Friday, June 29, 2001
Nohea Tano has spent the last three months of her life thinking about the meaning of the word "patience." Tano patient as
By Grace Wen
future is decided
gwen@starbulletin.comTano, mother of a 3-month-old boy, has been waiting for months for a response from the National Letter of Intent program concerning her status as a Division I volleyball player.
The former Kamehameha Schools all-state player would like to play for the University of Hawaii. But Tano signed a binding letter of intent in 2000 to play for Washington State and was used sparingly as a middle hitter as a freshman.
"The National Letter of Intent (program) has to decide on my status ... whether or not I can transfer or (must) lose a year," Tano said. "It's because I only went for half a semester up there. (You're) not supposed to leave after half a semester. I had to come back (home) since I was pregnant."
The NLI program rules state that:
>> If a player doesn't complete a year at the school, the player is ineligible to play for another school in the letter of intent program for two years.
>> The only exception to that penalty is if the original school releases the player from the commitment. This agreement is called a qualified release.
>> A qualified release reduces the penalty for violating the letter of intent to a loss of one year of eligibility. The player must appeal to the NLI steering committee to have all eligibility restored.
"We don't make any determination until we get all the documentation into our office," said Sandy Atkins, one of two administrators in the NLI office. "Then that goes to the steering committee via conference call and then they talk about the circumstances of the case and make a determination. We don't have any set criteria, as far as if a parent died (for example), because each case is different. But we just get the whole appeal in and make a decision on the facts of the case."
Tano's situation is complicated because she does not have any credits from Washington State, having withdrawn before the end of the semester. If the NLI program clears her to transfer, she would still need a release from WSU.
Tano would also need to earn enough credits to transfer to UH as a sophomore. She has been taking classes at Windward Community College.
And she would also need to get back into playing shape.
Two years ago, Tano was offered a scholarship by Hawaii but chose to attend Washington State. She said that the desire to get away from home and see immediate playing time was the main reason behind her decision.
Lima not returning
Veronica Lima, a three-year starting middle hitter, will not be back for a fourth season with the Wahine. Lima, from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, chose to stay home and explore her options professionally."She's not coming back," UH head coach Dave Shoji said. "She decided she wanted to turn professional at this point in her career."
The all-WAC player averaged 2.28 kills, 2.28 digs and 1.17 blocks per game last season. Lima also notched 31 aces, the second straight year she led the team in that category.
University of Hawaii