Tatum Kauka '18 Recruiting Profile

Aloha, my name is Tatum Kauka.  I am from Hawaii and currently a junior at Kamehameha Schools playing varsity and club soccer.  My current objective is to continue growing physically and mentally as an athlete, both individually and as a team player, while continuing to challenge myself in school to be the best person I can be.  Over the next two years I plan to continue working hard, and look forward to attending a college with a competitive soccer program and outstanding educational programs in science and/or engineering.   I also have a strong interest in communications, music, and leadership.

My inspiration comes from a number of things.  My grandparents, parents, brothers, as well as teachers, coaches, friends, and all the places I have been.  I find that life's most valuable lessons come from everyone and everything that surrounds us, because through our life experience we build the foundation of who we are.   This is how I have come to understand myself and develop the self-confidence to instill within me a strong work ethic to not only succeed in whatever it is I wish to, but more importantly to prepare to succeed.  This mindset has led me to positive gains both on and off the field in everything I do. 

This past year I had tremendous amounts of soccer opportunities presented to me.  I decided to to take every opportunity I could because, whether good or bad, it would foster my goal of developing into the best player I can be.  Within this short year, I played high school soccer for the first time and made first team all-star.  I also played club soccer with my primary team and we won the state championships, made the quarterfinals at regionals, and with our first invitation to Surf Cup, won our division.  This year was also the first time I played on our club women's team, and I helped score some goals throughout the season that led to winning the league championship.  Also added to the list of firsts was rostering for the ECNL with Santa Rosa United and playing in major national tournaments, as well as playing in the NPL finals with Davis Legacy.  Through all the triumphs and struggles, this past year not only taught me a number of things, but it confirmed the importance of preparation.  And not so much physically, but more so mentally.   The statement "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail" holds more truth to me now than ever before.

As time goes on, I will continue updating my profile to keep things current.  Feel free to check back periodically for new information and statistics. 

Mahalo (thank you) for your time and attention.