Kapolei WR Jaymin Sarono tries to get past two Mililani defenders in an OIA regular season game that was played on a Monday night in September of 2016. The game was pushed back to a weekday due to weather warnings, but more OIA contests could be played during the week for the upcoming 2017 season. Steve Erler | SL

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Kapolei WR Jaymin Sarono tries to get past two Mililani defenders in an OIA regular season game that was played on a Monday night in September of 2016. The game was pushed back to a weekday due to weather warnings, but more OIA contests could be played during the week for the upcoming 2017 season. Steve Erler | SL

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The Oahu Interscholastic Association is strongly considering playing football games four days a week for the 2017 season due to a shortage in officials, said OIA Executive Director Ray Fujino.

Although the upcoming OIA football schedule is still being developed, Fujino said that the OIA would likely play games Wednesday through Saturday in an effort to compensate for the small number of officials.

"Right now we may make some adjustments to our schedule to accommodate (for the lack of officials)," said Fujino. "Instead of loading all the games on Friday and Saturdays, we may look at other options into the weekday, Wednesday, Thursday, probably spread it out a little bit."

On average, the OIA plays about 10 games a week during the regular season. Instead of having about four to six games on either a Friday or Saturday, Fujino said the league is looking at having two to three games per night spread over the course of four days.

Since the schedule is still being worked on, it is unclear how the distribution of games will be spread out across the league's three conferences (Division I-Red, Division I-Blue, Division II). However, Fujino said it is likely that a team's varsity and junior varsity teams will play on the same day.

If the OIA does end up playing games during the week because of a shortage of officials, it won't be the first league in the state to do so. The Big Island Interscholastic Federation first dealt with the issue in 2015 and has played games on Thursday night for the past two years.

"They had to the same thing because of their pool (of officials)," said Fujino. "We have the same challenge, but on a a bigger scale because we have 10 games a week, they only have four to five."

Fujino added that a shortage of qualified officials is something that multiple sports and leagues across the country have to deal with.

"It's a nationwide problem, less people want to officiate," said Fujino. "Less people are apt to officiate. I think with all of our organizations and in all of our sports, officials are starting to age out. When officials retire, there's not a line waiting to take their place. It's been a challenge the last five years."

Individuals that are interested in becoming an official for the OIA can contact the league office at 808-421-4394.