BIIF football coordinator Kalei Namohala has heard from Hilo High and Konawaena.
They are in. Kamehameha, Hawaii Prep and Pahoa, too.
She’s still waiting to hear from others schools so she can determine whether the revamped football schedule, one that lists the 11 teams that usually participate in the sport, will stick.
“Teams have until Friday, that’s the declaration day for all (fall) sports,” said Namohala, also the athletic director at Ka’u High. “We’re slowing getting kids out,” she said of the Trojans.
As for the prospects of all 11 teams being able to field a football team this year, she said, “We’re hopeful everyone will make it.”
BIIF practices resumed Monday for athletes who – according to the Department of Education mandate – either got vaccinated for COVID-19 or received an exemption.
BIIF executive secretary Lyle Crozier previously said he was confident the BIIF would hold fall seasons for volleyball, cross-country, air riflery, bowling and competitive cheer. Because of the larger rosters footballl team carry, that sport, he said, was more dependent on “who shows up.”
The football season starts Oct. 16.
One team that got back to work Monday was the Waiakea girls volleyball team, which held tryouts to kick off the start of a season that has been split into an East-West format.
The Warriors had about 30 girls and will hold tryouts until the end of the week, hoping to build upon their 2019 success as the BIIF runner-up.
That squad fell in straight sets to Kapolei in the first round of the HHSAA Division I tournament at home. The Warriors graduated a ton of key players, including Kelsie Imai, Kailey Doll, Sierra K-Aloha, Michelle Vintero, and Bethany Honma.
BIIF champion Kamehameha lost in four sets to Punahou in the state quarterfinals and lost to Kapolei in the fifth-place game. The Warriors graduated their two best players, Nani Spaar, and Tiani Bello, and also lost setter Sierra Scanlan, who transferred to Kamehameha-Kapalama.
The Warriors still have junior outside hitters Sarah Schubert and Cammie Masanda. Savanna Colliado, a junior, will step in at setter, seniors Tabitha Pacheco and Eden Lukzen will anchor the back row. And don’t forget Taina Kaauwai, who landed on the All-BIIF first team at middle blocker as a freshman in 2019.
Hilo will likely challenge for the BIIF title under the guidance of new coach Kalei Kabalis, whose mom is NAIA and UH-Hilo Hall of Fame inductee Carla Carpenter-Kabalis, whose club team is aptly named HI Intensity.
“Hilo and Kamehameha will have an advantage just because their club teams traveled, and Kalei will have high expectations,” Waiakea coach Ashley Hanohano said. “We initially had 40 kids and had 30 on Monday. Right now, we’re looking to see who can keep up, handle it mentally with conditioning. We have to find the players who are in condition to last five sets.”
It was a strange year for Division II in 2019. BIIF champion Konawaena wasn’t seeded and lost to McKinley in the first round. BIIF runner-up Hawaii Prep beat Molokai in the first round but fell to Waimea in the quarterfinals. Ka’u, the BIIF’s No. 3 team, lost to University in the first round.
Kona’s Maile Grace, the BIIF player of the year, graduated while HPA will look to be the favorite behind the sibling punch of junior Parker Lewis, an All-BIIF pick in 2019, and her freshman middle blocker sister Margot Lewis. Ka’u will be powered by Chelsea Velez, who also landed on the first team at outside hitter as a freshman in 2019.
Kamehameha’s Schubert, Masanda, Colliado, Pacheco, and Lukzen, the Lewis sisters, and Velez were on Kamehameha coach Guy Enriques’ Southside club team that captured the 16 AAU West Coast championship in June in Las Vegas.
There’s still a lot of talent in the BIIF, and the season opener is Tuesday, Oct. 18 with HPA visiting old rival Konawaena. The biggest Division I showdown is Tuesday, Oct. 26 when Hilo visits Kamehameha.
The BIIF playoffs run Monday, Nov. 29 through Saturday, Dec. 4 with the state tournaments starting the following week.
