Posted on: Friday, January 30, 2004

FOOTBALL
DII state football to play on

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

It looks as if Hawai'i's Division II state high school football tournament is here to stay.

After a rousing debut last fall, the "one-year experiment" was unanimously approved to be continued into the foreseeable future yesterday by the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association's executive board. The board, made up of principals representing each of the state's five leagues, presented no opposition or discussion regarding the tournament during the 10-minute open-door segment of their meeting at the Kamehameha Schools.

The board and other officials, however, discussed aspects of the tournament and other issues for four hours behind closed doors prior to that.

"I try not to take anything for granted," said HHSAA executive director Keith Amemiya, who submitted the proposal for the tournament last spring. "But I was fairly confident (it would pass), because all of the leagues at least supported the concept."

The O'ahu Interscholastic Association was the only league to vote against the tournament proposal at last summer's athletic directors conference, but OIA executive secretary Dwight Toyama acknowledged yesterday that the tournament was a success.

"As I've said many times in the past, we were never opposed to classification (as a concept), because we've classified our own league since 1992," Toyama said. "We were just concerned about it being economically feasible."

That concern became moot yesterday, as Amemiya said the tournament earned a $40,000 profit. The board yesterday approved a proposal to use that money toward the upcoming Division II softball and girls basketball tournaments, also in their first year.

Aside from the financial aspect, the tournament was deemed a success by most players, coaches and fans. All five games were decided by 10 points or less, and the advancement of Damien and 'Aiea to the title game energized their respective programs and student bodies.

"It's a great opportunity for everyone," said 'Aiea All-State kicker Brandon Puckett. "You saw with Damien and us, if we were in Division I, there would have been no chance for us. It gives the underdog a chance to win and that's good."

Interscholastic League of Honolulu executive director Don Botelho, who drew up the blueprint for the tournament, said: "Things couldn't have fallen any better than it did. Every game was competitive, and that was great. And it did have an effect on the smaller programs, because teams in our league like Pac-Five, Damien and Iolani were all excited before the season even kicked off about having this opportunity. It was as successful as it could be, so to me it was a no-brainer (to continue it)."

Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, Kapolei's All-State all-purpose player, had a dissenting view.

"I didn't like it," he said. "You don't get a chance to play the top dogs in the league. You don't get to play the Kahukus or Saint Louises. Everybody wants to play those guys."

Ironically, the HHSAA board yesterday also approved a motion to shrink the Division I football tournament from eight teams to six. League representatives were asked to take the proposal back to their members for feedback, and the HHSAA's football committee will meet in March to work out details. The HHSAA executive board will then vote on the committee's recommendation in April.

The OIA is expected to lose one berth, from four to three.

"One of the concerns was that a vast majority of the Division I quarterfinal games have been one-sided," Amemiya said.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456.