Amemiya gets wish:
2 classesAthletic directors vote to approve a two-tier prep football state
championship format
KAANAPALI, Maui >> Hawaii will have two state football champions this fall for the first time, and Keith Amemiya is breathing a sigh of relief.
The Hawaii High School Athletic Association executive director, who was instrumental in creating a state football tournament in 1999, worked for several years trying to garner support for a two-tiered event, and he finally succeeded.
He was fighting --using his intellect, charisma and a financial guarantee from his own wallet -- right up to the last minute before yesterday's vote at the 43rd annual Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association (HIADA) meeting at the Sheraton Maui Resort.
"Let's just try it for one year," was Amemiya's rallying cry for the past few months, and he said it more than once before the HIADA general assembly voted 41-24 to create the new Division II tournament. The move is expected to pass its final test -- a vote of the HHSAA executive board later this month.
Amemiya wasn't completely surprised by the vote of affirmation for the proposal.
"I knew it wasn't a certainty," he said. "But I did have a feeling that the outcome would be in favor based on informal discussions with representatives of the leagues and schools.
"This is a big breakthrough for our smaller football schools throughout the state. They now have a realistic opportunity to compete for a state championship."
Many athletic administrators said one of the main reasons the measure passed was a shift in support from the neighbor island ADs, who tended to oppose state football classification in the past. This year, more neighbor island ADs voted in favor of it.
Classification
Details of the measure passed at the HIADA meeting yesterday>> Once approved by the HHSAA executive board, it creates a Division II title for this year's state football tournament.
>> Format for Division I will remain the same, unless the KIF opts for its representative to compete in Division II. That would open an at-large berth in Division I.
>> Division II would have one representative from each league, except possibly the KIF.
>> The format will be reviewed after the season.
Kapaa athletic director Dwight Fujii is one who changed his mind.
"As long as there is an option of where (Kauai Interscholastic Federation) teams can play -- Division I or Division II --I'm for it," Fujii said.
That type of option is something opponents of the proposal don't like.
"There shouldn't be an option because there's going to be a lot of fighting about which teams are going to get into the tournament," Aiea AD Roy Miyoga said prior to the vote. "I believe every league should be represented in each tier."
But Amemiya and others are confident that the formula for determining tournament participants can be ironed out.
"I have faith in the HHSAA committee that they'll take care of all the leagues' needs," University High School AD Jim Bukes said. "There's an argument out there that the proposal isn't specific enough. But we've done this in the past -- when we created air riflery and paddling tournaments -- without all the nuts and bolts in place."
The new state football format (which could be amended) calls for the eight-team Division I tournament to remain intact with four teams from the Oahu Interscholastic Association and one each from the other four leagues -- the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, the Maui Interscholastic League, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation and the KIF.
The Division II tournament would have one representative of each league except the KIF unless the KIF opts for its representative to compete in Division II. If that happened, it would open an at-large berth in Division I.
Amemiya's guarantee to cover any financial losses a Division II tournament incurs helped the measure pass. He and his wife Bonny, to ensure gender equity, also are giving $20,000 of their own money as part of an overall $40,000 donation by the HHSAA to help cover travel costs for softball and girls basketball tournaments.
Amemiya's financial offer, as well as the football classification plan, is for one year only to be reviewed after the football season.
"Financially, we come out ahead because Keith is paying for the travel for the two girls sports and that's a big plus for us," MIL executive secretary Stephen Kim said. "We have nothing to lose. If it (classification) falls apart, then we get rid of it next year."
Kim said most of the MIL ADs supported the proposal.
Amemiya said he appreciated the support from the neighbor islands.
"They faced tremendous political pressure to oppose it and maintain the status quo," he said.
OIA executive secretary Dwight Toyama and Leilehua athletic director Richard Townsend, who aren't completely opposed to football classification but had some reservations about the specific content of the proposal, did not want to comment yesterday.
Similar football classification proposals in the last few years were voted down by HIADA, mainly because of opposition by the OIA with enough support from neighbor island schools. ILH schools are generally in favor of football classification.
Amemiya is taking nothing for granted about the upcoming HHSAA executive board vote.
"I'll believe it (final approval) when I see it," he said.
HIADA also approved the following proposals:
>> To classify a state girls tournament in a sport to be determined later. Basketball, volleyball and softball are the strongest possibilities.
>> To create a state girls water polo tournament.
>> To place all high school football officials under one umbrella to fall under the jurisdiction of the HHSAA.
>> To hold all future judo state tournaments on Oahu.
>> To hold the state cheerleading championship in one division only.
>> To change state volleyball tournaments to rally scoring and to allow the let serve.
>> To allow athletes of small charter schools to participate with the public school team in the district in which the charter school is located.
HIADA defeated the following proposals:
>> To create two-tiered state tournaments for boys and girls basketball and volleyball.
>> To hold all future air riflery state tournaments on Oahu.
>> To allow combination teams (such as Pac-Five) to participate in state tournaments.
Shot clock proposal taken off HIADA ballot
KAANAPALI, Maui >> The Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association did not vote yesterday on a proposal to add a 45-second shot clock for high school girls basketball games as expected.The proposal received committee approval Wednesday, but was taken off the floor before yesterday's planned vote.
The Oahu Interscholastic Association, which originally submitted the measure, cited conflicts with the National Federation of State High School Athletic Associations for removing the item from the agenda.
"The national federation has not approved a shot clock and if we use one, we could face a sanction," Nanakuli athletic director Hugh Taufaasau said.
OIA executive secretary Dwight Toyama said that by going against the standards, Hawaii's input to the national federation for rules changes would be disregarded.
"We want to remain in good standing with the national federation," he said.
Proponents are trying to eliminate the strategy of taking minutes off the clock by excessive dribbling and passing instead of shooting or driving to the basket.
Opponents want teams to continue to have the stalling tactic as an option.
Nick Abramo, Star-Bulletin
