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Maui High School head football coach Robert Dougherty bumps fists with players during conditioning drills in June. The state Department of Education has pushed back the high school sports season until Sept. 24 which will allow for all athletics participants to get vaccinated, the DOE announced Wednesday. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
From outrage to understanding.
Reaction was wide-ranging in the Maui Interscholastic League Wednesday as the Hawaii State Department of Education announced that all high school sports will be pushed back and now begin on Sept. 24 to allow for mandatory vaccinations.
All public school student-athletes, athletic staff and volunteers must now be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus to participate in school-sanctioned athletic activities for the 2021-22 school year, the DOE said in a news release Wednesday morning.
The DOE cited the state’s high COVID-19 positivity rate and a chance to allow high school sports participants to get vaccinated as reasons for the delay. The statewide test positivity rate was 6.5 percent according to the latest Health Department data from Monday. Maui County’s test positivity rate is at 5.6 percent.
While sports conditioning and practice has been underway in preparation for the fall season since June, all sports activity involving public schools statewide is now on hold.
Maui High School athletes workout in June. They will have to wait a little more than a month for their fall athletic season to resume.
A letter was sent home Wednesday for student-athletes’ parents.
“The first step is that the student-athletes get informed. So, they have a written document from the state superintendent that they’ll be getting (Wednesday) that explains the reasoning for the delay in athletics,” said MIL president and Maui High School principal Jamie Yap. “It has been postponed until September 24th, so it’s not canceled. Now with athletics it is expected that all athletes, coaches and support staff, volunteers will also be vaccinated to participate in supporting that sport.
“That part has got to be clear. The school will be responsible for collecting the records of all the individuals who are vaccinated,” Yap added.
The MIL was supposed to hold its first official competition since March 2020 with bowling dual matches at Wailuku Lanes on Aug. 14. The MIL football season was to begin Aug. 20 with Lahainaluna High hosting Maui High at Sue Cooley Stadium.
Baldwin High was slated to host King Kekaulike High in a football game at War Memorial Stadium on Aug. 21.
That has all been pushed back.
“The leagues are considered to be in the red period,” Yap said. “Which I think in identifying the red period that would include no practices and no meetings. After September 24th, we resume practice and it will be a climatization period and I think each league will determine if it’s two weeks or three weeks. Competition can then start.”
Interim DOE Superintendent Keith Hayashi said in the news release that the decision to pause sports did not come easily. He pointed to a canceled football game between Mililani and Kamehameha Kapalama on Oahu as evidence that the decision was necessary.
Two other games that had been scheduled for this weekend on Oahu were also called off due to COVID-19 issues ahead of Wednesday’s announcement.
“We opened the new school year this week with in-person learning and our highest priority is to ensure all students can continue to attend school safely,” Hayashi said. “This decision was not made lightly because we know the important role athletics play in a well-rounded education, but we cannot jeopardize the health and safety of our students and communities. We saw over the weekend the impact that just one potential case can have on sports teams, students and families.
“The alternative is canceling the season outright, which we don’t want to have to do; so we are implementing this layered plan that prioritizes vaccinations as the best way to protect against and reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19,” Hayashi added.
The DOE added that the vaccination requirement recognizes that participation in extracurricular athletic programs is a privilege and can increase the risk of exposure to COVID-19, which could negatively impact an individual’s health and education.
It also recognizes the important role vaccinations play in protecting against and reducing the risk of disease transmission, the DOE said.
The department added that students and staff who get an initial COVID vaccine dose by Aug. 20 can be fully vaccinated by the Sept. 24 deadline. Full vaccination is defined as two weeks after a second dose in a two-dose series or two weeks after a single-dose vaccine, according to the DOE.
But there are also provisions that would preclude the need to be vaccinated.
“Students and adults may seek exemption from COVID-19 vaccination requirements for religious or medical reasons, with the appropriate documentation. Medical exemptions must be verified in writing by a licensed physician,” according to the news release. “If an exemption is granted, the individual is allowed to participate in athletics but will be required to submit to twice-weekly COVID-19 tests.”
A few volunteer assistant coaches told The Maui News anonymously on Wednesday that they may not help their teams this year due to their personal choice of not getting the vaccine.
While schools may experience a loss in coaching staff, teams may also shrink in size with student-athletes — or their families — making the choice not to get vaccinated.
