Michele Nagamine: 'Coach Bud' Paying it Forward

Investment can come in varying forms.

Time. Finances. Energy. Emotion.

Throughout a connection to University of Hawai‘i soccer that predates her tenure as head coach, Michele Nagamine has invested in the program and the sport in just about every imaginable avenue.

Only the second head coach in the Rainbow Wahine soccer program’s three-decade history, “Coach Bud” has navigated fluctuations in fortune over the course of her career and enters season No. 14 coming off a historic payoff campaign.

Whether reflecting on the richness of last year’s breakthrough or addressing the heightened expectations attached to the season ahead, Nagamine leans into a sense of perspective crafted over a lifelong journey on and around the pitch.

“I don’t want to look back with any regrets as to what more I could have done,” Nagamine said. “I want to be able to say I gave everything that I had and then some.”

Nagamine’s passion has been evident in each segment of her soccer career spanning her playing days as high school and collegiate standout, through her entrepreneurial and business ventures, and, of course, to the sideline while coaching at just about every level offered in Hawai‘i soccer.

She savored one of her most rewarding seasons a year ago, when the Rainbow Wahine put together a captivating surge to the program’s first Big West regular-season championship. The ’Bows enter 2025 as the favorite in the conference’s preseason poll and although her focus is fixed on preparing the current roster for a new season, she remains keenly appreciative of the 2024 title run.

“It’s still very overwhelming when I talk about it because it’s not every day you get to experience being a part of a team that is just so thoughtful and caring and fun,” said Nagamine, now a two-time Big West Coach of the Year honoree. “It’s really an incredible group of people because they can be intense and compete so hard at training, but there’s so much love and compassion and aloha. That was the best of all the different worlds for me.”

Creating Connections

Nagamine’s world has largely revolved around soccer since her youth. A high school standout at Kamehameha Schools, Nagamine played collegiate soccer at Santa Clara, where she helped captain the Broncos to the 1989 NCAA semifinals.

Shortly after graduation, she quickly established a foothold in the Hawai‘i soccer community by opening a retail store, Soccerama, dedicated to helping equip local players and teams.

Operating the store helped foster connections and relationships that endure to this day as Soccerama became a gathering spot for folks involved in the sport.

“I felt like Ted Danson in Cheers standing behind the counter next to the register and people would spill their guts all day long just talking story,” Nagamine recalled.

“I have the perspective of going away (to college) and learning a lot and finding myself and learning so much about myself. But this is home and there was never a question that I would be back.”

Staying home and pursuing Division I soccer were mutually exclusive during Nagamine’s playing career. So when UH established a club team in the early 1990s as a prelude to NCAA membership, she jumped at the opportunity to contribute to the effort by donating practice gear to the fledgling program.

“At the time my store was very young,” said Nagamine, who already had close relationships with inaugural UH head coach Pinsoom Tenzing and assistant coach Kathy Carey. “So to find extra money to do donations like that, it was a big undertaking but it was the right thing to do.

“I was so thrilled when we finally got a team at UH because I 100% would have stayed home (for college). I went away because I didn’t have any other options. But (playing in Hawai‘i) would have been my dream.”

Taking Charge

It was also around that time that Nagamine kickstarted her coaching career at Kamehameha. She led her alma mater to five state championships and six Interscholastic League of Honolulu titles before entering college coaching at Hawai‘i Pacific University in 2007.

She was also in the midst of a rewarding career with OUTRIGGER Hotels and Resorts as Director of Sports Marketing when the opportunity to take over the UH program arose in 2011. While initially hesitant to leave her role at OUTRIGGER, she ultimately opted to take up the challenge of leading the state’s lone Division I soccer program.

‘A Hard Reset’

After six years of roller-coaster results, Nagamine sensed a disconnect within the program and at the advice of then-Associate Athletic Director Carl Clapp she took a step back from the grind in what amounted to a “hard reset” of her coaching outlook.

“I think the kids could feel my stress and I think there was a trickle-down effect on to them,” Nagamine said. “Carl Clapp said, ‘You just need to take two weeks and just be quiet and just find time for yourself.”

Nagamine dove in to books on leadership, taking ideas from various authors to return to the sideline renewed in her mission in guiding the student-athletes in the program. 

“I think implementing all of these things and creating a very open, transparent, and honest environment really did make a difference,” she said.

The ‘Bows went 9-7 in 2018 then qualified for the Big West postseason tournament for the first time in 2019 and received her first conference Coach of the Year award.

The momentum was abruptly halted in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the season and the ’Bows spent 2021 and ’22 seasons rebuilding through the restrictions. It was also in that period that Nagamine added current associate coach Kaula Rowe and assistant Daniel Saucedo to the coaching staff.

“Bringing Kaula Rowe in was the best decision I ever made at the University of Hawai‘i,” Nagamine said.

“Kaula just lives with aloha every single day and she sets a fantastic example for the team about how to live your life the right way,” Nagamine said. “(Saucedo’s) core value system is the same as ours, it’s very similar to our Hawaiian culture.

“We changed the way we communicated, we changed the way we took feedback and it was the best thing we ever did,” Nagamine said.

Putting it all together

A return to the Big West tournament in 2023 marked a significant step and the ’Bows put together a magical run in 2024 that in itself was a testament to perseverance.

Voted seventh in last year’s conference’s preseason poll, UH scuffled through a 2-6 start that included a stretch of four consecutive shutout losses. The tide shifted with a 2-1 comeback win at Portland State that sparked a program-record nine-match unbeaten streak and propelled the ’Bows to the Big West regular-season crown.

Nagamine traces the turnaround to a players-only meeting between a loss at Eastern Washington and the victory at Portland State.

“On their own, they sat down in the meeting room and decided that the madness was going to stop,” Nagamine said. “They came up with a list of things they really wanted to focus on. … That was a turning point for us and it started with the team.”

The ’Bows put together the title run and prepared for this season while training at various fields while construction on a new on-campus soccer and track and field facility continues. This year’s team can look forward to the prospect of practicing on the new field starting in September.

“The kids are just rolling with it,” Nagamine said in admiration of the players’ attitudes amid the logistical challenges in setting up practices. “They’ve got that foresight in mind that we’re going to be on a beautiful field with a lot of space very quickly.

“They’re probably thinking there’s more room for her to make us run,” she added with a laugh.

Forward focus

As she continues to craft a legacy at UH, Nagamine has continued to invest in the future of Hawai‘i soccer on the whole. She serves as Sporting Director for Le‘ahi Soccer Club and the ’Bows regularly participate in keiki clinics, including two this summer during a trip to Kaua‘i during camp and another on O‘ahu last weekend.

“This is what playing for the University of Hawai‘i should be about,” Nagamine said. “Let’s make impacts in our community that are going to be far-reaching.”