Tuesday, September 29, 1998

OIA backs down

The league will put aside its
Prep Bowl eligibility squabble
with the ILH for now

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

The Oahu Interscholastic Association's athletic directors decided yesterday not to press the Oahu Prep Bowl eligibility issue any further in 1998.

A source said the ADs have sent a proposal to the league's principals that would tolerate the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's five-years-to-play-four eligibility rule.

The source said that the issue would probably re-emerge next year.

The two leagues agreed last spring to have the Hawaii High School Athletic Association sanction the Prep Bowl, even though it is not a true state championship game.

The OIA insisted a few weeks ago that the ILH adopt its eligibility guidelines, which are also the HHSAA's guidelines.

The OIA requires its athletes to play out their eligibility in four consecutive years. The ILH permits use of eligibility in four non-consecutive years.

Among the state's five prep leagues, the ILH alone allows its athletes that latitude.

The OIA maintains the ILH guideline affords the league an unfair advantage in maturing its athletes. The ILH contends that its members make student-athletes repeat a grade only for academic reasons.

The ILH earlier rejected an OIA proposal that would have allowed currently enrolled freshmen to play in the Prep Bowl for the remainder of their high school careers. The proposal would have required players enrolling after the new year to follow OIA eligibility rules.