Campbell loses at least half of its home-field advantage
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
Campbell High's varsity football team will play at least half of its scheduled home games at opponents' fields because its own stadium cannot be used.
Why the Sabers cannot use its field cannot be determined. Athletic director Duane Izumi deferred comment to principal Gail Awakuni, who has not responded to messages left by The Advertiser. Football coach Tumoana Kenessey said, "I'm not at liberty to say" why his team can't use the field.
The varsity and junior varsity football teams have been practicing on the campus baseball/softball field, Kenessey said.
"I told (the players) they have to be ready to play where ever they play," Kenessey said. "We still have to be prepared. That's the bottom line."
The Sabers already lost a non-league home game last weekend when it played Kalaheo at Mililani High.
Campbell was supposed to play at home tonight against Kailua and Sept. 7 against Waipahu. But the league has scheduled both games to be played at Kailua and Waipahu, respectively. O'ahu Interscholastic Association regular season games are played at the visiting team's home sites when the home team's field cannot be used, league officials said.
The Sabers are scheduled to have homecoming Sept. 20 against Mililani. The league schedule has that game earmarked at Campbell.
The away games are costly to the school's athletic department because of lost revenue from concession sales.
It is the second consecutive season the Sabers have lost home games. Last year, the Sabers missed several home games because of the installation of a sprinkler system.
In another site change, Kapolei will visit Nanakuli in a Sept. 7 game. The game was originally to be held at Pearl City, which is Kapolei's designated home site because it does not have a campus stadium. Kapolei athletic director Elden Esmeralda said it seemed more logical to bus the Hurricanes around Kahe point than to have both teams travel to Pearl City.
Also, Kaiser will visit Nanakuli tonight. The game was originally scheduled for tomorrow. The junior varsity game starts at 5 p.m. with the varsity to follow 25 minutes after the JV game.
ILH
• No TV: A proposal to televise Interscholastic League of Honolulu football games was voted down by the league's principals yesterday, ILH president Anthony Ramos said. The decision was based on the league's long-time standing of not over-emphasizing athletics.
The proposal was made by MCS/VideoWorks, which has done Hawai'i Pacific University athletic events. The company declined comment on the decision.
