The HIADA meetings are in full swing and reported is the attempt to cut down the state tournament field from 12 to 8 teams. On the surface it looks like the state athletic directors have benevolent pursuits in this change. However, it is no secret that the larger Oahu leagues have always wanted to cut the field down since the birth of the new division II championship tournament. The main goal of these Oahu leagues is to make the division I tournament an eight team elite tournament. With such a small field, the tournament could be done in three days. Sounds like a real cost cutting move to save an extra day.
The cost of travel for outer island teams to the HHSAA tournaments the last couple of years have been funded by the parents and fundraisers not the leagues themselves. So there is no significant savings in cost reduction. This field reduction only alleviates the hardship on outer island parents.
But if you were to ask the parents if they would have it any other way, they would gladly tell you they very much would honor such an achievement and raise the funds appropriately some way.
Ask the HHSAA if they reduce the field, then align it this way; two berths for the BIIF, MIL, OIA and ILH for division I and the same for division II with KIF added and one ILH berth eliminated. There would be so much opposition from the ILH and the OIA.
The HHSAA tournament is about showcasing the states best league teams and getting a good cross section of teams represented. It is not about having the best 12 or 8 teams in the state. This should not be the goal of the tournament.
Again, let us not use the economic issue as an excuse to pass hidden agendas of the past.
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