Wednesday, March 10, 1999

By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Gender Equity Sports Club President Jill Nunokawa lashed
out at the HHSAA's executive board during yesterday's meeting.

---

Football
playoff makes
the grade

The system that will replace
the Prep Bowl overcomes resistance
from Oahu public schools

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

There will be a state football tournament next fall, but how it will be financed is another question.

The Hawaii High School Athletic Association yesterday adopted the state's first such tournament in a 2-1 vote of the executive board's first open meeting, held at the Pagoda Hotel.

The Oahu Interscholastic Association was opposed.

But officials of the OIA, the state's largest league with 21 football schools, said they will go along with the vote.

"Just because the vote don't go our way, you think we're going to take our ball and go home?" said OIA executive secretary Dwight Toyama.

But they remain cautious about the venture, which will replace the Oahu Prep Bowl as the preeminent postseason prep football event in Hawaii.

"The financial issue concerns us," said OIA president Gary Griffiths. "It's going to take a lot of work between now and HIADA (the Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association meeting)."

HHSAA executive director Keith Amemiya was asked how he plans to tackle the financing issue. But Amemiya responded, "No comment," and walked away. Asked if he would talk with the Star-Bulletin at all about the football tournament, the executive director replied, "No."

Griffiths said the cost of travel is the biggest worry.

"And the inherited cost of football is far greater than any other sport we're running because it's probably going to be a multiple weekend playoff type of format," he said.

Toyama said it's not fair for the leagues or schools to foot the bill for the logistics of a state football tournament.

But he said that if the HHSAA was to subsidize football, it would have to also subsidize travel for other tournaments.

"Can the HHSAA afford to do that for boys' and girls' soccer and boys' and girls' basketball? That's the concern our people have."

The tournament was adopted even though only three members of the executive board voted because of the number of schools represented by the proponents.

Voting for the motion were Konawaena High principal Daniel Yoshida of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, representing 14 schools, and Kamehameha Schools secondary principal Anthony Ramos of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, representing 20 schools.

Aiea High principal Gary Griffiths of the OIA stood for 23 schools. So the motion was officially carried, 34-23.

Lahainaluna principal Michael Nakano, who represents 10 schools in the Maui Interscholastic League, abstained, and Kapaa principal Gilmore Youn (Kauai Interscholastic Federation) was absent.

Griffiths said the OIA's own vote behind closed doors on Friday had 21 principals against the state tournament, one for it and one abstaining. The OIA's athletic directors had earlier voted, 12-9, against the tournament.

A motion to set up a committee to develop a plan for the state tournament was also adopted. The committee will report to the HIADA.

Ramos, who is the HHSAA executive board president, designated ILH executive secretary Clay Benham to initiate the tournament and planning committee motions for him.

Griffiths said that despite the OIA's "no" vote, there will be no further opposition to the tournament.

In the last item of business, Jill Nunokawa, president of the Gender Equity Sports Club, launched a one-hour tongue-lashing of the executive board for what she called "noncompliance" with the guidelines of Title IX.

Every principal and league executive secretary, except Benham, remained seated at the head table throughout Nunokawa's speech as several print and broadcast media members looked on. Ramos, who had originally told her she had five minutes to speak, tried to adjourn several times. But Nunokawa refused to yield.

She concluded with 13 recommendations, including moving the girls' state basketball tournament from May to February, moving the softball tournament from February to May (and changing the venue from Roosevelt to the University of Hawaii softball stadium), and instituting seminars in Title IX for HHSAA executive board members.

Nunokawa also said she advocates the Board of Education resuming control of the now-independent HHSAA.

In another matter, it was decided that HHSAA member schools would each continue to pay a base fee of $500 plus a $30 fee per HHSAA sport for the ongoing 1998-99 school year. Amemiya said that this was the same fee arrangement for the 1997-98 school year.

A proposal to raise the HHSAA sport fees to $40 was rejected.

The next open meeting of the HHSAA executive board will be held in June in Hilo.