A schedule switch for the 2013-14 school year will allow all prep football and basketball teams to play each other in a round-round format.
The Big Island Interscholastic Federation athletic directors approved those changes during a meeting in late May. It means the league will no longer use the East/West format that had been used in those sports in the past few years.
Last year in football, the BIIF’s Division I and II teams played each other twice in a division-only format, leading to the league championships.
Kealakehe claimed the Division I title and advanced to the state playoffs during the 2012-13 season. The same schools that competed in Division I last year will do so again in 2013-14. They are Kealakehe, Hilo, Keaau and Waiakea.
Konawaena captured the Division II title and advanced to the state playoffs last year. The same schools that competed in Division II — Konawaena, Kamehameha, Hawaii Prep, Honokaa, Kohala and Ka‘u — will battle again this coming season.
But the change means that each team will play one another, regardless of division, in a nine-game schedule, followed by the divisional championships.
“Every game will count no matter who you play,” BIIF executive director Lyle Crozier said.
In boys and girls basketball for the 2013-14 seasons, each team will play one another in a 10-game schedule leading to the BIIF playoffs. The East/West format was adopted for four seasons to save on transportation costs. But that system was criticized by some coaches for limiting the quality of opponents during the regular season, taking away some traditional rivalries — like Hilo vs. Kohala — and not helping to prepare their teams for the state tournaments.
“In 2008, we had a 50 percent reduction in our budgets and had to adopt the East/West format to save money,” Crozier said. “But since that time, we’ve gradually gotten some of that money back and now with football and basketball moving back to the old schedule, all BIIF sports will be playing that way.”
Crozier also noted that the regular-season champions in basketball will earn an automatic berth to the state tournament. If the regular-season champion also wins the league tournament, the BIIF tournament runner-up would get the league’s other state-tourney berth.
“A lot of coaches wanted the change,” Crozier said. “They felt by playing everybody in the BIIF it gave them a tougher regular-season schedule and helped them get ready for the state tournament. Now, every game will count and can help you get a better seeding in the BIIF tournament.”
In other BIIF news:
c The BIIF will allow juniors to compete on the junior varsity level in 2013-14 in all sports. Previously, only schools with enrollments of 350 students or fewer were allowed to let juniors play JV.
“We felt this amended rule would help a lot of the schools and maybe produce a few more JV teams,” Crozier said. “After all, junior varsity is about participation, and we wanted to give the student-athletes as many opportunities as we can to participate.”
c Christian Liberty Academy and St. Joseph will combine players for a girls soccer team and in boys and girls volleyball. The combined team will be called East-PAC.
