Move To Division I A Mixed Blessing For Kalaheo Softball

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The Kalaheo High School girls softball program has come a long way in recent years, but it is questionable whether the payoff for their success is in the team’s best interests.

After two successful seasons in Division II, where the Mustangs advanced to the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s title game both years (winning the title this past March), Kalaheo will move up to Division I for the coming season, which begins in late November. Division I and II designations were submitted late last week by league officials to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association. Leagues have until Friday to finalize their designations, but the submissions made late last week are likely to stand. After the deadline, leagues will be able to switch teams to a different classification for regular-season play.

However, the HHSAA will recognize the July 21 figures in determining the league ratios for state tournament representation throughout the state.

The change in status is seen as a mixed bag by Kalaheo assistant coach Kehau Aina. The situation is truly unique in that Kalaheo is geographically situated directly between two of the state’s most visible softball programs - Kailua and Castle.

“We’ve progressed tremendously, but we’ve never been dominant like Castle or Bernard Victor’s Kailua program,” said Aina, who played for Victor at Kailua in 1994.“There’s a big difference between Division I and Division II. It will be a long haul, but we’re excited about it.”

Classifications are considered in the OIA every two years. Having had stellar seasons back-to-back, there was little question as to whether or not Kalaheo would move up. As for the selection process, Aina said that “it’s better than what we had before (based entirely on enrollment)” but conceded that Kalaheo could be a program “that teeter-totters in between Division I and Division II over the long haul.

As fate would have it, the 2007 Mustangs will have a young team on the field after heavy losses to graduation.

“We lost six seniors, so it is going to be a rebuilding year for us,” said Aina, whose father, Alan Cofran, is Kalaheo’s head coach. “On one hand, it’s exciting and we’re honored to move up. On the other hand, we have a challenge to prepare ourselves mentally and physically to compete against schools like Castle and Kailua.”

Unlike the Interscholastic League of Honolulu and its one-year review system, the OIA has been successful with its two-year re-evaluation format. With 29 schools, the OIA does not rely on enrollment figures. The league’s formula, instead, focuses on varsity and junior varsity won-lost records, with more emphasis on the varsity mark.

The Kalaheo football program will also move up to Division I this fall.

In girls basketball, both Kailua and Castle will remain in Division II.

Kailua could be among the beneficiaries of the new separation in boys basketball between Division I and Division II. The Surfriders, who have been competitive under Tim Harrison in an OIA long-since dominated by cross-town rival Kalaheo, figure to be in a position to compete for a DII title under the new format.