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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, March 11, 2010

Delay in shifting OIA teams


By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

O'ahu Interscholastic Association boys basketball coordinator John Chung said yesterday plans to shift teams between the Red and White Conferences next season are on hold pending an analysis of the shortened 13-week schedule in 2010-2011.

Under the league's current formula, which determines classification based on a two-year review of varsity and JV regular season records, Farrington, Kaiser, Kalāheo and McKinley would move from the Red (Division I) Conference to the White (DII). Castle, Kailua, Kalani and Roosevelt would move from the White to the Red.

But Chung said this past season was 14 weeks long (from practice start day to the state championship game) and next season will be only 13 weeks, according to the official Hawai'i High School Athletic Association 2010-2011 calendar. Each sport season (fall, winter, spring) was reduced by one week to lessen the overlap, Chung said, which will help the transition for multi-sport athletes.

With the reduced time frame, Chung said the entire structure of the two conferences may have to change, including the number of teams in each division. One possibility is a 16-team Red Conference (up from 14), and returning to the 1970s format of East and West Divisions split into districts (Honolulu, Windward, Central and Leeward).

"It's still in the talking stages, a work in progress," said Chung, the athletic director at Roosevelt. "I have a couple proposals that I'll present to the other ADs at our next meeting, and I'll also set a date to meet with our coaches so we can get their input. We want to have a viable schedule for everybody."

Using the current formula, the most notable shifting of teams would be Kalāheo and Farrington moving from the Red Conference to White.

Kalāheo had been one of the state's most dominant and consistent programs over the past three decades, winning 13 OIA titles from 1991 through 2004 and making 19 straight state tournament appearances until this season — believed to be an HHSAA record for boys basketball.

The Mustangs' varsity team went 8-4 in each of the past two regular seasons, but their JV struggled through an 0-12 campaign this year.

"We had pulled up four kids from the JV ... but if we thought it was important to win a JV championship, instead of it being developmental, we might have left them there," said Kalāheo assistant coach Walter Marciel.

Farrington, meanwhile, has one of the state's largest enrollments and finished fifth in the OIA this past season, qualifying for the DI state tournament.

MOANALUA FOOTBALL FUNDRAISER MAY 14

The inaugural Moanalua Football Charity Tournament and Dinner Buffet is scheduled for May 14 at Hawai'i Country Club.

The entry fee is $100 per player for a four-person scramble format.

Online registration is available at www.MoanaluaFootball.com

Read his blog on high school sports at http://preptalk.honadvblogs.com