[ HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL ]
Shot clock eyed
for girls hoopsA 45-second clock is proposed
by state's high school ADs
KAANAPALI, Maui >> High school girls basketball may undergo a drastic change as soon as next year.
A plan to add a 45-second shot clock received a slim margin of committee approval yesterday, the second day of the three-day 43rd annual Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association conference at the Sheraton Maui Resort.
With a 15-14 affirmative vote, the measure now moves on to the HIADA general assembly for further discussion and another vote today.
If a shot clock is added, teams with a lead would no longer be able to stall.
"I don't know if it's in the best interest of the kids," Iolani athletic director Carl Schroers said. "By putting in a shot clock, we would be giving an advantage to schools with the best athletes, not necessarily athletes who have been trained well. Clearly, smaller, shorter and slower teams couldn't keep pace if they can't take their time keeping the ball away from other teams.
"Time and time again, I've seen teams that have less talent compete with teams that are a lot more skilled by handling the ball and keeping it away from their opponents."
Farrington girls basketball coach Jenic Tumaneng is in favor of the shot clock.
"It would add more excitement to the game," he said. "Teams would still be able to stall by working to take as much of those 45 seconds off the clock instead of a bigger chunk of a few minutes or more."
Tumaneng also said a shot clock gives a team that is behind a better chance to get back in the game.
HIADA members voiced several other shot-clock concerns, including cost (around $1,500 per gym) and the feasibility of installing the clocks before the start of the season next spring.
It's also possible that the measure could be amended to include boys basketball.
If passed by HIADA, the proposal would await final approval by the Hawaii High School Athletic Association executive board later this month.
In other HIADA news, the same committee voted 21-9 against allowing teams made up of athletes from more than one school to participate in state tournaments. The proposal still has some life, however. Pac-Five athletic director John Hom called for a minority concern, a procedural move that allows defeated measures to remain on the agenda for further discussion by the general assembly.
Pac-Five, the largest program with athletes from multiple schools, would gain if the proposal eventually succeeds. The Wolfpack boys soccer team placed second in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu last season, but third-place Kamehameha got the league's second state berth.
One measure receiving unanimous committee approval would allow athletes from small charter schools without athletic teams to join the public school team in which the charter school is located.
Classification vote today: All proposals passed by committees Wednesday and yesterday get a final vote today, including the measure to change the state football tournament from one division to two.
Oahu Interscholastic Association executive secretary Dwight Toyama said he thinks his league's ADs are leaning against football classification because the proposal isn't structured enough. But Toyama thinks it will receive enough support from the state's other four leagues to pass.
In the last few years, similar football proposals didn't get committee approval, mainly because of OIA opposition.
The ADs are also voting today on a proposal to change one or two girls sports state tournaments to two divisions instead of one. The specific sports were not named in committee, but several possibilities were mentioned, including volleyball, basketball and softball.