[ HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL ]
Schools begin talk
of D-II football
A proposal for a Division II state football playoff still has a lot of hurdles to clear before it becomes a reality.
Even though similar proposals were defeated in the past, several ADs think the latest version has a better chance of succeeding when the Hawaii Interscholastic Association of Athletic Directors meets to hear the issue June 11-13 on Maui.
"I don't want to jinx it, but I would be very surprised if it didn't pass," Hawaii Preparatory Academy athletic director Stephen Perry said yesterday.
The proposal calls for the state's five leagues to determine prior to the season which teams are Division I and which teams are Division II for state tournament purposes. The league's regular seasons would not change.
Much of Division II would be made up of smaller schools, but decisions would be based on many factors, including the strength of a school's football program and prior history in state football tournaments in addition to enrollment.
A financial guarantee by Hawaii High School Athletic Association executive director Keith Amemiya and his wife, Bonny, gives the proposal some teeth. Any losses incurred by the creation of a Division II tournament would be covered by the Amemiyas.
Amemiya believes a two-tiered system would add interest and give a boost to sagging revenue.
Interscholastic League of Honolulu executive director Don Botelho, who is also the HHSAA's football coordinator, created the proposal. Amemiya presented it, in person, to all five leagues.
"My impression of our short discussions after Keith talked about the proposal was that the Big Island (Interscholastic Federation) is all for it," Perry said. "The state tournament has been highly successful and this will add to it. It lets the smaller schools in the limelight for a weekend or two."
Pac-Five athletic director Jon Hom is also enthusiastic about the proposal.
"It's worth trying for one year," he said. "Money is the issue that everybody was hung up on before. People haven't been against the idea of classification. They've been worried about the fiscal aspects, so Keith's guarantee should offset their concerns.
"Instead of arguing about whether Division II would work or not, let's just try it and see if it works firsthand and evaluate it on a sound basis."
Hom is in favor of classification for all sports, not just football.
Castle athletic director Richard Haru called the proposal "interesting," but isn't convinced that it's the right thing to do.
"Smaller schools playing for a championship, I'm supportive of that," Haru said. "But we need to look at everything about it and not make decisions too quickly.
"There has been a decline at the gate the past few years, and some people are indicating it's because there's only a few football powers. But I don't agree with that. There are many other variables. Times have changed. So I'm not certain that a Division II championship would generate more fan interest."
Haru wants to do what's in the best interest of the Oahu Interscholastic Association. He believes in the league's schools voting as one and supporting each other.
OIA executive secretary Dwight Toyama is an outspoken critic of state classification, and his concern is largely based on excessive costs.
Amemiya believes his financial guarantee will be cause for less concern for those worried about it. The HHSAA is also donating $40,000 (including $20,000 directly from the Amemiyas) to subsidize inter-island travel costs for the 2003-04 girls basketball and softball tournaments. The donation is to ensure Title IX fairness to girls and boys sports.
The proposal needs a majority of votes from the state's athletic directors at the HIADA meeting. It would then need to be passed by the HHSAA executive board, which meets in late June. That board is made up of one principal from each of the five leagues, and each vote is weighted to the number of schools in each league.
Amemiya thinks the leagues wouldn't have a problem deciding which teams to put in Division I and which teams to put in Division II.
"I don't think that would be a big deal at all, and there would be some leeway," he said. "Our aim would be for about half of each league to be D-I and about half D-II."
The proposed D-II tournament would be a four-team tournament with representatives from the ILH, OIA, BIIF and Maui Interscholastic League. It would become a five-team tourney if the KIF (which would be the only league with only one state tournament representative) opted for Division II. If that happened, the Division I tournament would be without a KIF team and would need to find an at-large school to fill its eight-team format.
Dwight Fujii, the Kapaa athletic director, voted against classification in the past, but said he'll vote for it this time because the KIF teams have a choice.
"If Kapaa had an opportunity, we would definitely want Division I," Fujii said. "We would want our kids to play against the best."
Fujii thinks the proposal has a good chance to pass at HIADA, but he's not convinced a Division II tournament would create more interest.
"I don't see the league champions opting for Division II, so I don't feel very good about second-place teams facing each other for a state title."
HHSAA