Commentary on the Kahuku Football Suspension

Kahuku Football Team Suspended from Playoff Pacticipation

The problems at Kahuku High concerning their football program continue to gain media attention and public sympathy.

The issue, as I understand it, involves an ineligible player on the football team’s roster.  As a former high school coach I know full well that student/athletes need to meet certain requirements in order to play.

At Waiakea High School we had one of the best Athletic Directors in the State of Hawaii, the late Ken Yamase.  

Ken would always grade check ever athlete and would notify the coaches immediately should there be any questions about that athletes eligibility.

Yamase was a no no-nonsense Director who would insure that everyone on the playing field was legal.

My point here is where was the Kahuku Athletic Director and why haven’t the media started talking with him concerning an athletes eligibility?

Joseph Witford III, the Kahuku High Athletic Director according to their web site, to my knowledge has not been mentioned in the media.  Instead family and friends of Kahuku try to circumnavigate themselves around a rule.

I was at Kailua High School in 1964 when their football team was stripped of a championship for an ineligible player. 

Now, 46 years later, a group of people have decided that a rule that has applied for decades in Hawaii school athletics can and should be ignored or somehow solved within the court system.

I would simply like to hear from Kahuku’s Athletic Director concerning this matter.  How was this athlete able to slip past him during his watch?

Your comments on this topic are welcomed.

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