Brien Ing | SL

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KEAUHOU, Hawaii — For the first time in three years, high school athletic directors from across the state have gathered once again. 

The 61st annual Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association Conference got underway on the west side of Hawaii island Tuesday afternoon and will continue through Thursday at the Outrigger Kona Resort and Spa at Keauhou Bay. 

Over the course of the three-day conference — the first one taking place in-person since 2019 — the administrators will discuss, debate and vote on up to 50 proposals that have been submitted to the group. 

The ADs from all five of the state's interscholastic leagues are split into four groups, with each overseeing a handful of the proposals. 

Group 1 was the busiest of the four; it talked over more than 20 proposals, all but five of them tied to competitive cheerleading. Group 2 handled items pertaining to wrestling, canoe paddling, soccer and basketball — including the possible institution of a shot clock. Group 3 was exclusive to spring sports: baseball, girls water polo, golf, judo, softball, tennis and track and field, while Group 4 centered on general concerns, most of which were submitted by the HHSAA. 

After the opening general assembly in the early afternoon, ADs took in a workshop by former NCAA All-American track and field athlete Eddie Slowikowski, who now serves as a professional speaker and focuses on the areas of empowerment and leadership. 

Following the workshop, the ADs met in their groups and discussed their assigned proposals before they conducted a straw poll on each. According to several administrators in those (closed-door) group meetings, several hot button issues saw a large number of abstentions from ADs who were seeking to gather more information on the possible ramifications before casting a vote. 

That includes a measure submitted by the Oahu Interscholastic Association that pertains to state tournament locations. It seeks to utilize a formula based upon each league's representation relative to the number of teams statewide, rather than a pre-determined rotation.

Also, at least one item in Group 3 — a proposal submitted by the Maui Interscholastic League that is aimed at increasing the number of qualifiers for each event at the state track and field meet from 24 entrants to 32 — left too many questions up in the air to even get to a straw poll vote. The MIL is expected to clarify and resubmit the proposal Wednesday, when the same groups of ADs reconvene for another round of voting. 

Any items that gain committee approval on Wednesday would then reach the floor of the final general assembly Thursday morning. At that time, the HIADA voting body — officially 91 schools in attendance this week, as confirmed by a roll call Tuesday — will take up the proposals that passed out of committee. 

Should the HIADA general assembly pass any of the committee recommendations, it would then be forwarded to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Executive Board, which meets Thursday afternoon and can, at that time, approve, amend or deny any HIADA recommendation. 

The HIADA conference, however, isn't strictly business for the administrators. A few of them on Tuesday voiced the sentiment of the entire group. 

"The importance of it is for interacting with the other ADs and building the camaraderie back to where it was and nothing beats in-person, rather than virtual," Lanai AD Roderick Sumagit said. 

In 2020 there was no HIADA conference. Last year it returned, but was fully virtual.

"The best thing about it is just hanging out with other ADs and just talking about things that we can come up with and do things together, not just as a whole league, but as a whole state," Sumagit added. 

Waimea AD Jon Kobayashi largely agreed with Sumagit's thoughts. 

"It's great that we can come together and see everybody. It's been a while so it's a good thing," he said. "It's nice to be back with everybody."

Both ADs, however, were cautious to note that COVID isn't quite in the rear-view mirror just yet.

"Hopefully things keep improving," Kobayashi said. "I think things are going in the right direction. We had a hectic last year — I mean, we got everything in — but we're only looking to go up from here and have no setbacks."

Sumagit tacked on, "I think the next steps will be going slowly. Right now the safety of our kids is still important to us, but getting back to normalcy is the end goal of it."

In addition to another round of committee voting, ADs will take in a panel discussion on the 50th anniversary of Title IX — the landmark legislation that was authorized by the late United States Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink.