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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 11:08 a.m., Thursday, January 30, 2003

UH football practice won't end in 'Challenge' fest

Advertiser Staff

The University of Hawai'i football team's spring practice will not conclude with the "Spring Challenge" festivities of recent years, UH coach June Jones said today.

The Spring Challenge, which included activity booths and games for fans, featured a controlled intrasquad scrimmage at UH's Cooke Field.

"I don't want to be on that AstroTurf," Jones said of Cooke's artificial surface.

UH players suffered several injuries and cuts that led to bacterial infections from playing on a similar surface at Aloha Stadium. Aloha Stadium's AstroTurf is scheduled to be replaced with FieldTurf, a playing surface in which blade-like material is placed over a sand-and-rubber base.

There were reports that starting quarterback Tim Chang, who suffered a sprained thumb in the ConAgra Foods Hawai'i Bowl on Christmas Day would not participate in passing drills during spring practice, which begins March 31.

But Jones said, "He's going to play. He's going to be doing all of the drills. He's practicing."

Jones said Chang will not compete in seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 workouts to give more repetitions to the other quarterbacks on the roster.