IF I heard it once last week, I heard it a dozen times, from fans, coaches and parents at the First Hawaiian Bank/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Girls' Basketball Tournament at Hilo's Afook-Chinen Civic Center. State tourneys deserve
to have proper venues"Why can't we be at the Special Events Arena?"
After spending four days working at the press table in Afook-Chinen, I can tell you these people had reason to moan.
The poor kids on the court had to deal with swarms of winged termites the first two evenings of the four-day event. McKinley coach Jesse Victorino said he worried about his kids inhaling them as they raced up and down the court. I had them in the keyboard of my laptop.
The sauna-like indoor temperatures seldom abated and seating in the stands was also uncomfortable.
Last year's girls' tournament was held at the Special Events Arena and the turnout was larger than any previous one. Problem was, it cost the HHSAA dearly to use the University of Hawaii facility and that erased revenue.
Now I don't know the exact breakdown of costs to book the Special Events Arena but I do know that the HHSAA (an independent organization not funded by the Department of Education) cannot afford to be there again.
And that's a darned shame. Special Events was empty last week.
UH's facilities are very adaptable to prep events. The stadium and arena seating arrangements are comfortable and intimate.
But Special Events is the most expensive facility the HHSAA could book. It costs about $1,000 just to switch on the air conditioning.
Rainbow Stadium is no longer affordable for HHSAA baseball and so Aloha Stadium, which does not charge rent but is still not cheap, hosts the tournament.
THE boys' and girls' basketball tournaments will be held at the Blaisdell next year. It is less expensive than Special Events but the costs there are also steep enough to worry HHSAA executive director Dwight Toyama.
Look, high school sports in Hawaii have an importance that cannot be compared with the mainland. There are truly only two levels of athletic entertainment here: university and preps.
Watching the ferocious determination of girls' teams like Punahou and Kalaheo last week drove home to me again that these kids are marketable attractions.
Even UH football coach Fred vonAppen, who sat in the decrepit Afook-Chinen stands, thought so.
You never walk away from a state tournament saying there wasn't enough intensity, enough drama, enough passion. But you might say that after paying a small fortune to attend a pseudo pro sports event locally.
SO, the way I see it, UH, the Blaisdell and Aloha Stadium ought to get together with the HHSAA and potential sponsors to ensure that prep tournaments can always afford to have a decent home.
Toyama garnered promising sponsor support this year. Working well beyond eight hours a day, he lined up four times the backing his predecessor managed.
But it's a drop in the bucket compared with what the HHSAA really needs to do justice to its young athletes, who deserve to be showcased properly. They also deserve to be housed properly at tournaments, and that's another festering issue.
I know of one team that had to put four to a room in a Banyan Drive hotel, and several girls slept on the floor.
There are super-sized book stores and sporting goods stores out there that would benefit from a visible association with local high school sports, and I don't know why they don't call Toyama.
As for UH, I'll say this: You've gone ahead and built it, now find a way to let the kids come.