Cornerstone Bancard Hula Bowl owner Nick Logan was "very pleased" with yesterday's crowd, and hoped for bigger attendance next year.

Logan this week said he had hoped for 15,000 to 20,000 spectators for yesterday's game that drew 7,065.

Logan has owned the game for about a month. He is the chief executive officer of Cornerstone Bancard, a credit-card processing company based in Alpharetta, Ga.

"I do look forward to better numbers next year, though," Logan said.

"I was thinking 15,000 would be a nice number to start with, but I'm so thankful that people took the time to come out ... I couldn't be happier," Logan continued.

Logan said he plans to immediately start marketing next year's game.

"The No. 1 thing is awareness," Logan said. "I've had people say to me on the island, 'I didn't know it was back here.' "

Logan said he will open a Hula Bowl office in Hawai'i this coming week to get the word out to the community.

"We'll be talking to high schools, football teams, bankers, anybody we can, to get some awareness to show that this game is back in Hawai'i to stay," Logan said.

In its final season on Maui last year, the Hula Bowl drew about 12,000 at War Memorial Stadium.

CHAMPS GET UNIFORMS

The West O'ahu Little League World Series baseball champions received their replica game jerseys in a pre-game ceremony yesterday.

The 'Ewa Beach players defeated Curacao to win the World Series on Aug. 28, 2005 in Williamsport, Pa.

However, the players were unable to keep their game-day jerseys because of national league regulations and funding for duplicate jerseys.

"After the game, I thought we were going to get the jerseys," third baseman-catcher Vonn Fe'ao said. "I was mad. Now, it feels good."

"I'm going to put it in a trophy case," catcher Michael Memea said of his jersey. "I'm thankful for Subway for buying the jerseys for us."

Subway Hawai'i, a Hula Bowl sponsor, contacted the Little League international headquarters and made arrangements to cover the costs.

Each player received a black, numbered Russell jersey that had red-and-white lettering that read "Northwest" on the front.

"It's basically all for the kids," said Linda Painter, who runs the Barbers Point Subway franchise, and assists with the company's advertising. "We figured this would be an excellent opportunity to present the jerseys to them in a forum they should be exposed to because they are the World Series champions."

West O'ahu coach Layton Aliviado said his players appreciated the jerseys and the ceremony.

"It always feels great to get honored," Aliviado said.

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com.