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4 Dan Biegler,President • Richard Handy,Director of Coaching •Kaipua`ala Crabbe, ' o -t'� Secretary Kekoa Harman,Treasurer•Pete Harman,Registrar t 'p- Board Members:Rico Ferrari,Keli`i Kalauoka`ae`a-Kahele,Tracy Johnson,David Va ` Langacker,Ka'ili Pea-Ferrari,Deana Scott,Mau Shintani www.nahoapuna.com Aloha to the Honorable Mayor Kenoi and Distinguished Representatives of Hawaii County, My name is Dan Biegler and I am writing you on behalf of the Na Hoa o Puna Soccer 'ohana: our Board members, coaches, parents, and players. We would like to humbly ask for your support in fulfilling the following proposal that our board voted unanimously on at our Feb. 19th 2016 meeting: To urge the County of Hawaii to name the soccer fields at Shipman Park in honor of Justin "Buddy" Perry for his contributions to the Kea'au and Puna community-at-large. Buddy Perry lived, worked, volunteered, and mentored the youth of Puna as an AYSO coach for many years at Shipman Park. He founded Na Hoa o Puna soccer club in 2009. He was also the president, director of coaching, motivator, psychologist, disciplinarian, mentor, nutritionist, trainer, and filled many other roles as needed. What started out with one team,the 98-99 boys, quickly grew into one of the largest clubs on the island, serving over 100 keiki from ages 3 to 19. Buddy worked tirelessly to create strong teams, and he insisted that Na Hoa provide opportunities to travel off-island in order to expose players to different levels of competitive soccer. He did this voluntarily out of the love of his heart for his players, for soccer and for the community, and he expected the same of all Na Hoa coaches and board members. Buddy's philosophy was that every child who wanted to play competitive soccer should be able to do so regardless of financial status. This is one of the many characteristics that set our club apart from others. He led by example, and would not charge the families for his time and expertise. He found ways to fundraise from making smoke meat at his house to soliciting donations from local businesses and he even would have team parents take home game jerseys, wash and line dry them to ensure that they could be used for multiple seasons and still look good. In 2009, Buddy was diagnosed with ALS (more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease). For many years, even after he got sick, Buddy could be found at Shipman Park at least 3 days a week and then at the soccer field practically the entire weekend. He knew every player by name and what to do to help them develop. He would plan drills and lead practices. It was quite a sight to see Buddy move from one age group to the next and adjust a drill to fit their needs. Buddy had his finger on the pulse of every player in Na Hoa and everything that went on with the soccer club.Throughout the years he put people in the right place at the right time to create a strong Na Hoa 'ohana. A few years ago, Buddy decided that we should host a tournament in Puna at Shipman Park and invite teams from all over to come and play. Our annual Na Hoa Cup Tournament was born and has been well attended ever since. It raises money for travelling teams and funds our Na Hoa o Puna Buddy Perry Scholarship for graduating seniors. Beyond that, though, the Na Hoa Cup is a kind of