After forfeiting every game last season because they could not field a team, the Tigers are starting fresh this year with a new softball coach. Francis Takasaki, who taught strength training since 2009 and coached softball at Kapa‘a High School since 2016, recently retired and moved to Oahu. News of his move spread quickly, and several schools expressed interest in bringing him to their athletic program. Takasaki told The Pinion he rejected an offer from ‘Iolani after hearing of an opening at McKinley. 

“I really felt it was better for me to give my time to the public school system,” Takasaki said. 

Takasaki said the situation McKinley has faced in recent years—struggling to field a team and recording few or no wins—is similar to what he encountered at Kapa’a in 2016. Before he arrived, Kapa‘a’s softball team had gone 28 years without a single win. After he took over the program, however, the change was immediate. The team went undefeated that season, 12-0, won the Kaua’i Interscholastic Federation championship, and advanced to the state tournament, where they finished as runner-up playing at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium on Oahu.

“Every year after that, we just didn’t look back. We kept winning back to back to back KIF championships and [making] state appearances ending anywhere from second to fourth place,” Takasaki said. 

At McKinley, one of Takasaki’s first steps was transforming an old storage room into a locker room for his players. This process started in May of 2025 when he met with players who were on the team the past year. During this meeting he encouraged them to start recruiting girls so that they could start practicing. Practices began at the end of May and returning players were pleasantly surprised to see the once cramped and dirty storage room transformed into a locker room with cubby holes for their equipment. 

In the locker room, Takasaki put up motivational quotes which show his mindset towards success and his way of coaching.  

“[They serve as] a constant reminder for players and individuals to understand that there is no elevator to success, you gotta take the stairs. It’s one step at a time,” Takasaki said. 

“The younger teenage generation believes that they can Google anything they want and get an answer immediately. That’s not the way it works in sports,” Takasaki said. “The way you get success is you have to put in the work.”

Since May, Takasaki has held at least one softball practice per week, increasing to three practices per week once school resumed. He said he has been having a great experience so far coaching at McKinley. 

“The players that signed up are enthusiastic and hungry to learn. The school staff and administration have all been so very supportive,” Takasaki said. 

He said he is sure McKinley will be able to field a softball team this year, having 19 recruits registered. Yet, the biggest challenge he said he sees the program facing this year is that 95% of the recruits have never played nor ever put on a glove or threw a ball before. Takasaki said, typically, an incoming freshman that’s going to play softball usually already has about seven to nine years of club ball experience under their belt.  

Takasaki said, “The great thing is, at McKinley we have players that are willing to meet the challenge.” 

Another challenge is pitching, since it usually takes at least three years to develop one. Takasaki said they are trying to pull off a miracle by developing a pitcher in three months. He said fortunately he has players who are up to this challenge. Takasaki and the assistant coaches, Mikki Morihara and Myles Yamaki, have been working hard mechanically with these players, supporting them on their pitching journey. 

Airi Matsuka (c/o ‘28), one of the pitchers, said Takasaki is a coach who pays attention to the miniscule details. “He’ll come at you for a bunch of things, but I think that’s good,” Matsuka said.

Matsuka describes Takasaki as being very talkative, serious and real. “He won’t lie to you. He’ll always be true about how you are doing.” Matsuka said. 

Janderella Santos (c/o ‘26), one of the pitchers and a returnee who began softball in her sophomore year, said she could tell Takasaki was a good coach after just a few practices. She said he focused on small technical details that other coaches might overlook. 

When describing Takasaki, Santos said, “He’s a chatterbox, but he talks about the important things.” 

She also said Takasaki is a very determined and persistent coach. 

Santos encourages other students to sign up for softball, even if they have no prior experience. She said that when she first joined, she knew nothing about the game, but going to practice consistently helped her improve.

“Now, I’m way better than I was before because I took a step of faith and tried. You never know until you try,” Santos said. 

Students interested in joining can stop by A119 to meet Coach Bob, the athletic director, and pick up the required forms.