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Final Ends in Tragedy for AYSO Player

2/15/2013 10:17:41 AM

Courtesy of Soccer America

Kalani High School's remarkable comeback in Saturday's Hawaii High School Athletic Association boys final was marred by tragedy as the mother of AYSO player and Division I leading scorer Leo Klink was stricken with a brain hemorrhage. Hiroyo Klink left Oahu’s Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex in an ambulance in the second half without telling her son of her situation.

Leo, who played in the U-19 division last season in Region 48 in Honolulu, brought Kalani back from one-goal deficits in regulation, went on to score the winning goal in the shootout as the Falcons beat Punahou, 3-2. After the game, Klink joined his mother at Kaiser Moanalua Hospital, where she died on Tuesday.

Paul Klink, Hiroyo's husband, had noticed she looked dizzy and was dragging her left side as she walked down the bleachers during the game. He asked to smile and saw the left side of her face was unresponsive. Emergency personnel were called to the field.

"The athletic director asked, 'Should we tell Leo' and she said 'No, I don't want to tell him' and then Paul Klink said, 'Definitely don't tell him'," Kalani coach Michael Ching told KITV.com.

Ching did not tell his star, who was named the tournament MVP, and pained over the decision to have him take what turned out to be the winning penalty kick. His teammates, also unaware of what was going on, insisted Leo take the shot.

"Since we're so close, it would devastate our soccer family," he added. "We didn't know Hiroyo's condition, and that is why I chose not to tell him."