efforts that Medeiros has put into the structure and recently presented him with a legacy award for 35 years of service with the athletics program. Medeiros is still associated with the Sabers and is on the field in the current 2021-22 season.
