OK, so the University of Hawaii's nearly-completed $1.2-million softball stadium is unsuitable for softball because fans wouldn't be able to see home plate. And the state girls' high school soccer tournament is being kicked out of Aloha Stadium for a Mariah Carey concert. Soccer tourney, softball stadium snafus hurt female athletes
No problem.
May I propose a trade?
Let the Wahine play softball at Aloha Stadium and have the high school soccer tournament at the UH softball stadium. Everything will be fine and dandy.
Yes, that's a bad joke - along the lines of my simplistic solution for Mad Cow disease in England: Merely swap the cattle in Jolly-Old for the stock in India. Everybody's happy.
Sure.
But the absurd lack of planning and communication by people who are supposed to be the leaders in local prep and UH sports is no laughing matter.
People can blame who they want, but the ultimate responsibility for these fiascoes falls on the Hawaii High School Athletic Association and the UH athletic department's administration.
First, the soccer tournament. If the $25,000 buyout to move the tournament was negotiated last October, why is the issue only coming to a head now, less than a month before the tournament?
And why did the HHSAA board even consider not footing the bill to pay expenses for teams that would have to travel on short notice? Why has only $10,000 - an inadequate amount - of the $25,000 been earmarked for the displaced soccer teams?
I don't blame coaches and parents for being upset about having to put together travel money without earlier warning. And many parents - who, if they'd known, would have planned vacation time around the off-island tournament - will have to miss a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see their kids compete for a state title.
From what's been reported, it seems some principals and athletic directors may also be at fault for not communicating what was going on earlier to the coaches.
At least the kids will learn a lesson about shoddy planning and communication.
AS for the UH softball stadium, in a printed report this morning, athletic department officials placed full blame on the designer and contractor for building a softball stadium in which it would be difficult to see home plate and other parts of the playing field from many seats.
This stadium has been under construction for months, but UH officials say they discovered the problem only two weeks ago, and that they were assured by the builders that there would be no observation problems. Does that mean the athletic department is not responsible for the snafu?
Hey, if I have a garage built on my property, I'm damned sure going to monitor the contractor's progress - especially if someone else's money is being used to build that garage.
From his comments of, "We're not going to pay for it," and, "I don't think it's a university issue," athletic director Hugh Yoshida would lead us to believe that his department is at no fault at all.
YOSHIDA might be right - his department might not end up paying the who-knows-how-much-more money it takes to fix this screw up. But it all comes out of the same ultimate pile - the pile you and I contribute to when we pay state taxes.
And coach Bob Coolen and his Wahine team deserve better. Coolen is a class act who runs a class program that is on the rise. Hopefully this embarrassing blunder won't affect his team, and it will have a usable stadium in time for the season.
In the cases of the soccer tournament and the softball stadium, it's female athletes who are getting the raw deal.
Is this a coincidence?
Here's a better question: Would the same lousy planning and lack of attention to detail been afforded the Prep Bowl or a football stadium?
Dave Reardon is a magazine editor and freelance
writer who has covered Hawaii sports since 1977.
He can be reached via the Star-Bulletin or
by email at dreardon@hmsa.com.
