[ HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS ] HIADA tables LIHUE >> A proposal to establish classified state high school football tournaments this fall took its lumps yesterday, but is still on its feet.
football by classes
The proposal for a second state
football tournament is still alive,
but it faces numerous questionsBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comThe measure was tabled after lengthy discussion on the opening day of the Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association's conference at the Kauai Marriott.
"It's still alive, but there are still some questions that need to be answered," said Mid-Pacific athletic director Don Botelho, who submitted the measure. "We have to wait and see, but obviously there's some opposition to it."
The committee charged with dealing with the issue will pick up the discussion when it reconvenes this morning.
Questions concerning the method of classifying schools and state tournament revenues were brought up in yesterday's discussion.
The original proposal called for an eight-team Division II tournament to accompany the current state football tournament for the upcoming season only.
Another version calling for a four or five-team tournament was also put before the committee to address gender-equity concerns. A second eight-team event could require establishment of a similarly tiered tournament in a girls sport to stay within the requirements of Title IX.
Under the proposal, each league would declare which schools would fall under the Division I and Division II designations prior to the season.
The Kauai Interscholastic Federation would also declare whether its champion will compete in Division I or II. If the KIF decided to go to Division I, the Division II tournament would be a four-team affair including squads from the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, Interscholastic League of Honolulu, Oahu Interscholastic Association and Maui Interscholastic League.
If the KIF champion went to Division II, it would be a five-team event with the lowest two seeds meeting in a play-in game. The HHSAA football committee would then select an at-large team to fill out the Division I field.
A proposal for an eight-team second-tier tournament was rejected at last year's conference.
While the football measure met resistance, a proposal to create a committee to explore the issue of Division II state tournaments in other sports breezed through the same committee.
The committee would include an athletics director from each of the state's five leagues and would be run by the Hawaii High School Athletic Association.
"With something like this, you have to start it slow and build it up and make sure you get everybody's input," said Seabury Hall athletics director Steve Colflesh.
Other measures approved by their committees yesterday included a proposal to establish a state judo tournament during the spring sports season. The OIA, ILH and BIIF sponsor judo programs, giving the HHSAA the required number of leagues to hold a state tournament.
A proposal that would alter the format of the boys and girls state volleyball tournaments also passed, as did changes to the scoring system.
If the proposal is approved, the state volleyball tournaments will fall in line with the other 12-team tournaments run by the HHSAA and pool play will be eliminated. A measure to implement rally scoring and use of the libero also passed.
HIADA's 42nd annual conference closes tomorrow morning with the final reading and voting on measures that make it out of their committees. Any measures passed by HIADA are subject to final approval by the HHSAA's executive board, which meets later this summer.
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