Question: This isn’t a usual question, but maybe you can find out. Is it possible to do a sport in college but not in high school? This involves my granddaughter, who is a swimmer and surfer but not a paddler.
Answer: Yes, although it is extremely rare, with a few exceptions. One that stands out: women’s rowing, according to the most recent NCAA GOALS survey of college athletes. Rowing, to be clear, is a different sport from Hawaiian canoe paddling. But it was the only one that a large percentage of female athletes adopted at the college level, according to the 2015 edition of the survey, which the NCAA conducts every few years. (The 2019 survey is being conducted now, to be released next year.)
Among the survey questions in 2015 was whether NCAA student-athletes had competed in their sport on a high school team, a club team, both or neither. In 15 of the 24 men’s or women’s sports surveyed, more than half the athletes had played on both high school and club teams. The percentages were usually much higher than 50 percent; for example, 93 percent of softball players (women) had played on both high school and club teams, and 87 percent of basketball players (male) had done so, the highest percentages for each gender. You mentioned that your granddaughter swims; 81 percent of female NCAA swimmers had competed for high school and club teams before making it to the college level, the survey found.
Outliers on the other end of the spectrum were scarce, with women’s rowing the standout. Forty percent of those athletes had not competed on a high school or club team; the next-highest percentage in the “neither” category was men’s tennis, at 9 percent, followed by women’s tennis (8 percent) and men’s golf (6 percent).
You can see the full list of sports, by gender and participation in high school and club teams, at 808ne.ws/ncaasurvey.
The survey included NCAA athletes at divisions I, II and III.
Q: My wife and I are moving to the mainland soon, and our landlord is holding a rather large deposit on our rental unit. I know he has a certain period of time to return our deposit, but we will be on the mainland. Who and what governmental department here do we notify should we need help getting our deposit back?
A: Your landlord will have 14 days after termination of your lease to return your security deposit, in full or minus the cost of cleaning or specific repairs. Putting the check in the mail on the 14th day complies. You can read more about this in Section 44-C of the “Handbook for the Hawaii Residential Landlord-Tenant Code,” at 808ne.ws/codebook. If your landlord fails to do so, call 586-2634, the Residential Landlord-Tenant Information Center run by the state’s Office of Consumer Protection.
Auwe
Something must be done about the red-light runners. It used to be people sped through yellows, but now they don’t even slow down when the light is fully red. I know the authorities are looking into red-light cameras, but that will take too long to pass and install. We need enforcement now. Red means stop! — Pedestrian
Mahalo
Only in Hawaii … When I got to my car on the third floor of the parking garage at Ala Moana, I discovered I had no car keys in my purse. My heart stopped, and I had no idea how I had lost them. My car mirror was turned out, and I looked and my keys were tucked in a white tissue on the driver’s side. I want this person to know that there is a special place in heaven for a person like you. You generated so much aloha on a day that it took me an hour and a half to get back to Kailua (mudslide). Your kindness made my day, month, year. — Judy M., Kailua
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.