When you think of competitive softball club programs in Hawaii, the first one that likely comes to mind these days is the LK Black Hawaii organization (sidenote: “LK” stands for “Lady Knights”) that has been in existence less than five years but is already making waves, so to speak, in fastpitch softball.
But it hasn’t been easy if only for the obvious challenges the Islanders face in even getting to play other competitive teams. Why?
For one thing, Hawaii is 2,400 miles from the continental United States and is so far away that it even has its own time zone: Hawaii Standard Time.
Just to get to practice can be a lengthy trip as the 50th state to join the U.S. has eight primary islands but a total of 137, meaning some players have to boat or even fly just to practice, yet along play in a competitive game or tournament.
And the pool of talent to draw from for the entire state (1.4 million) is smaller than many major U.S. cities including New York City (8.8 million), Los Angeles (3.9 million), Chicago (2.7 million), Houston (2.3 million), Phoenix (1.6 million) and Philadelphia (1.6 million) and is about the same size as San Antonio (1.4 million).
So how, with all of these built in disadvantages, how has this club org—that started in 2019 with one single team and has now teams covering the 12U through 18U age division—emerged as a hotbed of softball talent and produced Top 5 finishes in some of the top fastpitch club tournaments around?
“It’s definitely not been easy,” laughs LK Black Coach Josh Danz, who started the program when his daughter was proving to be one of the top young talents in the state.
“We deal with many things that other clubs across the country don’t have to including travel, distance, and recruiting,” the head coach explains, “which are three of the biggest setbacks that we have coming from the islands.”
Factor in too that the LK Hawaii team doesn’t have big sponsors or receive sizable donations to help the teams travel the thousands of miles just to get to mainland. And it’s not like there are hundreds of college coaches making the effort to go to the islands to evaluate talent for the obvious time-consuming back and forth trip that it entails.
“We hardly have any colleges come to Hawaii to see our girls,” Danz continues, “so we set out to create a new blueprint to get the girls from the islands more recognition.”
Effectively, the Hawaiian teams decided that, when it comes to scouting and recruiting, “if they won’t come to us, we’ll go to them.”
“Our mission has been simple,” Danz says. “It’s to get the girls to the big tournaments, in the top divisions, in front of the college eyes that matter and produce results.”
To say that this new blueprint has worked well so far is an understatement.
Over the last three seasons alone, LK Black Hawaii has fielded teams that have finished back-to-back in the Top 17 of the competitive national tourney and along with a pair of Top 5 finishes in the Triple Crown Sparkler Power Pool, a Top 5 finish at the Top Gun National Invitational and the win in the TV Bracket Championship game on ESPN.
Off the field, the organization has produced 22 players that have been ranked in the Extra Elite 100 rankings with 27 who’ve been offered scholarships and 19 who are committed to or have signed with NCAA Div. I programs. LK Black players have also shined in international play with 22 athletes who have Gold Medals, primarily with Team Polynesia, and brought national recognition and attention to Hawaii softball.
To keep this momentum going, though, LK Black Hawaii will be on the road heavily once again in 2024 as players and coaches are scheduled to attend Don Battles On, Zoom Into June, Top Gun Invitational, Colorado Sparkler Power Pool, and the PGF National Championships.
“Every year we have college coaches tell us, imagine if you could get all the talent from Hawaii on one team, that would be crazy to see,” Coach Danz says. “That is still one of the biggest challenges here – keeping the Hawaii talent home to play for a Hawaii travel team.”
In the past, many of Hawaii’s top softball talents have left the islands to play for bigger, more well-known clubs. One notable example is softball legend Jocelyn Alo, from Hau’ula, Hawaii, who played for the OC Batbusters program before going to the University of Oklahoma where she became the NCAA DI career leader in home runs and became the first player in Div. I history to have three 30-home run seasons.
Today, however, more and more talented Hawaiians are seeing the benefits of playing for an instate-based fastpitch program that is successfully getting players visibility as well as excelling on the team level.
“Slowly, with our results at tournaments and our results in getting our girls recruited to great college programs, the talent from Hawaii has started to stay home, come together, and battle these bigger clubs,” Danz says.
To keep up with the demand of athletes wanting to play under the LK Black Hawaii banner, Coach Danz has assembled an impressive staff of coaches to help prepare the girls for the next level.
The 18U program is run by Head Coach Josh Capello, a former Hawaii High School Softball State Champion Coach whose daughter plays for University of The Pacific. His assistant coaches are former D3 National Champion and seven-time Hawaii High School Championship Coach Glenelle Nitta and catcher guru Charles Camello who is also a Hawaii High School State Championship Coach.
The 16u program is headed by Coach Danz himself with former University of Hawaii All-Conference shortstop Kehau Aina (Cofran) assisting him.
The 14u team is headed by long time Tony Rico-right hand man Bill Allende who brings years of travel ball knowledge to the islands.
And helping manage things on the backside for LK Black Hawaii is the club’s advisor, Paul Ah Yat, a former MLB pitcher whose daughter, Milan, is currently playing for Loyola Marymount.
Danz does double duty when it comes to handling the recruiting for all of the teams, including a new 12U team on the way.
“We have been asked if we could start LK Black teams in California, Utah, and Nevada,” states, “and I guess it would be like LK Black California instead, but we are focused on making sure the girls here on the islands are our main focus. Maybe one day, but not at this moment. It’s all in God’s plan and we thank Him and give Him the glory.”
–Brentt Eads/Extra Inning Softball
Read on to learn more about LK Black Hawaii in our exclusive Q&A with Coach Danz…
COPYRIGHT © 2023 Extra Inning Softball TM
Check out our other EIS links:
Find us on Instagram ~~~ Find us on Twitter ~~~ Find us on FacebookEIS Online Store ~~~ Sign up for our Newsletter ~~~ Check out our Team SubscriptionsCheck out our latest Podcasts ~~~ Advertise with Us! Check out our Rate Card
