The Hawaii High School Athletic Association football committee met Friday at its office on the Kaimuki High School campus to discuss the format for this fall’s state tournament, but no legislative action took place, according to HHSAA executive director Chris Chun and Oahu Interscholastic Association executive director Ray Fujino.
After wrapping up the discussions with members from across the state, Chun and Fujino both said the committee will meet again next month.
Chun and Fujino also said that the subject matter of the discussions will be reviewed by all five of Hawaii’s leagues — the OIA, Interscholastic League of Honolulu, Big Island Interscholastic, Maui Interscholastic League and Kauai Interscholastic Federation.
In addition, Chun said that the committee members agreed to keep the details of the meeting confidential among themselves. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser requested admission to the meeting, and then honored an HHSAA request to not attend it due to the sensitivity of the issue. We were told that with media in the room, the committee members would be less likely to open up about their true feelings on crucial issues.
It is believed that an alternative state tournament proposal to the one that was passed by the HHSAA executive board earlier this month was discussed. Chun said some amendments were made to that alternative proposal Friday, but that nothing was voted on.
Chun added that the committee’s league representatives will go back to their member schools to get a feel for their pros and cons of the alternative proposal with amendments.
The alternative proposal made by Chun last week calls for a four-team top-tier tournament that includes three teams from the OIA and one from the ILH, a four-team middle tier with one team each from the MIL and ILH and two from the BIIF, and a six-team bottom tier with two teams from the OIA and one each from all four other leagues.
The alternative proposal was drawn up to appease the OIA, which announced earlier this month that it would only declare its 22 teams for Division I and D-II in the three-tiered state tournament that started as a pilot program in 2016 and was voted on to continue this year. Such a move by the OIA would have thrown a wrench into that system.
One high-ranking OIA source admitted last week that the move was designed to kill the three tiers.
It is clear that the OIA wants the formula for determining league representation into the tournament to be used in a strict sense. For instance, the top tier (Open Division) from last year included four teams from the OIA and two from the ILH. That 4-to-2 ratio is not as accurate as the approximate 3-to-1 ratio of the OIA’s 22 total teams to the ILH’s seven. And the HHSAA uses that ratio system to determine league representation in all other sports.
The football committee has the power to make changes to the football state tournament without HHSAA executive board approval as long as it happens before the season starts, thanks to new guidlines passed by the HHSAA last month.
ILH executive director Blane Gaison, ILH assistant executive director Georges Gilbert, Brent Mizutani and Jon Kobayashi of the KIF, Lyle Crozier of the BIIF, and Natalie Iwamoto of the HHSAA were among those present at the meeting.
haha meet for nahtin aloha friday no work till monday
Good. So we do know that a HHSAA uses that ratio of teams per league in other tournament, but fail to do that in last year’s football OPEN states. Ahhhh. Yes the 3 to 1 is a better fix then the 4-2. Let’s do it! In fact let’s have cross over ILH OIA Open games towards the end of the season. The OIA playoffs are brutal. Then those teams gotta go compete in the States.
Unreal OIA. Great job forcing the powers to be to eliminate 6 teams from the playoffs. That was a great decision. I bet all the kids are super pumped that they have much less chance of playing in the state tournament. I can’t believe that adults can be so self-centered and one track minded that they can’t figure out that in the end our kids are the ones that lose out in the end. Bunch of smart guys running the show. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!
Yes that 12 team D1 OIA playoffs are useless. There should only be a max of 4 teams per conference for a total of 8 teams. The other teams should close shop. After the first round, 4 loser teams, close shop. The remaining 4 is in championship and 3rd place State rep. Easy. Save money. Save injuries,etc. If ILH #2 like play, go play the OIA#4 in an exhibition.
Go back to the past Prep Bowl on Oahu!!!!
lol OIA trying to duck ILH competition so much that they’re willing to kick six teams out of the playoffs. Great job, adults. Way to think of the kids!
BG Grad, it would seem that way, doesn’t it? But at the same time, the OIA is saying based on total number of schools alone, more OIA schools deserve to be in the playoffs than the ILH. We don’t or won’t even know if the number 3 or 4 OIA school even deserve a spot or the number 2 from the ILH since the OIA doesn’t want interleague play during the regular season, but they would much rather have Kahuku beat up on the OIA all season long. Also the OIA has no problem with one ILH team going through 2 or more OIA teams to a state championship, but when it’s an OIA team going through 2 ILH teams, suddenly it seems unfair. All this talk about St. Louis and Punahou’s recruiting advantage, but yet no one seems to want to discuss how Kahuku dominates the OIA, even when they got disqualified for states a couple of years back.
Does the committee know how ratios work? 4:2 = 2:1 and 3:1 = 6:2. i.e. 6 OIA teams and 2 ILH teams. An 8 team tournament with the OIA’s desired 3:1 ratio.
BTW, BG Grad is Education First masquerading as a Bishop Gorman grad. Same MO, choose a screen name that makes you seem somehow superior to hide real life self esteem issues. LOL!