Big Island, Maui, Oahu to host regionals in D1 state soccer, volleyball




ALIAMANU — More state-tournament games are coming to the neighbor islands in the near future.

The Hawaii High School Athletic Association Executive Board met at the Oahu Interscholastic Association office Monday morning — one day after the completion of the Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association annual conference — and put its stamp of approval on a new double-regional format for select state tournaments this coming school year.

The proposal was introduced by HHSAA executive director Chris Chun to athletic directors Friday and received the recommendation of the HIADA general assembly Sunday, but required the approval of the executive board to take effect.

Sports affected are Division I soccer and volleyball for both boys and girls. The first weekend of each tournament will feature two six-team regionals — one on Oahu and the other on either Maui or the Big Island — with seeded league champions still drawing a first-round bye Friday into Saturday's quarterfinals. The Interscholastic League of Honolulu and OIA titlists will be the seeded teams in the Oahu regional and the Big Island Interscholastic Federation and Maui Interscholastic League champions will be the seeded teams in the neighbor island regional. The second week shifts to Oahu for the semifinals and finals.

"We're just hoping that spreading the tournament over two weeks means less missed school time and I think the fans will get a better experience because the tournament will be over two weeks so the media can get more attention out on the state tournament," Chun said.

A one-year pilot program was used for the D1 girls basketball and boys volleyball state tournaments last year. It featured four regionals on three islands and a final four at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena also over two weekends, but eliminated the consolation portion of the 12-team tournament.

"We're just looking to expand on what we did last year and every league brought their concerns on what they thought worked and what they thought didn't work," Chun said. "That's why we tweaked the process as we did and that's why we moved half the teams on one side and half the teams on the other."

Another condition of last year's trail run allowed two Oahu teams facing off in the first round of a neighbor island regional to play on Oahu, but that will no longer be the case this year. Many coaches cited difficulties with a less than 24-hour turnaround time to make travel arrangements, much less prepare a game plan, after both the girls basketball and boys volleyball state tournaments last year. Two teams that were put in that very scenario were the Maryknoll girls basketball and Kamehameha boys volleyball teams. Both squads won a first-round game on Oahu Friday before losing at Lahainaluna and Kamehameha-Hawaii, respectively, the next day.

"They don't have to travel overnight and play in between first-round and quarterfinal games now and it's going to be more of a state-tournament atmosphere because most traveling teams will be guaranteed two games," Chun said.  

Another plus in the eyes of administrators is less time out of the classroom.

"For one thing, our kids won't miss as much class time as they usually do when the tournaments are three or four days on Oahu — sometimes they leave Tuesday and come back Saturday, so they're missing four days of school — plus it gives our fans an opportunity to watch some of their student-athletes play at home, so we're happy to host the girls soccer and boys volleyball next year," BIIF executive secretary Lyle Crozier said.

Many parents didn't make the trip due to high travel costs, which may be easier to get over with two games guaranteed for all traveling teams, except for one neighbor island champ in each tournament.

"It'll be good for our kids to be at home and have a chance to play in front of their friends and family," MIL executive secretary Joe Balangitao said.

For the first time, the D1 boys and girls state soccer tournaments will not be held on consecutive days on one island. Teams will play a maximum of two games a week, giving student-athletes more time to rest their bodies.

The BIIF will host regionals in girls soccer and boys volleyball and the MIL will host boys soccer and girls volleyball regionals for the coming school year. The tournaments will switch islands every year.

Crozier is hopeful having part of the state soccer tournaments on the Big Island will help increase participation in the sport for all ages.

"That might help out, because we have a lot of AYSO programs and intermediate programs, but they don't see the high schools and the state's best unless they come to the Oahu state tournament, so maybe by having it on the Big Island some of our kids, being able to see that level of play and knowing that they have to improve and get better, that might help out," Crozier said.

Balangitao thinks likewise as far as volleyball goes on Maui.

"Soccer, our youth leagues are pretty strong and high school, we're pretty strong, but volleyball is kind of tough, it just depends, but soccer we've been more successful than volleyball," Balangitao said. "I think if you get exposure and you get the younger kids out there to watch high-quality volleyball and you'll get the kids participating as they're growing up in elementary to up to high school."

The format will again be used on a one-year pilot basis and if successful, could expand to more team tournaments.

"That's more if the leagues feel that it's the best interest, then we'll do that route, but if not we'll can go other ways — whether its the traditional way or the modified way — we'll see what works out best for everybody," Chun said.

The board also approved a recommendation to include the BIIF in the rotation for both boys and girls D2 basketball state tournaments. The parameters in the proposal weren't specific to any year or how often the tournament would leave Oahu, leaving it up to the board's discretion. Beginning in the 2015-16 season, both tournaments will be played at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium in Hilo every third year.

"The girls' basketball season ends two weeks before the boys, so the state tournaments won't be on the same weekend, so we have more time to plan and prepare," Crozier said. "Hilo is a basketball town and that's why we have our BIIF tournaments in Hilo, so I'm sure those people will be happy to see a state tournament at the Hilo Civic, which is a pretty good venue for the girls and boys to play in."

The board also approved all of the 18 other HIADA recommendations.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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