Most OIA schools to offer girls water polo

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

Most of O'ahu's public high schools will offer girls water polo as a varsity sport for the first time next spring — even though only four of them have pools.

"There are a lot of things to work out," O'ahu Interscholastic Association executive secretary Dwight Toyama said yesterday, "but we're going to do it."

Toyama said 14 schools say they are interested in having girls teams. "The kids say they want to come out, but we won't know for sure until they have tryouts," he said. "We hope we can get at least 10 teams."

O'ahu's private-school league, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, has sponsored girls water polo for six years, with four teams participating in the top varsity division. The Big Island Interscholastic Federation sanctioned the sport for the first time this spring, also with four teams.

Toyama said that Castle High athletic director Richard Haru was appointed adviser for the sport. "He's got a lot of work to do — an enormous job," Toyama said, starting with finding out what pools are available.

Though most OIA schools have swimming teams, only four schools — Kalani, Kaimuki, Kaiser and Roosevelt have functioning on-campus pools.

The others are "all at the mercy of UH, county or military pools," Toyama said.

Previously, some OIA schools had girls club teams, and some had co-ed club teams. Boys water polo is not on the drawing board for the league, however.

Girls water polo was approved at a meeting of the league's principals on June 14. Athletic directors "committed to try it" the day before, Toyama said.

On a different topic, Toyama explained that the league's opposition to a small-schools state football tournament at the Hawai'i Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association annual meeting June 9-11 was based mainly on gender equity concerns.

There are people watching very closely to make certain boys do not get anything that girls don't have, he said. Costs of the state football tournament are paid from gate receipts and sponsorships, but schools in other sports have to raise funds to pay for travel. "Football is the only sport with revenue sharing," he said.

The state boys' small-school basketball tournament was discontinued in 1983 after 15 years because it couldn't pay for itself, Toyama said.

The OIA also will add an official junior varsity girls' wrestling championship tournament next winter, he said.