You’ve got haves and have-nots.
The haves think their long-range plan to make things better for everyone is extremely generous to the have-nots.
Not all of the have-nots are on board with a plan they see as providing more advantages for the haves.
A big part of it is many of the have-nots are distrustful of the haves. Especially from their perspective, the haves keep taking what few natural resources the have-nots still control.
With those generalities we could be talking about a lot of things in Hawaii — a place full of definite power and class distinctions.
Water issues pitting large corporations and small farmers against each other come to mind. So does development vs. keeping country country.
Then there’s education. Hawaii is home to some of the finest private schools in the nation and that means there’s a gap with the public schools.
Although many public high school athletes, teams and coaches are excellent in various sports, the wide have and have-not gap extends to athletics and has for generations. Recruiting is real. It is a big reason some of the Oahu Interscholastic Association (public schools) leadership does not want to play ball with the Interscholastic League of Honolulu (private schools).
It’s gotten to the point where the OIA’s president wrote a letter to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association saying Oahu public schools might not participate in this season’s new state tournament format.
The real reason? Recruiting.
Of course ILH schools recruit athletes. Why wouldn’t they and why shouldn’t they? And of course OIA schools don’t like it. Why would they and why should they?
Interestingly, one of the exceptions of ILH domination is football — where Kahuku, an OIA school, has won eight of the 17 Division I (highest level) state championships since 1999. When you add the victories by Leilehua (2007) and Mililani (2014), the OIA has won most of the football Division I state championships.
So why is the OIA the only of the state’s five leagues that resists the concept of three divisions instead of two state championship tournaments?
The three-division set-up proposed by people with mostly ILH ties would result in access to the top-level championship for more ILH schools — after Kahuku, ILH schools Kamehameha, Punahou and Saint Louis are consistently the strongest football programs in the state, but only one makes the state tournament under the current set-up.
One of the selling points of the original proposal (blocked by the OIA) that would combine the ILH and OIA in three football-playing divisions for the regular season was a “super conference” guaranteeing weekly matchups of Oahu’s best teams. It would also mean fewer mismatches — that’s why I’m an advocate: student-athlete safety and competitive balance, from top to bottom.
But it’s easy to see at least some of the OIA leadership doesn’t want to be told what’s good for it, especially by the ILH. When you cast yourself as a have-not for decades, distrust of the haves can rule you to your own detriment.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.
