In six short weeks, the University of Hawaii football team will be back on the field — not sure which one — for the start of spring training.
The widely held reason for the earliest spring start in recent-to-distant memory is it will help the Rainbow Warriors build off the momentum of the February signing period and allow players who suffer spring-ball injuries enough time to heal ahead of the 2023 season. Both are solid points. But the biggest factor is the Warriors will not have an available on-campus practice field in late spring.
Work is scheduled to begin next week to expand the Ching Complex’s seating capacity and transform the neighboring grass field into a joint area for the soccer and track and field teams. On the two-tier grass field, the football Warriors practiced on the top level when they weren’t working out on Ching, and the soccer team used the street level. The plan is to either lower the top field or raise the bottom one, then install a track and a soccer field. During the construction project, the Warriors will conduct their 15 spring football practices on Ching field before it is temporarily closed in late spring.
The thing is, UH folks are not grumbling about the inconvenience, at least not publicly. After decades of waiting for promises of better tomorrows, UH — again — figures it is easier to just adjust to the moment. It is a namaste approach used in the past while waiting for improvements.
After the Warriors went 11-2 and won the 1992 Holiday Bowl, other WAC schools poured more money and resources into their football programs. The Warriors? For the next few years, they continued to share the grass practice field with a golf class. (A pre-practice ritual was for then-head coach Bob Wagner to scoop abandoned golf balls off the field.) The area eventually was fenced, with only UH teams allowed access.
During the unbeaten regular season in 2007, the Warriors often practiced on Cooke Field (now Ching), where the artificial surface weathered away, leaving behind only the under padding. The padding apparently was so comfortable that feral cats used it as a litter box. The Warriors bit their mouthpieces and kept practicing. There were other concerns at the time, like a lack of soap in the locker room showers.
Phase I of UH’s Special Events Center (now known as SimpliFi Arena) included only three locker rooms — one for a men’s team, one for a women’s team, one for referees. For home games, the UH men’s basketball team used the locker room that did not have urinals. Ensuing phases included enough locker rooms to accommodate an eight-team tournament.
Until the practice gyms were renovated several years ago, the UH basketball and volleyball teams lived on edge that Manoa mist would not turn into a downpour. Too often practices were interrupted because of leaks.
For all the delays and pie-in-the-sky hopes, there are many times when the shortcomings can be overlooked. On Christmas Eve, the Middle Tennessee football team danced, sang along to Kool &the Gang’s “Get Down On It,” and formed a 100-person group hug in celebration of its comeback victory in the Hawaii Bowl. It did not matter that the Blue Raiders had to dress in Les Murakami Stadium’s concourse or their supporters sat on low-visibility metal bleachers. Football is football, and, according to the Raiders, a win on Christmas Eve is a great present.
And also last week, the football Warriors found out they were appreciated for themselves and not material things. Twenty-seven recruits signed knowing that UH’s facilities paled in comparison to other Division I programs’. Cornerback Cam Stone, who transferred from Wyoming, felt a family-style atmosphere was more important than a state-of-the-art meeting room. He was not alone.
The replacement for Aloha Stadium might eventually be built, and, maybe, the state will get around to putting a roof on top of the batting cage at Murakami Stadium. Until then, UH has learned it is less stressful to focus on the present than on the promise.
