Parents' displeasure doesn't budge O'Donnell
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By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
Nobody budged at an emotional, hour-long meeting of Damien High football players and their parents with school president Brother Greg O'Donnell yesterday in the Damien library.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
"The chances of changing this decision are slim to none," O'Donnell said afterward. "I've heard nothing that would change my mind."
Damien parent Kalei Meheula said it is her two sons' dream to play football against St. Louis and "I won't let him (president Brother Greg O'Donnell) strip that away."
Damien's decision to forfeit its two games with powerhouse St. Louis next season was revealed on Sunday and ignited outrage among players, parents and alumni.
Yesterday, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu revised its schedule so that Damien would play St. Louis only once, but that didn't sway O'Donnell.
"When Damien plays St. Louis, the level of ferocity is very high," O'Donnell said. "Maybe it's because they are both Catholic schools. Ferocity in football is great, but when there is a physical mismatch, it's too risky."
St. Louis has outscored Damien 415-7 in their past six meetings, including 84-0 last year.
O'Donnell noted that with the ILH schedule change, it will be only one forfeited game and stressed the decision is only for this year. "We have only five seniors. Our intermediate team will play theirs, and we will look at this again for the following year."
Players at the meeting, which was closed to everyone but current players and their parents, said they had been ordered not to talk to the media gathered outside. But parents were clearly unhappy.
"I will fight this to the very end," said "team mom" Lua Tuiasosopo.
Kalei Meheula, president of a football parents club newly named Ka Lokahi O Ka Puni A Kula (unity of purple and gold), said parents were to meet later last night to decide on their next move.
"It is my sons' (she has two on the team) dream to play (against St. Louis), and I won't let him (O'Donnell) strip that away," Meheula said. "If my sons were not so in love with Damien I would have pulled them out tonight. It is such a shame."
Several parents complained that O'Donnell didn't answer their questions directly, then cut the meeting off after an hour for another appointment.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
"I'm sorry to hear that," O'Donnell said later. "I tried very hard to answer their questions, but I didn't tell them what they wanted to hear."
Brandon Wilson, who will a senior football player at Damien, and dad Myron wait in the courtyard for school president Brother Greg O'Donnell to emerge from a meeting.
O'Donnell praised the parents' zeal. "The intensity and love for their children was overwhelming," he said.
Despite the parents' and players' reactions, O'Donnell said communications to his office have been about 2-to-1 in favor of the decision.
He defended the decision to forfeit the games without consulting parents or players first. "You can't run an athletic program on that basis," he said. "The administration has to be responsible for decisions."
O'Donnell said school principal Michael Weaver and athletic director Herb Lloyd participated in the decision and would be involved in any change. "It never was a one-person decision, and it won't be," he said. "There is always an opportunity to revisit it."
Tuiasosopo said that remark "gives us hope. Believe it or not, he left the door open."
Though they could not attend the meeting, a number of alumni, some of whom played football for Damien as long as a quarter-century ago, waited near the library to show their support for the players.
Chad Kurashige, an all-state linebacker in 1984-85 now living in California, telephoned to see what was happening.
Chad Yamashiro, who played football for the Monarchs in 1994 and '95 and was soccer coach there from 1998-2000, said: "The point of athletics is to compete. If you finish a game, you can hold your head high, win or lose.
"The only shame is if you quit. Forfeiting is like quitting."
