Hoop tourney expansion
By Pat Bigold
vote set for tomorrow
Star-BulletinMAKENA--They're the hottest issues on deck in the 1997 Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association (HIADA) and they take center stage today. Proposals to expand the fields for the Hawaii High School Athletic Association boys' and girls' basketball tournaments and regionalize the early part of those tournaments are expected to spark a long debate in a HIADA work group. Whatever that group recommends will be voted upon by the HIADA general assembly tomorrow morning. That vote must, in turn, be reviewed by the HHSAA executive board.
The 16-team format issue was supposed to get a hearing yesterday, but the work group assigned to study it became entangled in other issues. That group was expected to reconvene this morning.
But informal discussions about the proposal could already be heard everywhere last night in the halls of the Maui Prince Hotel.
''I think it's (the tournament) saturated already," said John Chung, veteran Roosevelt High boys' basketball head coach.
''You're going to get teams that don't belong here."
Bryan Almadova, Kaiser boys' basketball head coach, said that even in the current tournament structure, there is question as to whether or not the 12th and final invitee is worthy of the field it joins.
''If you add four more teams, it will be like an at-large kind of thing," said Almadova.
Hawaii Preparatory Academy athletic director Steve Perry said the more important question concerns regionalizing the tournaments.
''For every region to have a piece of the state championship would be great," said Perry who likes a 16-team field.
''When you have a four-team regional that each of the league champs would host, and then the final four comes out of that, it's something the fans can get into," said Perry.
''I'd like to see that level of play on Maui," said Steve Colflesh, athletic director of Seabury Hall. ''If our young kids saw that level, maybe they'd rise to that level."
Iolani athletic director Carl Schroers said he understands how the regionalization idea would benefit the gate for Neighbor Island teams. But he worries that a 16-team formula for basketball might affect the state wrestling tournament, which, like basketball, is scheduled for February.
Backers of the expanded format say the new tournament would take up two weekends.
''I don't know if our league (OIA) would want to put another team into the state tournament, considering the quality we have now," said Moanalua High athletic director George Goto.
In other matters, a work group voted to recommend that the girls' basketball tournament finals be held always on Oahu.
In further work group action, a lively discussion about a proposal to limit the number of additional state golf tournament qualifiers to 20 players with the next best available averages in the state went down to defeat.
Athletic directors in the OIA said they preferred to see the leagues maintain control over selection of the additional tournament qualifiers.
La Pietra athletic director Beth McLachlin had argued for more quality control in the selection process because she said there are a number of golfers with averages in the 90s being sent to the tournament. McLachlin said these players have tended to slow down the tournament.
The number of female qualifiers for the state tournament will be 16 for 1998. That's up from 12 last season.
Furthermore, a pilot state girls' wrestling tournament was given the OK.
Another work group recommended that rotating the site of the state softball tournament be considered. Roosevelt has long been the site.
Robert Kanaby, executive director of the National Federation of High School Associations, will speak to the conference this evening.
He was expected to meet with the state's principals at noon.
