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Wednesday, January 31, 2001
After two years as a pilot program operating at no cost to the Oahu Interscholastic Association, canoe paddling received official sanctioning as a sport for Oahu's public high schools at the start of this school year. OIA sanctions
canoe paddlingBy Brandon Lee
Special to the Star-BulletinThe Interscholastic League of Honolulu already has been sanctioning paddling for years, but the OIA is the first of the four other leagues statewide to sponsor the sport.
"We've been trying to bring more sports into the OIA and the decision was made to bring in paddling," said Kaiser High athletic director and OIA paddling coordinator Bill Van Arnswaldt. "Paddling is one of the sports students are really interested in.
"It has also helped with gender equity. In the past two years, we've had more girls than boys participating."
Na Opio, a Police Athletic League paddling organization that typically operates independently from the OIA, provided much of the equipment, race courses and officials without expense to the association and its athletes the last two years.
Na Opio did this to support the OIA in promoting paddling. It has agreed to continue doing so this season and potentially beyond while the Department of Education's current budget request for funding for the sport awaits legislative approval.
"We'll see if the DOE gets funding," said Teddi Anderson, president of Na Opio. "I'm not sure what the separation will be between the two organizations yet."
Except for Waialua and Pearl City, the other 21 OIA schools all have applied for one or more teams should the funding be approved. And the move by the association also paves the way for a potential state championship.
Na Opio currently supports the Maui Interscholastic League, Big Island Interscholastic Federation and Kauai Interscholastic Federation's paddling programs as well. But the neighbor island leagues had not made similar strides toward official sanctioning, preferring to wait for the OIA to move first.
"Now, we plan to (move towards official sanctioning) as well for the upcoming school year," said Steve Kim, MIL executive secretary. "We've talked about it in our league and we already have an A.D. assigned for it."
The OIA and the neighbor island leagues race in the sprint format, while the ILH does distance competition only. For a state championship to become a reality, three out of the five leagues must first officially sanction the sport in the same format. Once that is done, athletic directors can vote on making a state championship at their annual meeting in June.
"That's up to the five leagues," said Keith Amemiya, Hawaii High School Athletic Association director.
"Three of the five is a prerequisite in any sport."
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