The last time we compared enrollments was a few years ago during a summer series in the Star-Advertiser. ‘Iolani’s enrollment is roughly half that of Punahou’s.

No matter whether we agree or disagree about where ‘Iolani football belongs, we probably can agree that the actual safety issues come when the teams with accumulations of talent and SIZE like Punahou have to play very young, much smaller teams like St. Francis. I’ve already written about the dearth of ‘Iolani upset wins over the bigger ILH programs in recent years. You mention ‘Iolani’s “blowout” wins over the rest of ILH D-II, but is that really about size and physical domination? I don’t think so.

2014
IOL 37, DMS 14. This was a close game for a half.
IOL 62, P5 19. P5 is a younger team with a lot of potential, but there was no safety issue.
IOL 44, SF 7. SF is loaded with sophomores coming off an ILH intermediate championship season.
IOL 28, SF 6. Close for a half.
IOL 34, DMS 14. Again, a game that was close for a half.

I’m not seeing what you do. Yes, the scores were one-sided, but the competition level differences are not the same as PUN, KS or STL playing the D-II teams. People want to nit-pick, but there’s a massive difference between those three power programs and IOL.

STL 55, IOL 20
PUN 59, IOL 22
KS 42, IOL 28

Let’s go back to 2013
KS 38, IOL 22
STL 49, IOL 13
PUN 56, IOL 0

2012
STL 68, IOL 39
KS 42, IOL 34
PUN 56, IOL 14

2011
PUN 38, IOL 18
STL 42, IOL 35
KS 55, IOL 14

Who in his or her right mind would suggest that ‘Iolani should request to move up to Division I? Again, there should be THREE TIERS of classification in Hawaii. ‘Iolani is well suited to compete in the middle tier. The bigger programs that offer financial aid en masse and/or receive a plethora of transfers can battle it out in the top tier. Smaller schools in the lower tier. Simple.

And as far as the article you wrote a year ago goes, is the ILH still planning to move Iolani up? Or have there been changes since the star-advertiser posted the article you wrote saying the new rule would force Iolani to move up?

1. The National Federation of High Schools has a strong guideline AGAINST using wins and losses as criteria for establishing divisions. Enrollment is use as a primary criteria is all states. The enrollment of schools like ‘Iolani and Hawaii Baptist (and others) is not in the upper half of the state’s enrollments. Yet there are folks who insist that programs like ‘Iolani football and HBA volleyball be punished for sheer overachievement.

2. The ILH’s administrative decisions are theirs alone and I don’t always agree with them. I may be assigned to write and report on them, of course.

3. The reality is that, particularly in football, Hawaii is a three-tiered state. Most current D-I programs should be in the middle tier. Competitive, but not big schools, not a lot of big athletes. The lower tier, obviously, should be comprised of schools that have lower enrollment and lower roster numbers.

The highest tier should be for the programs that offer the most financial aid and/or receive the most transfers. Then that tier can also accept programs that request to play in it.

If we use some common sense, we can avoid forcing any program to stay in a certain level of competition that it is not equipped to handle. Safety should be paramount. Waipahu clearly did not have the numbers and size to compete consistently, but they gutted the season out. I would’ve hated to have seen more serious injuries for that community and program.

Going back to ‘Iolani: Everybody who hates them enough to grumble about what THEY should be doing, I find that very interesting. I once sat at a girls volleyball match some years back. Maryknoll was playing HBA. A Maryknoll parent hollered out loud that HBA was cheating. That HBA shouldn’t be in D-II.

HBA then, and to this day, does not recruit athletes. Their talent was homegrown and without their system. It happened that they developed some outstanding (and future NCAA D-I) players. I asked the Maryknoll parent if their program could do the same thing one day. She refused to listen.

But that’s what I ask of the folks who do complain. Take a look within your program and offer to help. It doesn’t take a lot to help out. Build each day and be patient. Whining about other programs doesn’t help. It just tells the world that you currently don’t have the will to help build a better program.

The years that coaches and administration, parents and players have invested in the girls volleyball program at HBA, the football program at ‘Iolani, and other schools — that’s real. But that fact doesn’t mean that a program should automatically be forced to play up against schools with far more resources and talent.

Instant gratification for complaining fans of other programs is not a priority, nor should it be.