First-year King Kekaulike girls volleyball coach Kyle Williamson said that he had already received many questions and comments from parents that they may not have their child participate in the fall season due to the mandate.
“I don’t know what the team will look like come September 24,” said Williamson, who had to cancel the first day of tryouts scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. “We had a good amount of players come out in preseason, so I’m hoping players are still going to come out when it comes time to play.”
While more information is still being sought about what the season will look like come Sept. 24, the reality is that student-athletes have not been able to compete for over a year, so “to get this news very last minute, I know it’s going to be very disappointing for a lot of them. Obviously it’s very disappointing, especially for the student-athletes that were looking forward to starting up the season,” Williamson said.
Molokai football coach Mike Kahale pointed to the minuscule number of cases on his island right now as reason for his disdain of the DOE decision.
“I’m pissed, there’s no logic, rhyme or reason to some of these decisions,” Kahale said. “I understand that we’re dealing with COVID and it’s a different time, but when I talked to (Molokai athletic director) Lee (DeRouin) this morning he told me that he asked, ‘What about Molokai and Lanai?’ We have zero cases right now and the (Department of Health) lady said, ‘Oh, you never know what’s going to happen.’ Since when have we started operating based on what-if scenarios?”
Kahale said he has had 48 players come out for his eight-player team and it is rare that any of them are not at practice, something that has now been taken away, again.
“More than anything I’m really sad and I’m disappointed for the boys,” Kahale said. “As soon as the information went out for our school I got 50 texts from parents and from the boys. The ones who are seniors now who already lost last year are, like, ‘Coach, what’s going on?’ They just want to at least come out and practice. They are not even worried about games.
“They need a healthy, physical outlet to be around a positive environment. Canceling sports is more than just canceling football or an activity. There’s so much more that goes into this, that impacts kids. There’s going to be mental health issues and depression based on this.”
First-year Maui High football coach Robert Dougherty said the news has to be taken in stride.
“When news like this comes down the pike, you’ve got to rely on the medical experts and what they know about this virus,” Dougherty said. “The decision was made in the best interest of the students first and the schools and the community. So, we’re glad we’re out there playing and we understand we’re going to be on pause, but we understand also that it’s the best thing for the community, the school, our hospital, and all the stuff that goes into it.
“It’s a bigger decision than any football coach or anything like that. So, on one hand we’re disappointed that we can’t continue our season right now, but we also know we’re going to be back at it in September, so we’re going to make plans for that.”
Dean Rickard, the co-head coach for Lahainaluna football, said he was encouraged that the news was not worse.
“It’s postponed, it’s not canceled,” Rickard said. “This sounds like it’s a postponement, but not canceled, so that is better than them saying the season will be canceled. There’s still hope that it’s going to run its course.”
King Kekaulike football coach Tyson Valle was befuddled by the announcement.
“Actually I’m kind of just lost for words on it,” Valle said. “I don’t know what direction to go at the moment on it. I kind of understand from the COVID side on why the decision has been made. And I understand on the players’ side how this will affect them greatly.”
Valle is certain that his roster will lose players who decide not to get vaccinated.
“I’m just kind of interested to see what will actually be the outcome from the parents as far as the ones who don’t want to do the vaccination and how it’s going to affect them,” Valle said. “I’m sure there’s going to be more stuff as we get further into this. I am a little shocked as far as the kids that actually have been out working. … To have them not do anything for the next few months is going to be tough on them.”
Baldwin girls volleyball coach Al Paschoal said his daughter is vaccinated, but the decision is quite personal from family to family.
“It’s going to come down to the parents’ decision for their child, what is best?” Paschoal said. “I think if you ask me if every other child that I coach should be vaccinated? I think that’s too loaded of a question for me to answer. My child is vaccinated.
“I can say it’s very disheartening what’s happening when you see our island just as overcrowded as it is and then you see the ones that are having to pay the price is our children.”
* Robert Collias can be reached at rcollias@mauinews.com.
- Maui High School athletes workout in June. They will have to wait a little more than a month for their fall athletic season to resume.
- Maui High School head football coach Robert Dougherty bumps fists with players during conditioning drills in June. The state Department of Education has pushed back the high school sports season until Sept. 24 which will allow for all athletics participants to get vaccinated, the DOE announced Wednesday. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
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