Hawai'i Pacific women's soccer coach Mark Kane has his program back to where he wants it to be.

Brigham Young-Hawai'i, Chaminade and Hawai'i-Hilo will be kicking off their first seasons at the NCAA Division II level.

All four are members of the Pacific West Conference, where new schools, new sports and new opportunities will be in play starting this season.

In mid-March, Grand Canyon (Arizona) and Notre Dame de Namur (California) joined the conference and women's soccer was among three sports added to meet NCAA membership requirements.

The six DII schools each will have the financial equivalent of 10 tuition-only scholarships to distribute among their players.

HPU, a club team the past four years, has nine local players listed on its 17-player roster. BYU-Hawai'i has three among 23; Chaminade has 11 among 15; and Hawai'i-Hilo has six among 19.

The coaches feel there is enough local talent to go around.

"We've got 21 public schools and another seven private schools (on O'ahu), and all the Neighbor Island teams. We have plenty of girls and we're starting to send a bunch to Washington, Oregon and California and other places around the country," he said.

Hawai'i-Hilo interim coach Travis Clarke thinks 30 to 40 graduating seniors from Hawai'i have the potential to play Division I or II women's soccer.

HPU started its regular season yesterday, UH-Hilo opens tomorrow, BYU-Hawai'i on Monday and Chaminade on Sept. 29.

HAWAI'I PACIFIC

Kane has led the Sea Warriors' program since its inception in 1995, when it started as a club team. Since then HPU has been a member of the NAIA for two years, NCAA Division II for four years and back to club status the past four years.

"I'm real happy to be able to get back to DII," Kane said. "We were hoping, waiting and last spring we got the great news. We're charging ahead here."

During the Sea Warriors' four-year run as a club team, players were on scholarship and competed in the Women's Island Soccer Association.

"In the women's league we played in the first division," Kane said. "Two or three of the teams were comparable to Division II. We had a lot of former UH-(Manoa) players coming into the league; players in their mid-20s who still wanted to play and still had college form."

As a club team, Kane said HPU had a limited budget and had to rely heavily on fundraising to buy uniforms, equipment, etc.

With the promotion to DII, he said the school likely will be "stepping up with funding."

Kane said his top players will be freshmen — midfielders Niki Arevalo, Jamie Hirai Tatiana Tibbitts, and defender Cianna Chun-Ming.

CHAMINADE

Chaminade coach Andy Gasper was an assistant under Kane at HPU the past two years.

"Mark Kane gave me my first shot at collegiate coaching," Gasper said. "He helped get my foot in the door. I'm extremely grateful. I'm sure he didn't share everything with me and he has something left in his treasure box."

Gasper expects to compete right away and his goal is to finish above .500.

"There's no reason we can't be successful this year with hard work and dedication," he said. "I like to measure success by improving in practices and games."

Gasper is a former staff sergeant at Marine Corp Base Hawai'i in Kane'ohe and coached a men's soccer team there for five years. He said he considers himself to be a disciplinarian.

"Building a team from the ground up offers numerous challenges," he said. "Every challenge I've faced I met it head-on with enthusiasm."

Gasper said his top players are freshman forward Geri Tennessen, junior midfielder Carla Byers, and defenders Kuulei Agbayani, a sophomore, and Manulani Afong, a senior.

BYU-HAWAI'I

Justin Wagar is returning to BYU-Hawai'i to coach the women's program.

Wagar, a sweeper for the Seasiders in 1998-99, went on a two-year church mission to Denver the following year and didn't have a program to come back to after BYUH — and HPU — eliminated men's soccer. He then attended Columbia Basin College in Washington.

"I think it's great here in Hawai'i," Wagar said. "My former teammates called me and wanted me to apply (for the coaching job). It's a dream come true to come back. If they didn't close the program down I wouldn't have left."

He coached at Utah Valley State the past three years, and his team lost to the University of Hawai'i, 1-0, last season.

Twelve of Wagar's players are from Utah.

Wagar, who arrived here in May, said he plans to recruit locally. He added he'll hold a clinic Sept. 23, where the first 120 individuals will be admitted free and can meet his players.

Wagar said he plans to use a high-pressure defense and attacking offense.

His top players are junior forward Jill Haar and junior sweeper Sarah Norton. They are co-captains.

HAWAI'I-HILO

Hawai'i-Hilo's Clarke was hired just a couple of month ago, but feels he and his staff have made the most of the limited time.

"We've had an outstanding start," he said. "We knew this program was going to go in a few months. For the amount of time, we did great."

Among Clarke's top players are four Big Island products: Kehau Hagiwara (freshman defender of Hilo), Healani Leite-Ah Yo (junior forward of Hilo), Jessica Carvalho (freshman goalie of Hilo) and Ku'ulika Karratti (junior forward of Na'alehu).

In order to keep homegrown players, he said the Vulcans and the other local DII schools need to "put on a good product for the kids to stay. Before you had Manoa or the Mainland, now you have four other options."

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.