Sharks Weekly Review: Men’s Soccer

By: Paul Brecht

HONOLULU – Halfway through the month of December and wrapping up on the year, Sharks Weekly host Jason Genegabus was joined this week once again by the HPU men’s soccer program – represented by head coach Chris Fisher and graduate transfer midfielder Dominic Toone. 

The trio started the show off discussing the holiday season and the future upcoming plans that come with Christmas and the new year on the way. While Fisher told Genegabus how he is going to start his Christmas shopping soon now that he’s back on the island from a recruiting trip, Toone shared with the listeners his upcoming travel plans to head back to the east coast for a little while.

Genegabus then moved the conversation to update HPU men’s soccer fans on what has happened since the program last joined Sharks Weekly. The Sharks found a nice deal of success during conference play, which was attributed to multiple things by Fisher.

The second half of the season wasn’t all perfect, as both Toone and Fisher mentioned discipline issues that needed to be corrected during the season. Injuries also continued to rack up as the schedule went on for the Sharks, helping contribute to a couple of losses that the team wanted a chance at again.

The second segment (9:08) starts with Genegabus discussing the e-sports limits that the two HPU men’s soccer representatives had and both admitted to be unable to keep up with the current HPU e-sports team that just had a dominant showing this past weekend at the DSE Hawaii E-Sports Arena. 

The Genegabus hard-hitting question to come next?

Best purchase of 2022, go.

Toone, after briefly buying himself time, concluded that the car that he and his roommate bought together was the most useful. Coach Fisher, while admitting it may sound a little lame, talked about how adding a lawn to his home was the best purchase of his year.

The conversation then shifted back to the end of the 2022 season and the win over rival Chaminade, then how Fisher had grabbed his 100th career win and how this season compared to previous years he had coached. 

Toone then was asked about his acclimation period to HPU, coming from Division I North Carolina Wilmington over on the east coast. As a graduate student, Toone’s experience was a bit different as an older, more experienced player.

The segment closed up with the trio discussing the best way to go about contacting Fisher and trying to get a chance to play at the next level, then Toone’s plans to stay involved with the program now with his eligibility done and his masters’ program with another year to go.

Sharks Weekly host Jason Genegabus opened the show’s third segment (20:30) by asking Toone what part of the day he does his best work at, then flips the question over to Fisher.

Fisher got to discussing his coaching of multiple levels of soccer and the love for the game that comes with seeing so many levels of the game.

“With the younger kids, you actually see their development,” said Fisher. “That kid just got that much better in one year and I played a small role in that.”

Toone said that coaching could be in his future following his playing career, though his interest leans more with helping the next generation grow their love for the beautiful game if soccer instruction is in his future.

The group then turns the discussion back to the way HPU is able to recruit and some advice for young players looking to play at the next level following their high school careers.

The final segment (33:40) began with the “immortality water/age pause” question from Genegabus, seeing when both Toone and Fisher would push the “pause” button on aging further.

Fisher then discusses the outlook on the fall 2023 season schedule, with non-conference scheduling dominating the early conversation.

World Cup 2022 found itself in the middle of the final conversation, as Genegabus got the scoop from the two soccer representatives from HPU and how they see the final four teams breaking down, giving their championship predictions.

You can catch Sharks Weekly every Monday at 9:00 AM HST on HSRN 95.1 FM/760 AM, at hawaiisportsradio.com or in our podcenter following the completion of the show.