Vote on state-tournament
format caps HIADA’s
final day

The proposal, which will be voted
on today, has two possibilities
for tournament changes

LIHUE » Key votes await administrators today as the 44th annual Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association conference concludes at the Kauai Marriott Resort.

One proposal that made it out of committee would potentially alter the current format of state tournaments. The proposal has two possibilities. One would keep existing 12-team formats status quo, primarily to ensure maximum revenue.

The tournament has been a four-day event since the Hawaii High School Athletic Association expanded from eight to 12 entries in the early 1980s.

"I think it was right around 1980, because that's when we had our (HIADA) conference on Molokai in 1980," Interscholastic League of Honolulu executive director Don Botelho said yesterday.

Another possibility is to expand the D-II state tourney to six teams. Currently, the Division II girls basketball state championships is composed of four teams.

"Then the top two teams could get a bye based on seeding," Kamehameha-Hawaii athletic director Bob Wagner said, noting that nothing has been set in stone even if the proposal passes.

The notion of stretching the D-II state format to eight teams and keeping D-I at 12 was nipped in the bud. Twenty teams in one venue would wreak havoc with time constraints.

That Division II expansion at the state level is a hot topic is good news for smaller schools, even if there are no proposals on tap. For volleyball fans of smaller schools, the news could be even better.

Both Wagner and Laupahoehoe athletic director Hisao Sato confirmed that HHSAA executive director Keith Amemiya will discuss the possibility of a Division II state tournament for volleyball with the HHSAA executive board soon.

"I would assume that the next sport to go Division II would be volleyball since it's listed," Sato said. "It hasn't been amended, but Keith promised he'd bring it up to the executive committee."

The executive board receives all proposals from HIADA and decides whether to implement changes at the state-tournament level.

"So, there's a possibility, but the HIADA body has to pass it first," Sato said.

One of the four committees processed issues regarding Division I and II. Its chairman, Kaiser athletic director Ricky Shimokawa, would like to see more definition.

"We just have to set criteria about which teams go in which division. A team that plays a Division I (league) schedule shouldn't be in a Division II state tournament," he said. "The solution is to have fair representation in Division I and Division II. In softball, we had a 12-team Division I tournament that had 17 percent of the state's D-I teams. But the four-team Division II tourney had 40 percent of D-II teams."

That percentage will change in the Division II formula because the Kauai Interscholastic Federation will not enter any Division I state tournaments in the coming school year.

Still, using enrollment as a sole factor in separating teams simply isn't enough, he added.

"You have Saint Louis and other single-gender schools. Kahuku, by enrollment, should be a D-II school. There's so many factors. There's not just one," Shimokawa noted.

Whatever happens, administrators seem to have one goal in common: open doors for more student-athletes.

"That's what it's about, giving more opportunities to kids," Seabury Hall athletic director Steve Colflesh said. "That's why we're here."

Big Island bubble: The Big Island Interscholastic Federation's proposals to enter the hosting rotation for four sports will go to vote today. The league is hoping to host state tournaments for soccer, water polo, paddling and track and field.

The measure barely got out of committee Thursday. New facilities sparked the BIIF's proposals.

Track and field could be hosted at Kamehameha-Hawaii or Keaau, and water polo would be a natural for KS-Hawaii.

Saint Anthony loses Molin: Dan Molin, the Trojans' athletic director, will leave and become AD at The Harker School in San Jose, Calif. Molin was also the girls volleyball coach at Saint Anthony.

"It's closer to family and they have a lot of growth potential, athletically," said Molin, who is married and has two children.

He was at Saint Anthony for three years, and prior to that, he was an AD and teacher at Seabury Hall for seven years.

"I'll miss the great kids that we've had, my colleagues, great teachers. My children were born here, and they were getting attached to Saint Anthony, which is a great school," said Molin, 38.

Judo flips: Likely to pass today is a proposal to adjust weight divisions in state-tournament girls judo.

In the most-recent state tourney, no girls showed up to wrestle in the 81-pound class. The new divisions, if passed, would be: 98, 103, 109, 115, 122, 129, 139, 154, 172 and 220.

Pack check: Pac-Five won Prep Bowl championships in 1982 and '85. A previous story about new Kalaheo football coach Russ Ramos noted that the Wolfpack won just one Prep Bowl title.

Lady Raiders have a new coach: Anue Santiago, a three-year assistant, is the new softball head coach at Kahuku. Santiago replaced Bu Heffernan.

"She brings a lot of experience and support from the community," Kahuku athletic director Joe Whitford said.

Heffernan, last season's Oahu Interscholastic Association East Coach of the Year, was embroiled in controversy after being accused of providing liquor to players at an off-campus gathering. He denied the accusations, but lost his position as head coach. Heffernan will remain on staff as a volunteer coach.

Big Island Warriors cautious: The Kamehameha-Hawaii girls basketball team will host a preseason tournament next year, but there's a big 'if.'

Wagner said that the program will not have a tournament if its date coincides with any other Big Island tournament. Currently, there are tournaments at Honokaa, Waiakea and Hilo. Konawaena, which won the state crown in 2004 and placed second this season, plans to start a tourney.

"We want to be a good citizen," Wagner said, adding the factor of intra-league overkill. "If there are that many tournaments next year, it wouldn't make sense. We would see other (BIIF) teams too much in preseason, then during the season and in the playoffs."

If Kamehameha-Hawaii does host a tourney, it could become the first to use a shot clock.