The gift of friendship. The gift of playing together.

Presents that don’t need to be under a tree, waiting to be unwrapped just one day a year.

They are meant to be shared daily, just like memories. Never tarnishing, continually polished by time.

Some 40 women from Hawaii aren’t counting down the days until Christmas. They are counting down the years until they can enjoy another adventure, where competition and camaraderie team up on the soccer pitch.

The World Masters Games are their Olympics. Sydney, Australia, in 2009. Torino, Italy, last August. Auckland, New Zealand in 2017.

For this group, age is just a number, to be worn like the one on the back of a team jersey.

Birthdate does not define them, except for age-group purposes. It obviously didn’t matter when it came to success as all three teams with Hawaii players won gold in Italy: over-45 (Hi-Cal, combined team from Hawaii and California); over-50 (Leahi); and over-55 (Holomua).

"Once you go, you want to keep going," Holomua’s Lois Tiedemann said. "It’s an unbelievable experience. I can’t wait for the next one."

That was the feeling four years ago in Sydney when Torino was announced as the next host site. The Hawaii contingent, which won gold in the over-50s in Australia, was ready for another shared experience on another continent, one that would include renting a villa, touring Cinque Terra, biking in the Dolomite Mountains, hiking in the Alps and visiting vineyards.

"Four years ago, we all said, ‘We’re going,’ " said Kathy Carey, a University of Hawaii women’s soccer assistant who played for Leahi and coached Holomua in Torino. "It was such a fun experience (in Australia) that we knew it would be another phenomenal experience (in Italy).

"This is a very competitive group, they’re out there to win and they work very hard to achieve that. But it’s not just the soccer. It’s the friendship."

The bonds created cross the boundaries that can be defined by occupation, education and even playing experience. Some share the pre-Title IX experience where athletic opportunities for females were limited or non-existent, not just in high school and college but in youth leagues.

Jan Pappas didn’t take up soccer until she was 53. She and Carey had sons who were soccer-playing friends and "I told Kathy I would have loved to play soccer as a kid," said Pappas, a champion badminton player who also played basketball at Kansas in the 1960s. "She said ‘You still can’ and had me on a team within a week. I started out on the small field, 7-a-side.

"Within a year and a half, I was playing on the big field, went to North Carolina and played in the Veterans Cup (considered the U.S. masters championship). Now we’re seeing the world through this sport.

"What has made it possible for so many of us to play and to play with some level of skill after starting so late in life are the many local women who have given their time to coaching us. People like Kathy Carey, Lois Tiedemann, Laurie Baker, Cheryl Shimizu. You would think they would write us off as ‘too old’ or ‘hopeless.’ But they patiently guide us through skills and strategies time after time as if we are 7-year-olds just starting out. And we eat it up and are so appreciative."

Shimizu, a former Rainbow Wahine basketball standout, took up soccer 20 years ago because it was something different.

"I didn’t realize how big it was until I started playing," Shimizu said. "Now, if I had to choose between watching the (Women’s) World Cup and pro women’s basketball, I’d choose the World Cup. Some of us went to it in Germany (in 2011).

"Knowing all these wonderful ladies, being able to travel together, it’s great."

"What makes it so enjoyable is the friendships from so long ago continuing now," said Holly Reiplinger, who played on one of the first girls soccer teams at Punahou in the 1970s. "I’ve played with or against many of the women since 1975 and you see how everyone’s lives have changed, having kids grow up, now having grandkids. It’s amazing to have friendships like that.

"Italy was No. 1 on my bucket list. New Zealand is No. 2. Greece is No. 3 and I’m hoping that is where we’ll end up going (in 2021)."