WAIKOLOA — It will be a controversial political move by the Oahu Interscholastic Association. ADVERTISING WAIKOLOA — It will be a controversial political move by the Oahu Interscholastic Association. OIA Executive Director Ray Fujino told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Hawaii
WAIKOLOA — It will be a controversial political move by the Oahu Interscholastic Association.
OIA Executive Director Ray Fujino told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Hawaii Prep World today that the OIA’s football teams will all opt for either Division I or II in the state tournament and keep themselves out of the Open Division.
It’s a blockbuster move that will severely cripple — and maybe even end — the Open Division, which was the centerpiece of a new three-tiered tournament that began as a pilot program last year.
Fujino’s comments came after a Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association-approved proposal to continue the three-tier tournament was ratified Friday morning by the Hawaii High School Athletic Association executive board.
Kahuku, which lost to Saint Louis in the Open Division final last year, will now play in Division I, as will other OIA powerhouses such as Waianae and Mililani.
That leaves the Open Division with ILH teams like Saint Louis, Punahou and Kamehameha and any neighbor island teams who want to join in. With that knowledge, those ILH teams may also choose to play down in Division I to meet the better competition, effectively ending the Open Division.
On Thursday, all 27 OIA representatives voted against the continuation of the three-tier tournament but the final count was a 63-27 defeat for the state’s largest league.
Technically, the OIA can wait until Sept. 1 to declare which state-tournament divisions it will participate in, but Fujino was clear that the Open is not an option.
