Brien Ing | SL

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Brien Ing | SL

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Over 80 athletes from six schools across Oahu took part in Friday Night Prime Time, a program focused on interscholastic athletic participation for students with disabilities.

Now in its fifth year, the program was designed to use the sport of basketball to foster and promote interaction within and between schools, one that was forced to go on pause due to the pandemic.

"After a two-year hiatus, we are more than glad to say that Friday Night Prime Time is back," said Nathan Murata, Dean of the University of Hawai'i at Manoa's College of Education.

That sentiment was evident amongst not only the players and coaches, but also in the number of fans in attendance to both nights of games.

"It was such an awesome sight to see both Waipahu and Kalani's gyms filled with family and fans in support of their respective teams," said FNPT coordinator Allison Tsuchida. "In fact, to see former coaches and players returning to cheer on the current teams speaks to the impact this program has on the community."

Three games were played over a two night span, with Waipahu beating McKinley in the first game held on Thursday, 26-23. Night number two featured a doubleheader at Kalani High School, where Pearl City defeated Kaimuki, 46-31, in the early game, and the late game between rival schools Kalani and Kaiser went down to the wire with the Falcons pulling out the win, 35-32.

The fact that games were able to played at all was itself a feat, as organizers had a very small window to organize and coordinate participating teams, schedule games, secure officials and work through other logisitics, which included getting uniforms for each player.

"Although there was some uncertainty surrounding the return of this event this year, the schools were able to come together to pull off two action packed nights of FNPT basketball, in large part thanks to the efforts of the dedicated teachers and administrators," said Murata.