Members of the Kahuku football community have rallied, protested and even threatened a lawsuit against the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's ruling Friday that abruptly ended the Red Raiders' season.
During yesterday morning's ESPNU broadcast of the University of Hawai'i game at Boise State, a UH fan was shown holding a red and black poster board sign reading, "KAHUKU - Let them play!"
But based on past attempts to reverse such decisions, the outcome is unlikely to be changed.
Friday night's OIA Red Conference title game between Kahuku and Mililani was canceled, with the Trojans being declared champion by forfeit due to the Red Raiders using an ineligible fifth-year senior earlier this season.
Leilehua held off Wai'anae, 28-20, last night to earn second place; both teams have secured state tournament berths.
The First Hawaiian Bank Division I State Championships begin Friday with first-round games on O'ahu and Maui, and travel arrangements already have been made.
One of the only possible ways for Kahuku to gain entry into the state tournament would be to file for a court injunction to delay it, and attorney Eric Seitz plans to do that on the team's behalf tomorrow morning.
But the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association - which governs the state tournament - was not involved in the OIA's ruling against the Red Raiders.
If a lawsuit is filed against the OIA, a reversal of the ruling is not likely to succeed since due process appears to have been followed and league bylaws seem to have been applied. The statewide rule regarding fifth-year seniors is clear: an athlete is allowed to participate in only four consecutive school years once he or she first enters the ninth grade.
Kahuku school officials have self-determined through an investigation that the ineligible player in question did indeed enter the ninth grade in 2006, making him a fifth-year senior. The OIA principals' rules committee met for several hours Thursday reviewing the case before unanimously voting that the player is ineligible.
Kahuku filed an official appeal Friday morning before the entire principals council, but after over an hour of discussion, the appeal was denied.
In one of the most high-profile Hawai'i cases regarding eligibility, fifth-year senior twins Brad and Cord Anderson of 'Iolani had a request for court injunction filed on their behalf attempting to have the HHSAA allow them to participate in the 1998 basketball state tournament.
But the court denied the request, citing a lack of jurisdiction since it determined that the Andersons' civil rights were not being violated. In the court's opinion -- following similar rulings from across the country -- participation in high school sports is a privilege, not a right.
As a member of a league, a school or team is bound by that league's rules and bylaws.
New University of Hawai'i men's basketball coach Gib Arnold also challenged the HHSAA's rule banning fifth-year seniors during his senior season at Punahou in 1987, but the challenge was unsuccessful.