The Hawaii High School Athletic Association won’t crown football champions in 2021, but that’s not necessarily bad news.
BIIF football teams will try to avoid being home for holidays under a modified calendar that pushes the state championship into the new year, six weeks later than it was to end.
The HHSAA announced Friday that its executive board voted unanimously to retain a full sports calendar, with the six fall sports set to resume Sept. 27, which is three days after Department of Education’s pause on extra-curricular expires for athletes and staff who have received a COVID-19 vaccination – or an exemption.
“It is a testament to our members to be able to agree to a calendar on such short notice,” Chris Chun, HHSAA’s executive director, said in a release, “Furthermore, this calendar preserves league and state championships, which gives student-athletes something that has been missing since February 2020. It shows the Department of Education, Department of Health, and our state and county leaders that there is a plan in place once all schools can resume on Sept. 24.”
The football season started July 19 but no games had been held when the DOE announced its mandate Aug. 5. Seasons for girls volleyball, cross-country, bowling, air riflery and cheerleading started Aug. 3. Under the revised format, those five sports all will wrap up in December. They, along with the winter and spring sports, will have two weeks trimmed off their seasons – which is marked from the beginning of practice to the end of the state tournament.
Football teams will have 15 weeks to complete their seasons – including an acclimatization period – so it remains to be seen if the BIIF will be able to maintain its 10-game regular-season schedule. That was to be followed by an off week to hold makeup contests and then BIIF championship weekend.
The winter sports are scheduled to begin and finish approximately four weeks later than usual. The eight spring sports will begin Feb. 21, two weeks later than originally planned, and wrap up as planned, May 8 or May 15.
