Dispute surrounds
Kahuku coach

Allegations of drug and
alcohol use with teen players
dog the softball staff

A Kahuku High School girls' softball coach was named coach of the year recently even though he was under investigation for allegedly buying booze for some of his players and drinking with them on several occasions late into the night.

Bu Heffernan has been on administrative leave since late January pending completion of the investigation, which also focused on allegations that an assistant coach under Heffernan provided players with marijuana and smoked it with them.

The investigation is continuing and both coaches deny the allegations.

Although Heffernan was prohibited from coaching the last few regular season games because of the probe, his peers in the Oahu Interscholastic Association East still selected him coach of the year. It's not clear whether the other coaches knew about the controversy. The Kahuku team finished the regular season 6-5.

Heffernan, the paid head coach of the varsity squad, and Thomas Ching, a volunteer assistant coach, said the player who leveled the allegations did so to get back at them after she was cut from the team, reinstated by the school principal and then spent much of the season on the bench.

"It's really nonsense what they're talking about," Heffernan said.

Roseanne Ulii, the player's mother, said her daughter did the right thing by coming forward and admitting her participation in the illicit activities, even though that further ostracized her from her teammates.

Ulii said her daughter, who is a senior, said that she and another player drank alcohol with Heffernan on at least three occasions, and two of those times the coach purchased the alcohol for them.

After a Kahuku-Kailua football game in Kailua, Heffernan bought a case of Mike's Hard Lemonade, a sweet alcoholic beverage, and he, Ulii's daughter (then 17) and another player drank until around 5 a.m., according to Ulii.

On another occasion, Heffernan was seen at a well-attended Christmas party at a private residence drinking beer with a group of his softball players, said another parent who was at the party.

Lokelanie Kaiahua, who has a daughter on the junior varsity squad and is its "team mom," said she saw Heffernan probably three times over a two-hour period drinking with some of his players. "I was very disturbed by that," Kaiahua said.

Ulii's daughter also said that she and three other players drank beer and smoked marijuana with assistant coach Ching during a softball trip to Kauai two seasons ago, according to Ulii.

The alcohol and beer were provided by Ching, Ulii said her daughter told her.

"All of that is untrue," Ching responded.

Heffernan likewise said he never gave alcohol to players. He acknowledged that on occasion he would drink with friends at a park or elsewhere and some of his players would show up, bringing their own alcohol.

But each time, Heffernan said, he would tell the players they shouldn't be drinking if they were under the legal drinking age (21). If they didn't heed his advice, he said, he normally left.

In the incident after the Kailua-Kahuku football game, Heffernan said a couple of players showed up in the same area where he already was drinking with friends, but that time he chose to stay with his group. He said the girls arrived with their own alcohol.

"As a coach, I can only encourage them to do what's best," Heffernan said. "If they're out drinking, where are their parents?"

At the Christmas party, Heffernan said when he saw some of his players drinking, he again advised them not to. But he said it wasn't his job to stop them from drinking at a private party: "Practice is over."

Ulii said she learned of the drinking and marijuana allegations when her daughter confided in her the latter part of December. But Ulii said she didn't report the allegations to the administration until Jan. 19 because her daughter asked her to refrain from saying anything until the season was over.

Ulii said she tried to abide by that request but finally spoke up because she believed the coaches were treating her daughter unfairly, not even playing her during her final home game as a senior.

The daughter, who quit the team following that homecoming game, declined comment.

Heffernan said the teen-ager was held to the same standards as the other players, but had a problem skipping practices and showing up late.

She was cut from the team at the beginning of the season because she missed a number of practices despite being warned about it, Heffernan said. Ulii conceded her daughter missed practices without notifying the coach, but Ulii complained to the school administration that the process the coaches used to cut her daughter wasn't fair. The administration ordered the coaches to reinstate her.

On the day Ulii reported the allegations to the administration, Heffernan was placed on administrative leave pending completion of an investigation that still is ongoing, according to Kahuku High & Intermediate Principal Lisa DeLong.

Ching also was told to step down from his assistant role pending completion of the investigation.

Ulii and her mother, Melva Frazier, said Heffernan continued to show up at some practices and games -- a charge Heffernan denied.

As soon as the school learned of the allegations, the administration started questioning the players individually, according to Ulii.

DeLong said she couldn't comment on the investigation because it is a confidential personnel matter. But "at no time did I draw any conclusions," she added.

In recent weeks, various officials, including Schools Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto, have assured Ulii that the situation was being handled appropriately, according to Ulii.

In a Feb. 12 e-mail, Hamamoto told Ulii that "the consequences are expected and fair," though the superintendent said she couldn't divulge details because of confidentiality requirements. "I'm sure you'll know the actions in the coming weeks/months," Hamamoto wrote.

But the only consequences Ulii said she has seen is Heffernan being named coach of the year and her daughter, who was a starter in her three previous years on the varsity team, continuing to be ostracized by classmates and giving up hope for a softball scholarship to college.

"She has lost her friends, everyone wants to fight her, they call her names," Ulii said. "How can I show her it was worth it to do the right thing and come forward?"

Given the rural, everybody-knows-everybody nature of the small North Shore community around Kahuku, the controversy has created strains in relationships among residents who have known each other for years.

Heffernan said the other players' parents are supporting him. Two parents whose names Heffernan provided to the Star-Bulletin declined to speak on the record.

Kaiahua, the JV team mom, said she approached the school principal on behalf of the JV parents to express concern about "this drinking situation."

Ulii and Kaiahua acknowledged that Heffernan over the years has been known for his efforts to help young people stay out of trouble. "He's a good community guy," Kaiahua said. "Everybody likes him."

That apparently includes his fellow coaches who selected him coach of the year.

Once the regular season ended Jan. 29, the coaches had until Jan. 31 to turn in their ballots for the top coaching honors, according to Elden Esmerelda, OIA softball coordinator.

Esmerelda said he didn't know whether the other coaches were aware of the Kahuku controversy when they voted. Esmerelda said he only learned of it Friday from the Star-Bulletin.

If authorities determine the allegations likely are true, the controversy is bound to intensify and could move into the criminal arena. Providing alcohol to minors is a criminal offense, as is possession of marijuana.

But Heffernan and Ching said they are confident they will be vindicated.

"We'll be there (next season) continuing as coach of the year," Ching said. "We're that confident."