Posted on: Saturday, January 19, 2002
Four UH-Hilo coaches will get pay raises
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
The four full-time coaches at the University of Hawai'i-Hilo will see an increase in their pay checks in coming weeks.
The UH Board of Regents yesterday approved increases in the salary range for head coaches in baseball, men's basketball, women's volleyball and women's softball. The board met at Kapi'olani Community College.
"I'm very excited about it," UHH athletic director Kathleen McNally said. "It hasn't been an easy task, but we got it approved. It's not over yet. We're still looking at what we have here. We're a little different than Manoa. Right now, we have to get ourselves visible.
Salary increases at UHH haven't been addressed in about 14 years, McNally said.
"Somehow, it just slipped through the cracks," she said.
Baseball coach Joey Estrella and basketball coach Jeff Law will see their salary range between $40,836-$57,840. The baseball coach's previous range was between $30,000-$45,000. The basketball coach's previous range was $36,000-$51,000.
Volleyball coach Sharon Peterson will see her salary range increase from $30,000-$45,000 to $34,032-$51,036.
Softball coach Callen Perreira's previous salary range was between $28,000-$39,000; it has been increased to $31,752-$44,232.
"The University of Hawai'i coaches, in my mind, were not being paid at the mid-level of coaches on the Mainland in Division II and in baseball, Division I level," UH president Evan Dobelle said. "What we're trying to do at the University — with the dean of medical school, with (football coach) June Jones, with myself, ultimately with faculty — is to pay people at the mid-level. But the reality is a lot of our employees are being paid at the 20th or 30th percentile of what others are being paid on the Mainland and we've living in one of the most expensive states in the union."
Baseball is the only sport UH-Hilo plays at the Division I level. The Vulcans have struggled on the field, coming off nine consecutive losing seasons. But McNally and Dobelle each said that baseball should remain Division I, each citing economic reasons.
"It makes sense as an investment," McNally said. "It doesn't make sense without the automatic qualifier (tournament berth). We're at the right place now. We just have to do better (on the field). We're working on that."
McNally added as a conference member in Division II, travel expenses would be higher because the team would have to make more than one trip to the Mainland. The Vulcans currently play the bulk of their games on the Big Island.
Dobelle sees the Vulcans' Division I status as a way to help scheduling for both UH programs, since they could share common opponents. For example, nationally ranked Florida State will play both UH teams during their trip here next weekend.
"From when I speak to the Manoa coaches, they feel they could get a lot of different teams to come over here more often if (visiting teams) could play more games," Dobelle said. "It's hard to fly 3,000 miles just to play a game or two with UH-Manoa, so Hilo would be important to us."
