High schools
Aloha Stadium will implement bag searches
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By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
High school football fans entering Aloha Stadium the rest of the season will have their bags checked for security reasons, a stadium official announced yesterday.
The first event affected will be Friday's O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red Conference game between top-ranked Kahuku and No. 5 Castle. Both are 3-0 in conference play.
The bag search also will be in effect for Saturday's Interscholastic League of Honolulu doubleheader.
"The tightening of security is a result of what's going on," stadium spokesman Les Keiter said. "The key is the safety of our fans."
Since last Tuesday's terrorist attacks on the East Coast, stadiums around the country have stepped up security.
Previously, Aloha Stadium conducted voluntary bag checks for the Pro Bowl and University of Hawai'i football games. Under that system, Keiter said if fans declined to have their bags checked, they were still allowed to enter the stadium.
"That will no longer be the case," Keiter said.
Items that could be confiscated are bottles or any object that might be considered a projectile, he said.
Schedule updates: The Kaua'i Interscholastic Federation bumped its football schedule back a week to make up for last week's postponed game between Kapa'a and Kaua'i at Vidinha Stadium. The game will now be played Friday and the schedule for subsequent weeks will be pushed back.
The league will use Nov. 9, originally a playoff-if-necessary date, to absorb the adjusted schedule. If there is a tie at the end of the season, the teams will compare head-to-head records, KIF executive secretary Brent Mizutani said. Teams play one another three times in the three-team league.
Meanwhile, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation moved last weekend's postponed games to the weekend of Nov. 9, originally scheduled as a playoff date. If there is a tie, the teams will share the league title although tie-breakers will determine which team qualifies for the state tournament.
