The Kaua’i Interscholastic Federation season doesn’t begin for nearly a month. But the race for the KIF title begins Thursday, Dec. 7. That’s when the first three games of the Menehune Classic will be played at Waimea High School, and
The Kaua’i Interscholastic Federation season doesn’t begin for nearly a
month.
But the race for the KIF title begins Thursday, Dec. 7.
That’s
when the first three games of the Menehune Classic will be played at Waimea
High School, and all three island teams will take the floor for the first
time.
“The Classic is the first time any of the island’s schools will play
this year,” Classic director and Waimea head coach Matt Taba said. “It will be
a good indicator, a chance for the kids to play against someone else and get
some competition.”
The Classic runs Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 9.
Games will be played at 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Cost will be $1 for
students and $2 for adults.
This year’s Classic features the three island
schools- Waimea, Kapa’a and Kaua’i- and three teams from
off-island.
Kohala- “They are from the Big Island,” Taba said. “They are,
I’ve heard, good ball players and really quick. They’re going to play a
full-court style of game. The Big Island is always very
competitive.”
Pohoa- “They also are from the Big Island,” the coach said.
“I’ve heard they are young, but pretty talented.”
St. Anthony’s- “They are
from Maui,” Taba said. “I don’t know much about them, but they have a new
coach. Should be competitive though.”
Taba said that one of the true
bonuses of the Classic is that the Kaua’i schools don’t play each other.
Rather, the three play each of the off-island teams.
“That’s really good,
because we [the Kaua’i teams] can all watch each other play against the same
opponent,” Taba said. “That means we can see what we did against them and rate
that to what another island school did.
“It’s good for
assessment.”
The Classic also gives the five schools- the three off-island,
specifically- traveling to Waimea a chance for some very inexpensive games.
Where major tournaments on other islands might cost a team a bundle via
airfare, car rental, hotel, meals, tourney entry fee and other miscellaneous
costs, Taba has kept the cost of participating in the Waimea Classic very
low.
“This is my fourth year as head coach here and my fourth year of
running this,” Taba said. “My goal has always been to keep the costs low for
the other teams.
“We house their kids in neighborhood centers, feed them at
least one meal a day and certainly don’t charge any entry fee.”
All of
which adds up to plenty of work for Taba and his crew.
“I’ve got to have
people in place that are ready to feed 120 people a meal at least once a day,
for instance,” the coach said. “It’s demanding, but worth it to get all these
kids some games.”
Menehune Classic
Teams
involved
Kaua’i, Kapa’a, Waimea and
from off-island- Kohala (Big
Island), Pahoa (Big Island) and St. Anthony’s (Maui)
Format: Each of
the teams from Kaua’i will play each of the teams from off-island
once.
Cost: $1 for students; $2 for adults
Thursday’s lineup: Kohala
vs. Kaua’i, 5 p.m.; Pahoa vs. Kapa’a, 6:30 p.m.; St. Anthony’s vs. Waimea, 8
p.m.
