Posted on: Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Fields altered for state tournaments
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i's high school softball and girls basketball state tournaments turned into a numbers game yesterday, and only time will tell if they add up to equal the sum of their parts.
Each tourney's Division I field was reduced from 12 teams to eight, while the DII fields each increased from four to eight. The changes were approved by the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association's executive board, which includes one voting member from each of the state's five leagues.
The biggest impact likely will be on the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, which has dominated the 29-year history of the Division I girls basketball tournament. ILH teams have won 24 state championships, including 17 of the past 19.
Seventeen state title games have featured two ILH teams, but that probably will not happen next year since the league likely will receive only one berth.
"I think it's a nice idea to provide more opportunity for the Division II schools, but it's unfortunate that (DI schools) have to take a hit," said Punahou girls basketball coach Mike Taylor, whose team has won two of the past three Division I state titles. "You would hope that the state tournament will have a good, wide spectrum of teams from all over Hawai'i playing at the highest level. But when it dwindles down to eight teams, I think somebody deserving will be left out."
With the exception of the teachers strike year of 2001, the Division I girls basketball state tournament has had a 12-team field annually since 1984.
A four-team Division II tournament was added in 2004.
That summer, the O'ahu Interscholastic Association drafted a proposal to tie the softball and girls basketball state tournament sizes to the proportion of teams playing in each division statewide.
It reasoned that Division I tournaments for those sports had 12 teams each and the Division II tournaments four each, even though the ratio of DI teams to DII was not 3 to 1 in either sport.
The measure also made it smoothly out of last Friday's HIADA conference committee and won by a 60-22 vote at Saturday's general assembly, which included 82 of the 89 HHSAA member schools.
Its final hurdle was cleared during yesterday's HHSAA executive board meeting at the OIA office at Radford High School, but not without opposition.
HHSAA executive director Keith Amemiya issued a two-page list of concerns regarding the measure, stating it would "severely undermine the quality, public interest and financial viability of the Division I state tournaments."
During the meeting, Amemiya repeatedly said "nobody is asking for DI (fields) to be reduced" and he questioned why a change was necessary after more than 20 years of success with 12-team fields.
But Toyama and OIA president Pat Pedersen, Waipahu High School's principal, emphasized the need for equality between Division I and Division II teams when it came to state tournament opportunities.
"Why would we use a formula for one group and not use it for the other?" Toyama asked.
In an attempt to compromise, Amemiya suggested an amendment that would keep the Division I fields at 12 teams each and apply a formula that would increase the DII berths from four to six.
But only the Big Island Interscholastic Federation and Maui Interscholastic League voted in favor of the amendment, and when the original proposal came up for vote, it passed 4-1.
"It's a concern for our league because there's a good possibility we would lose a Division I berth," said BIIF executive secretary Keith Morioka. "If we did (lose a berth) this year, Honoka'a wouldn't have been in the tournament."
BIIF runner-up Honoka'a took third place in the girls basketball state tournament last month, impressing many O'ahu fans and showcasing All-State sophomore point guard Keisha Kanekoa.
The beneficiaries of the new format, of course, are the state's Division II teams, which now may have additional berths to aim for. The actual distribution of berths will not be known until each league declares its Division I and DII teams later this summer.
"We'll probably have 14 teams in ILH Division II next year, so it would be nice to have two representatives at states," said St. Andrew's basketball coach Ross Kinsler, whose team took second in the 2004 DII state tournament. "For us, playing in the state tournament was a positive for the morale of the school, and it carried over into this year. I'm glad the small schools will be represented."
Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456.
The OIA's proposal was tabled at the 2004 Hawai'i Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association conference and an ad hoc committee made up of one principal and one athletic director from each of the five leagues was formed to research the issue during the 2005 sports season. OIA executive secretary Dwight Toyama said the committee's recommendation was 10-0 in favor of restructuring the tournaments.
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| HHSAA changes for 2005-2006
SOFTBALL: Division I tournament field shrinks from 12 teams to eight; DII tourney field increases from four to eight GIRLS BASKETBALL: Division I tournament field shrinks from 12 teams to eight; DII tourney field increases from four to eight BOYS/GIRLS VOLLEYBALL: Libero position will be incorporated; both tournaments will be held during same week (Nov. 9 to 12, 2005) TRACK AND FIELD: Meet will be held on a Friday and Saturday instead of Thursday and Saturday |
