KAPA‘A — A dream will light up Saturday night. Delroy Shigematsu, a longtime leader with the Kapa‘a Pop Warner Association, was among the group that went through a dry run of the New Kapa‘a Ball Park stadium where football will
KAPA‘A — A dream will light up Saturday night.
Delroy Shigematsu, a longtime leader with the Kapa‘a Pop Warner Association, was among the group that went through a dry run of the New Kapa‘a Ball Park stadium where football will take place starting Saturday.
“We always wanted something that would benefit the community,” Shigematsu, now a booster with the Kapa‘a High School athletic program, said. “We want the community to be able to share in the excitement of some of the sports we participate in.”
Kaua‘i Mayor Bryan Baptiste studied the field, the scoreboard that was lit up, and made his way among the group that included the county’s various agencies involved in getting the field ready for the game.
“Parking will be in the area between the softball field and the stadium for Saturday’s game,” Baptiste said. “It’s a pre-season game, so hopefully, that will be enough parking. When the season starts, parking will also be allowed in the area fronting the baseyard.”
Mel Nishihara of the county’s recreation agency was testing out the public address system which, until a permanent facility is built, will be anchored on one of the bleachers along with the base station for the wireless controller for the scoreboard.
Nishihara has spent countless hours at the facility in preparation for the first game where Kapa‘a High School will be hosting Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy in a single game starting at 7:30 p.m.
“Right now, the announcer’s booth needs to be built along with the locker rooms,” Nishihara said. “Outside of that, the field is playable.”
The county’s maintenance crews have been working steadily to get the field ready, and the lush green turf carpeted the playing field.
“The biggest problem is with the sprinkler heads,” said Greg Gonsalves, the Kapa‘a High School athletic director. “The county has said they will be back-filling, so hopefully, everything will be ready for Saturday.”
Warren Koga, the county’s electrician, said there are 14 burnt out lamps in the stadium’s lighting system, and unfortunately, the replacements won’t make it here in time for Saturday’s games.
“They should be all in by the time the season starts,” he said. The first regular-season football game is penned in for Sept. 21 at the Kapa‘a stadium when Waimea comes to visit.
But he said there should be ample light to play in since they ran a test Monday night, and outside of the area from the 30-yard line to the makai end zone being a little dark, everything looked okay. The area he referred to has five lamps burnt out, but those lamps are spread out over two poles on either side of the field.
Saturday will be the first time in a long time that nighttime football will be played in Kapa‘a. That game will be followed by another game next Friday when the Warriors host both the JV and varsity squads from Komabagakuin High School in Japan. Spectators will be reminded about special traffic patterns that will expedite the exit once the game is over.
For Wayne Moger and Jeff Brandenburg of Pacific Island Builders, they dismissed the thought of heavy crowds and went back to work installing seats and rails on a section of bleachers.
“Let’s hope everyone plays some good football here,” Brandenburg said.
