It was finally made official on Friday that the Hawaii High School Athletic Association and its member leagues have canceled the remainder of the 2020 spring interscholastic sports season due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health threat.
The spring sports are baseball, softball, golf, judo, tennis, track and field, boys volleyball and water polo.
Besides the BIIF, the other leagues are the ILH, OIA, Maui Interscholastic League, and the Kauai Interscholastic Federation.
This was to be the time when the title chases reached full throttle.
Hilo is the defending BIIF Division I baseball champion and Kamehameha is the eight-time Division II champ.
Kealakehe pocketed its first BIIF Division I softball title last season, and Kamehameha has won the last eight D-II crowns.
The Waiakea girls have won the last five BIIF golf titles, and the boys the last three.
The Waiakea girls tennis team has won the last three BIIF titles, and the boys are the defending champions.
The Waiakea boys have secured the last three BIIF judo titles, and the Hilo girls are the defending champs.
Kamehameha is the defending BIIF D-I volleyball champ, and Makua Lani won its first D-II title last season.
Kamehameha won the last two BIIF water polo titles.
Waiakea’s boys and Kealakehe’s girls were out to defend track and field titles.
HHSAA Executive Director Chris Chun issued the following statement:
“This decision to cancel the remainder of the spring season was extremely difficult for all involved considering the impact it will have on our students, parents, coaches and administrators throughout our state.
”I would like to commend our leadership team from our five leagues in working together, thinking outside the box, in the face of an unprecedented crisis. Collectively, we have always planned for many different emergency scenarios from security threats to medical emergencies to natural disasters. In this case, the HHSAA and its member leagues used that same spirit and planning by expressing a willingness to discuss and explore every scenario and option possible to save the spring season. However, because the health and safety of our student-athletes and communities are our top priorities, there is no viable option to salvage the spring season. This decision was based upon state and county mandates, closure of facilities, and best health practices set forth by the Center of Disease Control and the Hawaii State Department of Health. We will continue to build upon the progress made in anticipation for the long-awaited return to sports.
“To our seniors, we thank you for the positive contributions you made on your teams, schools and communities. While this worldwide event has caused you to grow up faster than planned, you all have very bright futures ahead. We hope the lessons learned while participating in education-based athletics, along with the friendships and memories made, will make a lasting impression.”
Of all the BIIF’s spring sports, it’s an especially tough blow for the Waiakea girls tennis team, which finished second to Punahou last year at the state championship, losing by five points.
The Warriors returned all of their starters, including three seniors, who signed Division I scholarships — Maile Brilhante (University of Pacific), Kianna Oda (Gonzaga) and Keilyn Kunimoto (Idaho State) — and were poised to snap the Buffanblu’s 17-year state title streak.
The Waiakea girls golf team won the state championship last year but at least returns their top players in juniors Lacey Uchida and Kailey Oki and sophomores Kiersten Saludares and Elle Otani.
The BIIF athletic directors held a 15-minute teleconference on Friday and discussed the 2021 fall sports schedule.
“We’ll prepare for the fall and just move on, make our schedules for the sports like football,” Pahoa AD Hoku Haliniak said. “But we’re prepared to have our budgets cuts. If something comes up, we’ll make an adjustment. We’re just waiting like everyone else.”
Editor’s note: Starting Sunday, the Tribune-Herald will begin a “What we missed” series detailing aspects that were lost through the cancellation of each BIIF spring sport.