Sports Update
Girls' wrestling back on agenda for athletic directors
The state girls' wrestling tournament is back on the voting agenda for next week's Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association convention on the Big Island.That's raising concern among some supporters of the event that had its inaugural run in February.
The ADs will convene at the Royal Waikoloan Hotel Thursday through Saturday to consider and vote on a variety of proposals in a dozen sports.
HIADA approved the girls' wrestling tournament last year as a pilot program during its meeting on Maui. But the Hawaii High School Athletic Association executive board, which has final say, "studied" the issue for the next eight months.
Finally, citing noncompliance with a HHSAA bylaw requiring at least three functioning leagues, the board cancelled the girls' state meet a few weeks before it was supposed to begin on Feb. 27 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
But the resulting uproar from parents, players and coaches quickly forced the HHSAA to reverse itself and hold the meet. It became one of the nation's first such tournaments for girls.
The event was officially scored and McKinley won the first team title. Medals were awarded in 10 weight categories. Those winners will be honored this year by the state Legislature.
Now the issue is back on the agenda because, as HIADA's Don Botelho said yesterday, it was only a "pilot" program in 1998.
"It should pass," said Botelho.
But Chris Johnson, head coach of the state champion McKinley team, said he can't understand why it's up for discussion again because he didn't think the event his girls won was a pilot program.
"I don't see why it has to be voted on again," said Johnson. "I thought it was regular state tournament. We ran it with a seeding process and a lot of thought went into that seeding process."
Other proposals:
Allow girls' pole vault to be a scoring event in next state track and field meet. It was a pilot event this year. A boys' 4x200-meter relay is proposed to even out the number of male and female events.
El Sid to speak at Quarterback Club
Former major league pitcher Sid Fernandez, the sports industry director for the City and County of Honolulu, will be the featured speaker at Monday's Honolulu Quarterback Club meeting at the Pagoda Hotel.Other guest speakers will be BYU-Hawaii's Dave Porter, coach of the NAIA women's championship tennis team, and KHNL sportscaster Jim Leahey.
Lunch begins at 11:30 a.m., followed by the program. The event is open to the public.
General admission is $3 per per. Games open at 12:30 p.m. with the match at 2:30 p.m.
The HFOA is looking for new officials to join the association. The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. at the St. Louis Alumni Clubhouse.
For more information, call Phil Akana at 623-1920.
Former University of Hawaii players Naveh Milo, Rick Tune and Kai Kahele are among the featured coaches. Instruction is in all aspects of volleyball.
Clinics are being offered in Hilo, June 20; Kauai, June 27; and Maui, July 5. There are two sessions: 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m.
The clinic is open to players, grades 7-12. Applications are available at various sporting goods outlets.
Grants for $500 were given to kayakers Hadley Gaffney of Honolulu and Kailua's Mike Stock. Gaffney will participate in the U.S. Canoe/Kayak Sprint Nationals in August at Green Lake, Wash. Stock, now training at the Olympic Training Center in San Diego, will compete in the nationals as well as the European Team Trials.
A $500 grant was given to David Shinbara of Kaneohe, who will compete at the ISA World Surfing Games in Portugal.
Grants of $1,000 apiece went to: the Hawaii Masters Marathon Cone Team, which will take part in international competition later this year; the Hawaii Swimming Club for age-group swimmers, to attend the national meet in Seattle; the International Hawaiian Canoe Association, to compete in the World Sprints in August in Fiji, and Hui Nalu Canoe Club, to help put on the Kukea Ironman Challenge. A $500 grant was awarded to Team Hawaii, a bodysurfing group that will compete in the World Championships in California.
Grants are awarded to individuals and athletes contributing to the growth and development of athletics in Hawaii and to assist in preserving sports which have a special or cultural significance to Hawaii. For information and applications, write to ODKF, 2909 Kalakaua Ave., Honolulu, 96815.
The tournament, with a $15,000 purse for the pros, will be played on three par-72 courses - Princeville Prince, Poipu Bay Resort and Kauai Lagoons Kiele.
There are championship, A, B and women's flights. To register to enter, call the Kauai Open at 808-823-0599.
The Vulcans hope to bring back the program in the near future.
Dana Dydasco, a Mililani High School halfback/forward, has accepted a full athletic scholarship with the California State University women's soccer program.
Dydasco was a second-team Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division all-star and four-year member of the Trojan girls' varsity. She captained the team last season.
The 3,200-mile ride from Seattle to Washington, D.C. will benefit the American Lung Association.
Brooks and Mon each is expected to raise $6,000 in pledges, with the money earmarked for lung health programs and services in Hawaii. Among the beneficiaries will be the Kokua Na Keiki Family Asthma Program, teen peer tobacco education projects and Open Airways for Schools.
To pledge a donation or learn more about the GTE cross-country ride, all Bill Short on Oahu at 537-5966, extension 304.
The magazine's subscribers selected the top 10 among more than 5,300 public-access courses in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. The Prince Course is new to the list and the first and only Hawaii course to earn a five-star rating. It also was named No. 1 in Hawaii for 1997.
The 32-mile event begins at 8 a.m. off the Kaluakoi Hotel and finishes at Maunalua Bay Beach Park. Divisions are: men's open and stock, masters open and stock, women's open and stock, and 2-man team age 80-and-over and 2-man team age 79-and-under.
A cash award of $1,000 goes to the first finisher, $500 for the first individual stock board, and $300 for the first team to finish. Boards can either be 12-foot- stock or open class (over 12 feet).
The entry fee is $80 per individual and $160 per team, which includes T-shirt, prerace buffet dinner at the Kalua Koi Hotel and refreshments at the finish line.
The entry deadline is July 12. For information, contact Dawson Jones at 638-8809 or Mike Takahashi, 638-8208.