Kealakehe High School boys soccer head coach Urs Leuenberger and assistant coach Miles Nakahara have been banned from coaching in any Hawai'i High School Athletic Association tournament for five years after a unanimous vote by the HHSAA's executive board yesterday.

According to a memo from HHSAA executive director Keith Amemiya to Kealakehe principal Wil Murakami, "Nakahara is being banned for, among other things, numerous acts of inappropriate behavior on Feb. 15, 2007, at the HHSAA Boys Soccer State Championships at Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Park."

According to the memo and several witness accounts, "Nakahara's actions included, but were not limited to ... verbally abusing and challenging ... (the) tournament director to a fistfight ... yelling and swearing at Kalani High School's assistant athletic director ... yelling at, swearing at, threatening and physically confronting, including repeatedly putting his index finger very close to the face of and repeatedly poking the chest of ... the HHSAA's boys soccer coordinator ... yelling at and being confrontational with (the) Roosevelt athletic director ... yelling, swearing at and being confrontational with (the) HHSAA boys soccer officials coordinator ..."

The memo added that "Leuenberger is being banned for, among other things, his failure to control the actions of Nakahara."

Last night, Leuenberger and Nakahara told The Advertiser the whole process has been "unfair" and they plan to meet with Murakami and Kealakehe athletic director Mike Hernandez on Tuesday to decide a course of action. Nakahara indicated litigation is a possibility.

"We never had our day in court," said Nakahara, who disputed the HHSAA's account of what took place. "Nobody investigated our side of it, nobody talked to me."

Leuenberger called the case "overblown" based on the eyewitnesses he spoke to.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.