OIA making changes to football schedule

The 2017 Oahu Interscholastic Association football schedule that was circulated from the league to its coaches last week contained incorrect start times.

The start times this fall for junior varsity games any day but Saturday will be 5 p.m., the same as last year, with varsity to follow at approximately 7:30 p.m. The schedule, which OIA officials say is not a final document and was published by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Hawaii Prep World, listed the start times as a half-hour later at 5:30 p.m., which was the common start time from a few years ago. Saturday start times will continue to be 4 p.m. for JV and approximately 6:30 p.m. for varsity.

Also, OIA executive director Ray Fujino and OIA football coordinator Harold Tanaka both said they will be making changes to the schedule circulated to coaches. Fujino and Tanaka also added that changes were in the works before the Star-Advertiser’s Dave Reardon graded the schedule an ‘F’ in a column.

Reardon slammed the schedule for too many games scheduled in the middle of the week, saying it was asking too much for players to be involved in a contact sport, get home late, wake up early and be expected to be ready for the rigors of schoolwork and practice.

Reardon also wrote that the schedule was unfair, giving certain teams an easier road with less (or no) midweek games and some with four.

“We sent out a draft,” Fujino said. “But there was some stuff we were going to scrutinize and send out a final schedule after HIADA (last week’s annual athletic directors conference on the Big Island). It has nothing to do with the article.

“There was a situation where Kaiser plays games (in consective weeks) on Saturday, then Friday and Wednesday. We’ve already addressed that. I think that particular Friday followed by Wednesday was the shortest turnaround time (on the document).”

Fujino added that the most midweek games any team will be playing is three.

You can see the draft of the OIA schedule, noting the 5 p.m. JV start times, here.