Wednesday, April 18, 2001
As the Hawaii State Teachers' Association strike approaches its third week, the chances of completing the spring sports season for four of the state's five high school sports leagues become dimmer by the day. Strike threatens
By Jason Kaneshiro
prep sports seasons
Star-BulletinThe Maui Interscholastic League has already canceled the rest of its regular season, opting for tournaments to determine its league champions. And the other leagues may not be far behind.
"If we can't play this week, it looks like finishing the season will be too difficult," said Mel Imai, Kailua athletic director and Oahu Interscholastic Association girls' basketball coordinator.
The executive secretaries of the five leagues are meeting this morning to assess each league's situation and discuss options regarding state tournaments. Keith Amemiya, executive director of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, said today's agenda does not include plans to postpone or cancel the upcoming state tournaments. However, should the strike extend another week, those options would be addressed.
Roy Fujimoto, executive secretary of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, said his league may also institute single- or double-elimination tournaments should the strike wipe out this week's games. But every day that passes without a resolution brings the possibility of canceling entire seasons closer to reality.
"I'm sure there's a lot of discouraged athletes out there," Fujimoto said. "It's really sad."
Even if the strike should end in time for the seasons to be salvaged, the aftermath would be fraught with logistical concerns for administrators. One such concern is limiting missed class time for students who have been out of school for at least two weeks while cramming games in the shrinking window of dates before the state tournaments.
Fujimoto pointed out that the distances between schools on the Big Island make weeknight games an unattractive option.
OIA baseball coordinator Keith Morioka said the league can complete the season by playing three games per week if the strike ends by this weekend, and didn't rule out teams playing five days in a row.
He is also mulling possible tournament formats, but said a double-elimination tournament would be too unwieldy for a 21-team league.
The Interscholastic League of Honolulu is the only league not affected by the strike and will complete its seasons as scheduled.
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