By KEVIN JAKAHI
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
For the sports minded, there may not seem to be a whole lot of difference with Seasider athletics at the new conversion Laupahoehoe Community Public Charter School, in its first year being run by a local board instead of under the Department of Education’s umbrella.
The enrollment numbers are pretty much the same; 204 students from kindergarten to 12th grade this year compared to 214 last year. The participation in fall sports — air riflery, bowling, cheerleading, cross country, and girls volleyball — is still sparse.
There is one competitor, senior Raeoi Espejo, in air riflery; three in bowling, Uilani Young, Jordan Salboro and Collin Lodivero; and 12 girls for volleyball. No one turned out for cross country.
As a charter school, the Seasiders are eligible to play sports at Honokaa that are not offered, such as football. That wasn’t the case last season in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation when Laupahoehoe was a fully funded DOE member.
LCPCS receives academic funds from the state, but when it comes to athletics, transportation, cafeteria and facilities that part of the pie doesn’t see a nickel, expanding Seasider athletic director Doug Connors’ role as a financial manager.
He also works at the Laupahoehoe Train Museum as a treasurer, so balancing a financial pie is a piece of cake for him. Though it hasn’t been exactly fun, squeezing every nickel and hoping it turns into a dime.
“The athletic director’s salary last year was $70,000. Mine is $6,000,” Connor said. “I have enough money from the academic side, and put a budget together of $30,000 for the full year. We had to cut our coaches’ pay to one-third. We have $5,000 for equipment.”
If 30 large seems like a lot of money, it can dwindle faster than a candle getting hit by a blowtorch. For example, in one bowling match, the Seasiders didn’t have any participants. LCPCS got docked with a $200 fine — once the season starts a school can’t pull out, unless it wants to incur a financial hit.
“The biggest struggle is recruiting enough kids,” Connors said.
With the numbers so low and now that the Seasiders are operating on a shoestring budget, why continue sports?
Connors knows firsthand the value of relating hard work and reward and all the intangible life lessons — such as team work, fair play and commitment — that sports provide because he’s seen it with his sons, Robert and Tony Connors.
The brothers were part of Honokaa’s two-time defending Division II state championship soccer team. Robert is now at Colorado Mesa University, playing for a club team and majoring in kinesiology.
“It’s very important to be involved in sports because it helps self-esteem and gives the kids something to look forward to,” Connors said. “With the grade checks, they do better in school. Their grades go up because they know we’re checking.”
There has always been a strong interest in basketball. When winter rolls around, the Seasiders should be healthy in numbers. There are a dozen signed up for boys basketball, and most of the girls volleyball players will likely switch sports.
At least, the Seasiders have the facility part covered. They don’t have to build a gym from scratch. They already have one, and a tennis court and swimming pool, too.
What they really need are more sports participants. Connors is hard at work on that. From all the old train photos at the museum, he’s got a daily reminder that once something good starts it only grows bigger.
“The real challenge is building the elementary and middle school sports system,” he said. “When the kids get involved, that helps the high school teams.”