Whenever the powerful blocs from the OIA and ILH converge at the Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association conference, anything can happen.
Whenever the powerful blocs from the OIA and ILH converge at the Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association conference, anything can happen.
The BIIF old-timers, especially the diehard basketball fans, know that something they cherish could be gone in a second.
They likely all remember that the last HHSAA state girls basketball championships held on the Big Island was in 1997 at Hilo Civic.
It was pretty much a full house when Punahou defeated Honokaa 60-37 for the state title.
The HHSAA made money. The hometown fans were happy to not fly over to Oahu. And the BIIF was itching for another chance to host.
It never happened again, until 2014 under the HHSAA’s pilot program for state regional round play.
Konawaena hosted Mililani in the quarterfinals, not at its home gym, but at Kealakehe’s gym. The Wildcats lost 54-51 and their season was finished.
The obvious benefits for Konawaena was that the hometown fans didn’t have to pay a dime for airfare and hotel expenses, and the Wildcats didn’t miss a day of school.
The 55th annual HIADA conference will be held Monday through Wednesday at Hilton Waikoloa, where state regional round play may wind up on the chopping block.
In June 2013, HHSAA executive director Chris Chun initiated a pilot program for girls basketball and boys volleyball for state regional round play for the 2013-14 season.
The next summer, state regional round play for boys and girls soccer was added for the 2014-15 season.
Again, the regional play helped the BIIF, especially Konawaena, which beat Kaiser 2-0 in girls soccer in the quarterfinals at Julian Yates Field. It was not just a significant victory for the BIIF, which has struggled in state Division I soccer, but more so the Wildcats didn’t miss school. The game was played on Saturday.
None of the five leagues — BIIF, OIA, ILH, MIL, and KIF — have put in a proposal to continue state regional play for boys volleyball and soccer.
Chun could come to the rescue or the OIA and ILH may decide they prefer not to travel and shoot it down.
Konawaena AD Bill Trumbo won’t be holding his breath. Back in 1997, he was the UH-Hilo AD and not only remembered the huge crowd at Hilo Civic, but the complaints from the OIA and ILH about forking over money to travel.
“We’ve got five leagues and if the OIA and ILH don’t want to spend money, it’s not happening,” he said. “The regionals is the same as girls basketball. They start grumbling that they don’t want to travel. We’ve got to travel all the time. It’s no fun.
“It was a good venue at Hilo Civic, better than at McKinley, where a lot of our people can’t come. If you go Tuesday through Friday (on Oahu), our parents are working and they have to get airline tickets and hotel.”
Even the best intentions sometimes has a host team landing on its head.
“We ended up playing at Kealakehe (for girls basketball). That makes no sense,” Trumbo said. “We should have been playing at our own gym. We would have had a bigger crowd.”
There was a BIIF boys basketball game that same night. But that contest could have been rescheduled to accommodate a state playoff game.
One dream scenario for Trumbo would call for a 16-team tournament with four-team regionals, and the winners meeting in Honolulu.
He also entertained the idea of a neighbor island state championship with a rotating site in the name of fairness. And maybe an Oahu champion visiting to play for an overall title.
But the BIIF and the other leagues would never have enough votes to defeat the OIA and ILH bloc. And even then, Trumbo wouldn’t bother to hold his breath.
OIA small giants
One major complaint among leagues is the OIA’s policy determining statewide classification, based on won-loss records rather than school enrollment.
A classic example is Farrington, a school with close to 2,500 students.
The Governors won the HHSAA Division II state boys basketball championship in 2008, and ’11.
A lot of basketball fans cried foul, but Waiakea AD Tom Correa looked at it from a big-picture perspective.
“People have to be careful to watch what they wish for,” he said. “If you go division by school size, the OIA could have 20 teams rather than 14 (eligible) in a 12-team state tournament, and eight of the teams would be from the OIA.
“Another league would lose representation due to that. Then you’ve got to really watch what you wish for.”