Probably both. He's always been on the short side, read back through the thread. And he usually played a little above his age group, although that may have changed.
Yeah I have seen some of his previous videos, he seemed to be more dominating a couple of years back.
Actually from the one time I saw him, he's much closer physically now than he was then. The guys he's playing against are roughly the same size as before, but now he's a foot taller. Looked a little over-reliant on his left but otherwise looked good to me.
Aloha, everyone! Well, another high school season has passed and KJ's team did well for such a young team. KJ did well, earning the position of 4th top scorer in his division (ILH D1) as a sophomore. Spots #1-3 and 5 were all seniors. In general, KJ's coaches prefer to have him pass early rather than dribble. I guess is a style that's different from the one I raised him on, so he's had some trouble adapting. I think a coach who can grant KJ the freedom to "create" will reap the most from his talents...but that's just my opinion. BTW, I'm normally the photographer and my wife the videographer, but my wife no longer wanted to stand out on the field, so she shot the first half of the season from wherever the stands were--unfortunately, all the video is shot facing the sun so nothing worth watching is viewable. I took over duties as videographer and shot the remaining 5-6 games of the season (2012) NOT facing the sun. Better. Anyway, I'm switching from photography to videography for KJ from this point forward. I hope to create better videos moving forward. KJ's latest video can be found here: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW_aSZfuBHo"]KJ Ahlo - 2012 Iolani Varsity Soccer Highlights - YouTube[/ame] Also, during the last ODP tryout, many coaches responded to KJ's follow-up email to them and they all seemed genuinely interested in him. They all mentioned that they definitely had KJ on their minds and that they want us to continue contacting them. I guess this is pretty normal. I have to say, I thought KJ did remarkably well at the Junior game (predominately high school juniors, but a few sophomores scattered throughout). In regards to physique, KJ is still one of the smallest players on the field of any given game, but he's just as physical as anybody out there. He picks his battles wisely, though. He most recently made the ILH (private school) 2nd all-star team as a forward, and all-state honorable mention for all schools combined. We really don't read into this too much, as often there's no rhyme or reason as to how the players are chosen (other than the state championship team players dominating the player list). It's been fun watching KJ's games, but I really hope that this year he is allowed to be more creative. I think as a junior next year, he'll be granted a bit more freedom. We'll see. Thanks for keeping the thread alive, gang, we really appreciate it! Aloha, Keoni (dad) PS. I just noticed that my latest video had been posted here one page back...thanks, Vindo310!
KJ was recently selected by Nike during a recent "The Chance" tryout. He was the only player to be selected from the boys group. A short recap of the tryout can be found here: Aloha, Keoni
Hi Keoni. We just came across this thread and enjoyed watching some of your videos. KJ is an outstanding player! It appears to us that he has very good core strength. Has he been doing any core/performance training, or does he have it naturally? We have a 9 year old son who is small, loves soccer and works on his skills a lot. KJ would be an inspiration to him. We are going to show him the videos at home. Good luck to KJ!
Hi momo_mom, Thanks for the kind words. KJ already has a low center of gravity, but he does train 3x a week at his school. The trainer there designs sport-specific workouts for these athletes and they are very core-centric (is that redundant? . The stuff he has KJ do is different than anything I have ever done myself--very unique methods employed here. KJ's school trainer is Coach Dom and if you really need more specifics, he can be reached via the Iolani School athletic office. Good luck!
Nike's "The Chance" recently completed their USA finals and selected 4 players to go to Barcelona to compete against other countries finalists for a spot in the Nike Academy. One of the 4 players suffered an injury and will not be able to attend. KJ was selected to attend I'm assuming in the injured players place. Congrats KJ!! This is the first time USA players have been selected to compete for a spot in the Nike Academy. Thought it was worth a mention here. I was reading my twitter feed and saw the name. I knew it sounded familiar. What a great experience for him. [
Thanks, Arsenalfc08! Yes, KJ was ranked #5 out of the 50 US finalists at the recent Nike US Finals at the Nike headquarters in Oregon. A few days ago, we received a call from Nike stating that one of the 4 boys chosen had broken his arm and couldn't attend, so the spot was available to KJ if we could get him on a plane the very next day, which he did. I was at that Oregon tryout and I was very happy for KJ. He played his heart out in the final game and I honestly walked away thinking, "Oh my goodness, he did it...he's going to make the cut." Well, I was off by one...but the coaches/scouts all approached KJ and my family after the announcement of the final 4 and they swore that KJ was in the mix 'till the end in the coaches war room. They said they really, really like him and will be in contact for other opportunities in the very near future. Since he was the youngest player, they felt he had many opportunities. KJ Ahlo (third from left) arrives with the US boys in Barcelona, Spain (Courtesy Nike "The Chance" Global Finals website) As bad as I feel for the boy who got injured (Jacob Powell), I also really feel that KJ deserved to be there at the Global Finals in Barcelona, Spain. I guess it was meant to be...and KJ realizes that this is a chance of a lifetime. He has been texting us back home and is doing well (although he says that he thinks he could have done better in some areas...but he always says that . Anyway, Day 2 of the tryout begins shortly, and I can't eat or sleep knowing how much pressure and excitement KJ is experiencing on the opposite side of the globe! Yeah, it's a 12-hour time difference between Hawaii and Spain. I am just praying that KJ stays healthy throughout the tryout--if he does, he'll be fine. Here's a few links to the activity in Spain, where KJ is now playing: http://inside.nike.com/blogs/nikesoccer?view=all http://www.nike.com/en_us/soccer/campaigns/the-chance#~ https://twitter.com/#!/search/nikefootball I want to thank all the supporters out there who have believed in KJ all these years. I hope that he makes you as proud as he's made me. Aloha, Keoni (dad)
Be proud. Regardless of success in soccer it seems you raised a very fine, confident, and humble young man.
uhh he's a '95 that hasn't been involved in our youth national teams so probably not. If he keeps working there's a chance for the next U20 cycle.
Hi all, KJ returned from Barcelona to play his junior year in high school (which just finished) and landed 1st Team Conference and 1st Team All-State. He's starting to engage with a handful of college coaches, but is considering traveling abroad to play should he get the opportunity. Here are a couple of videos that I recently created for him: Season highlights: Juggling skills: Aloha, Keoni
November birthday. Most school districts have a Sept. 1 or Oct. 1 cutoff for starting school so odds are he didn't start school till he was almost 6. Very common for fall birthdays.
KJ Ahlo, Iolani class of 2014, has been recruited by USF (University of San Francisco) as their #10 CAM for 2014. KJ verbally committed this past Thursday. Aloha, Keoni
Great city, nice school, good soccer conference - all good reasons to sign there. The coach at USF.... not so much.