HONOLULU — If conditions with the COVID-19 pandemic do not worsen to where more restrictions are imposed, high-school sports sanctioned by the Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association and state Department of Education could return as early as Sept. 24.
On Friday, the HHSAA executive board voted unanimously to approve a modified high-school-sports calendar that would include state tournaments in all of the sporting events the body oversees.
“It is a testament to our members to be able to agree to a calendar on such short notice,” said HHSAA Executive Director Chris Chun, who directed the meeting following a DOE announcement on Aug. 4 that placed new safety guidelines with vaccination requirements for high-school student-athletes and adult leaders to be eligible for sports participation.
This DOE decision, done in the wake of the state’s high positivity rate, states that all participants in a sport need to be fully vaccinated — exemptions are allowed — by Sept. 24 to participate in sanctioned athletic activities.
“This modified calendar preserves the league and state championships that give student athletes something that has been missing since February 2020,” Chun said. “It shows the HIDOE, the Department of Health and our state and county leaders that there is a plan in place once all schools can resume athletic activities on Sept. 24.”
Athletic activities in public schools, including practices, were not allowed on state property or with use of state-owned equipment once the Aug. 4 decision was effected.
The DOE decision states Aug. 20 as the date participants in athletics need to submit proof of full vaccination or proof of receipt of the first and/or second vaccination dose to school administrators to become eligible for participation. In order to be compliant with the two weeks following a second dose for full vaccination, Sept. 24 is the deadline for all participants to provide proof of full vaccination in order to participate in school-sanctioned athletic activities.
Comment from the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation and DOE Kaua‘i Complex Area was not available last week due to the timing of the announcement.
The outline of the modified sports calendar gives the tentative green light to fall sports, including girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls air riflery, boys and girls bowling, cheerleading and football starting on Sept. 27 and continuing and, for some sports, overlapping the winter season events into early 2022.
State championships tentatively end the fall season during the week starting Nov. 29, with state tournaments scheduled for girls volleyball, cross country, air riflery and bowling. Cheerleading state titles will be determined during the first week of December.
Football season will commence on Sept. 27, with the state titles being determined starting with the Dec. 20 playoffs and continuing through the first week of January 2022, overlapping the start of the winter season by at least three weeks.
The winter season sports tentatively start with boys basketball on Nov. 29, and the spring season sports start Feb. 21, 2022.
•••
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
