CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
State workers moved lockers donated by the Waialae Country Club. The club donated 600 lockers to the OIA.
Club donates girls
lockers to OIA
Hawaii's female high school athletes are benefiting from the generosity of Waialae Country Club this week.
The club is donating 600 metal lockers to the Oahu Interscholastic Association.
The lockers are 6 feet tall, 18 inches wide and 24 inches deep and will be installed at 12 OIA schools for girls sports teams.
"This will help to create gender equity," Kalani High School athletic director Gordon Miyashiro said. "Facilities are the only area where it's not equal (between boys and girls sports) yet. We have equity in all other aspects -- they play the same number of games, have the same number of teams, the same amount of coaches and the same money is given per team and per school."
Girls teams at most of the OIA schools share locker rooms with physical education classes and have small cubby-style lockers that are too small to serve the purpose of effectively and safely storing clothing and other belongings during practices and games.
Miyashiro said only Castle, Kapolei and Kalaheo have girls sports locker rooms that are separate from physical education classes. He said all OIA schools have the needed boys locker room facilities and that some schools alternate the locker rooms so that boys teams use it for one year and girls teams use it the next.
All schools, Miyashiro said, are trying to come up with ways of creating separate facilities for girls. He said that installing the 600 full-size lockers to replace the cubby-style lockers is a step in the right direction.
Waialae Country Club's donation will benefit Kaimuki, McKinley, Roosevelt, Farrington, Kalani, Kailua, Pearl City, Radford, Kaiser, Kahuku, Leilehua and Kapolei.
The club is upgrading to wooden lockers for its members. The old lockers were installed in 1972, but are still in good shape, according to general manager Allan Lum.
"It facilitates getting the lockers off the property and it allows the Department of Education to have them for free," Lum said. "And it helps with gender equity, so we're happy to help."
The lockers were moved to Kalani over the last three days and will eventually be picked up by the other schools' athletic departments.
Miyashiro said OIA schools are continuing to work on bringing other types of girls facilities up to par with the boys. Better softball facilities is another area of concern.
Oahu Interscholastic Association
