An agreement in principle is in place to hold the state high school football Open Division championship game at the University of Hawaii’s Ching Complex on Nov. 24. A contract will be signed next week, officials told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Most details were finalized at a meeting Wednesday of Hawaii High School Athletic Association executive director Chris Chun; UH officials, including associate athletic director Lois Manin; and Keith Amemiya, who is chair of Gov. Josh Green’s Sports Task Force.

Other high school state championship events are regularly held at UH, but this will be the first time for football.

The Ching Complex can seat more than 15,000 spectators after renovations before this season. Capacity at Ching was around 9,000 when Mililani High School hosted last year’s championship game. John Kauinana Stadium at Mililani seats around 5,000, and was sold out for Kahuku’s victory over Punahou.

Coaches of both teams expressed disappointment last year that the game wasn’t played at UH, citing its larger capacity.

The state high school football championships were previously held at 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium, before it was shut down prior to the 2021 season. A new Aloha Stadium is scheduled to be built and open in time for the 2028 football season.

“We’re pleased that the Open Division championship game will be played at the best available venue with the largest capacity for what is expected to be a large crowd, no matter who’s playing in the game,” said Amemiya, who was the HHSAA executive director from 1999 to 2010.

The Division I and Division II state football championships will be played at school fields.

“We represent the state, so this is the right thing to do,” said UH athletic director Craig Angelos, who credited Amemiya, Chun and Manin for working out logistics.

The UH football team’s final home game of the season is Nov. 25 against Colorado State at the Ching Complex, and concludes a busy 10-day span of sports at UH. The Maui Invitational college basketball tournament will be played at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center from Nov. 20 through Nov. 22. The tournament featuring preseason No. 1 Kansas and other elite programs is at UH this year because the Aug. 8 wildfires caused the Lahaina Civic Center to be unavailable.

“We’re also hosting a women’s basketball tournament the weekend before, so it’s going to be a very busy time,” Angelos said.

Chun declined to comment until the contract is signed.