Hawai'i's high school girls basketball, softball and boys volleyball seasons will be moved to align with college schedules beginning in the 2008-09 school year, after a Hawai'i High School Athletic Association executive board approved the changes in its quarterly meeting yesterday.

Girls basketball will move from the spring to winter, softball will be moved from winter to spring and boys volleyball will move from fall to spring.

The decision comes just 24 days after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a lower court decision that ruled the Michigan High School Athletic Association's scheduling of girls basketball in the fall months discriminated against girls. It forced Michigan to move the girls season to winter, same as in 48 other states.

HHSAA executive director Keith Amemiya said that court decision basically sealed Hawai'i's fate.

"The MHSAA had many of the same arguments (Hawai'i) has had (to keep the status quo), but all of the lower courts rejected those arguments, and the Supreme Court denied the appeal," said Amemiya, who was a practicing attorney in his previous job. "(The HHSAA) decision was based on the Supreme Court ruling."

Amemiya attended a National Federation of High Schools meeting in Indianapolis last week and was advised to urge Hawai'i to conform to the schedules used by the other states.

"I consulted with Michigan and other states, and also Title IX experts on the Mainland," Amemiya said. "They all agreed that we should change, or we will be at risk of getting sued and losing in court. They said it wouldn't be wise to be stuck in litigation and subject ourselves to an inordinate amount of legal fees. (The MHSAA's) case went on for nine years and they spent over $1 million."

University of Hawai'i civil rights specialist Jill Nunokawa, an attorney who has been a leading advocate for moving the girls basketball season here from spring to winter since 1993, said the change is welcome but still won't come soon enough.

"We need to make this happen next (school) year," said Nunokawa, who played at Kaiser and UH. "Hawai'i has been on notice for 12 years, and that's more than enough time to comply. I had no doubt they would vote to change (yesterday), because they don't have a choice. That's not a surprise, but (the change) should happen now, not (in 2008). Justice delayed is justice denied, that's been a mantra for many movements in our country."

Amemiya said the leagues indicated they need a year to work out all the logistical challenges that will come with the changes.

Gym space already is at a premium with the boys season in the winter, so with the girls moving to the same months the demand would double in many cases.

Also, many of the softball fields in Hawai'i are located on the outfields of the baseball fields, which means both cannot be used at the same time.

The changes also will affect athletes who play sports in the different seasons. For example, many girls play soccer in the winter and basketball in the spring, but in 2008-09 those athletes will be forced to choose one over the other.

But moving boys volleyball to the spring could add athletes to the sport, since the current system makes it very difficult for someone to play football and volleyball.

Recently retired Punahou boys volleyball coach Peter Balding has been an advocate of moving boys volleyball to the spring, in order to have greater access to football players.

But for Nunokawa, the main issue is providing equal opportunity for both genders.

She has maintained that playing girls basketball out of season has limited scholarship opportunities for Hawai'i girls, as well as restricting them from participating in prestigious national preseason tournaments featuring some of the nation's elite teams.

"I think (moving to the winter) will give our girls a chance to play all around the country," Nunokawa said. "We could have something here even better than the 'Iolani Classic (nationally renown boys tournament)."

In 2000, a survey of girls and coaches participating in the state tournament found over 84 percent favored playing in the spring.

But Nunokawa has said, "I don't believe they were educated about all the options."

She said many probably feared being squeezed out of gym time during the winter, "having to practice outdoors at 9 p.m."

"But I don't think they fully understood their choices," Nunokawa said, like moving JV or intermediate seasons to the spring.

Nunokawa said it is ironic that Hawai'i is the last state to conform to the conventional girls basketball season, since former Hawai'i congresswoman Patsy Mink was the author of Title IX, which mandates that males and females must have equal opportunities in publicly funded educational programs.

"It's not as if this is a new thing," Nunokawa said. "It's sad that we needed the Supreme Court to affirm this."

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.