Thursday night football is coming to the Big Island.
There had been whispers for weeks that the BIIF would have to host Thursday games to accommodate a shortage of referees, and the league made it official with the release of the 2015 schedule on Wednesday.
After a meeting over the weekend, it became apparent that the league would not have enough officials to regularly cover three or four games across the island on a single day. According to Josh Pacheco of Bigislandnow.com, there are only 15 total officials available to work games and some of those officials are not yet qualified to work varsity games.
The BIIF athletic directors ironed out the new-look schedule during a meeting on Tuesday night, moving six regular season games to Thursdays.
“The biggest thing we took into consideration is that it’s a school night,” said BIIF football coordinator Kalei Namohala. “All the schools made some compromises to help accommodate and do what was best for the league.”
The first Thursday game will be a preseason contest between Waiakea and Kamehameha-Hawaii on Aug. 20. The regular season kicks off with a Thursday game Aug. 27 as Keaau hosts Honokaa.
The other Thursday games on the schedule are: Kamehameha-Hawaii at Waiakea on Sept. 3; Hilo at Kamehameha on Sept. 10; Hawaii Prep at Waiakea on Sept. 17; an 8-man game between Pahoa and Ka’u played at Keaau on Oct. 1; and Keaau at Hilo on Oct. 8.
Also, a Division I or II playoff game will be held on Thursday, Oct. 18.
Restructuring a schedule is not an easy task. The BIIF had to take into consideration travel distance, shortened practice weeks and scheduling around homecoming festivities.
All the Thursday games will be played on the east side of the island and most have 5 p.m. start times. The only game that has a team traveling cross-island is when HPA takes on Waiakea.
While there were other contingency plans discussed, Namohala said moving games to Thursdays seemed like the most logical solution. However, it does not without some concerns.
Football brings in a lot of money for the athletic programs, and Thursday games could lead to less fans in the stands.
“I think we are going to take a hit initially, but this is where we are going to end up going with the shortage of refs,” Namohala said. “Others leagues do it, so it’s not like it has never been done or is unheard of. It just has never been done in the BIIF. We have to be flexible and go with the flow.”
Namohala said the zebra shortage could also lead to schedule conflicts in other sports, like basketball and volleyball.
“We might be trending this way in all sports,” Namohala said.
Namohala commended those who put on the stripes so the show can go on.
“I give the officials credit,” she said. “They sacrifice a lot of time and sometimes their dignity because of a lack of spectator edict. Who wants to be yelled at while doing something to give back to the community?”
Other notables
Big Island teams will open the preseason with a slate of games on Aug. 8.
The Division I and II champs will clash on Sept. 10 as Hilo travels to take on Kamehameha-Hawaii.
Kamehameha-Hawaii will take on a new-look Konawaena Wildcats squad on Sept. 25 in a rematch of the D-II championship last season.
Kealakehe will travel to two-time defending D-I champion Hilo on Oct. 2. in a rematch of the title game.
West side rivals Kealakehe and Konawaena clash on Sept. 18.
The BIIF championships are scheduled for Oct. 23/24. The HHSAA tournament will run from Nov. 6-21.
Preseason
Saturday, Aug. 8
Maui at Kealakehe, 7 p.m.
Wailua at Honokaa, 7 p.m.
Waiakea at Moanalua
Kamehameha-Hawaii at Kalaheo
Keaau at Lahainaluna
Saturday, Aug. 15
Waiamea at Waiakea, 3 p.m.
St. Francis at Konawaena, 7 p.m.
Kealakehe at Iolani, 2 p.m.
Hilo at Punahou
Kamehameha-Hawaii at King Kekaulike
HPA scrimmage, noon
Thursday, Aug. 20
Waiakea at Kamehameha-Hawaii, after 5 p.m. JV
Friday, Aug. 21
8-man: Ka‘u vs. Hilo JV, 5 p.m.
Kamehameha-Kapalama at Hilo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 22
Vincent MP at Kealakehe, 7 p.m.
Damien at Hawaii Prep, 2 p.m.
Honokaa at St. Francis
Konawaena at Kauai
8-man: Kohala at Molokai
REGULAR SEASON
Thursday, Aug. 27
Honokaa vs. Keaau, after 5 p.m. JV
Friday, Aug. 28
Kamehameha-Hawaii at Kealakehe, after 5 p.m. JV
Konawaena at Waiakea, after 5 p.m. JV
Saturday Aug. 29
Hilo at HPA, 2 p.m.
8-man: Ka‘u at Kohala, 2 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 3
Kamehameha-Hawaii at Waiakea
Friday, Sept. 4
Kealakehe at Honokaa, after 5 p.m. JV
Hilo at Konawaena, after 5 p.m. JV
Saturday, Sept. 5
Keaau at HPA, 2 p.m.
8-man: Kohala at Pahoa
Thursday, Sept. 10
Hilo at Kamehameha-Hawaii, 5 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 11
HPA at Kealakehe, 7 p.m.
Waiakea at Honokaa, after 5 p.m. JV
Saturday, Sept. 12
Keaau at Konawaena, after 5 p.m. JV
8-Man: Ka‘u at Pahoa, 2 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 17
HPA at Waiakea, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 18
Keaau at Kamehameha-Hawaii, after 5 p.m. JV
Konawaena at Kealakehe, after 5 p.m. JV
Saturday, Sept. 19
Honokaa at Hilo, after 5 p.m. JV
8-man: Kohala vs. Ka‘u
Thursday, Sept. 24
No games scheduled
Friday. Sept 25
Konawaena vs. Kamehameha-Hawaii,
after 5 p.m. JV
Hilo at Waiakea, after 5 p.m. JV
Saturday, Sept. 26
Honokaa at HPA, 2 p.m.
Kealakehe at Keaau, after 5 p.m. JV
8-man: Kohala at Pahoa, noon
Thursday, Oct. 1
8-man: Pahoa vs. Ka‘u. 7 p.m. (at Keaau)
Friday, Oct. 2
Kamehameha-Hawaii vs. Honokaa, after 5 p.m. JV
Kealakehe vs. Hilo, after 5 p.m. JV
Saturday, Oct 3
Konawaena at HPA, 3 p.m.
Waiakea at Keaau, 3 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 8
Keaau at Hilo, 5 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 9
Waiakea at Kealakehe, after 5 p.m. JV
Honokaa at Konawaena, after 5 p.m. JV
Saturday, Oct. 10
HPA at Kamehameha-Hawaii, 7 p.m.
8-man: Pahoa at Kamehameha-Hawaii JV, 5 p.m.
8-man: Ka‘u vs. Kohala, 2 p.m.
Oct. 15-17
BIIF playoffs
Saturday, Oct. 17
8-man regular season: Pahoa vs. Kohala, 2 p.m.
Oct. 23-24
BIIF championships
Saturday, Oct. 24
8-man regular season: Ka‘u vs. Pahoa, 2 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 31
8-man championship (if needed)
Nov. 6-21
HHSAA tournament
*Schedule as of July 29