Looks like Iolani finally heading to D1

[HS Football Fanatic]

@1808Anonymous: The HHSAA divides sports into 2 divisions for a reason and one reason only: to create parity. The HHSAA attempts to foster competition by pitting teams of similar skill against each other. Iolani has proved itself time and time again able to move up into Division I competition and yet has refused to do so. It has nothing to do with academics. Every student athlete in the state must maintain a certain level of academic performance if they want to play. While Iolani may be more academically rigorous than other schools, students at Iolani are under no less pressure than others to perform both on the field and in the classroom.

There isn't a dislike of Iolani because you win. Kahuku, Punahou, St. Louis, and Mililani also win and are consistent (just as Iolani is) yet they are not vilified the way Iolani is. The problem rests in the parity and who they play. It is very clear that Iolani is capable of having success at the Division I level. Iolani deserves to play at the Division I level and, while academics should always come first, the students and athletic staff at the school should recognize that it would benefit the student athletes to compete at the higher level. There should be the drive, as there is in many other programs and many other aspects in life, to compete against the best. Whether its on the football field, in the classroom, or what have you.

If what you are saying is true, why is athletics any different? Iolani strives to be the best (just as every other school does). They have rigorous entry requirements, high standards that must be maintained to remain in the school, so why is the athletic staff content competing at a lower level of competition? Iolani can and should compete against Division I competition. Schools in the OIA do it all the time. Campbell, Moanalua, Kaiser and Kapolei all started in Division II. When given the opportunity, they competed against Division I schools and found success. McKinley, Kaimuki, and Waipahu haven't been the most successful in Division I for various reasons but they still took the opportunity to better themselves.

And finally, these athletes CHOOSE to play football. Like any other sport or activity, if it affects their academics negatively it is their choice to stop. But do not tell us about your running back who had trouble concentrating because of an injury. You will not find any sympathy, at least from me. Not when there are students, and very good football players, all over the country getting CAREER ending injuries when an athletic scholarship is their only ticket into college. Injuries are a part of the game and whether you play Division I or Division II will not change.

Please do not come here and try to defend yourself against arguments that aren't there. And surely do not bash alumni and students at other schools.

You mentioned that Iolani seems to be disliked more than many schools, and I agree. My perception is that it's disliked because of its academic elitism. There's nothing wrong with academic excellence, but nonetheless it does engender resentment. If you're not an Iolani grad, how are you likely to feel about Iolani's academics? How does Iolani's academics make your alma mater look by comparison?

[HighFlyer]

@1808Anonymous: The HHSAA divides sports into 2 divisions for a reason and one reason only: to create parity. The HHSAA attempts to foster competition by pitting teams of similar skill against each other. Iolani has proved itself time and time again able to move up into Division I competition and yet has refused to do so. It has nothing to do with academics. Every student athlete in the state must maintain a certain level of academic performance if they want to play. While Iolani may be more academically rigorous than other schools, students at Iolani are under no less pressure than others to perform both on the field and in the classroom.

There isn't a dislike of Iolani because you win. Kahuku, Punahou, St. Louis, and Mililani also win and are consistent (just as Iolani is) yet they are not vilified the way Iolani is. The problem rests in the parity and who they play. It is very clear that Iolani is capable of having success at the Division I level. Iolani deserves to play at the Division I level and, while academics should always come first, the students and athletic staff at the school should recognize that it would benefit the student athletes to compete at the higher level. There should be the drive, as there is in many other programs and many other aspects in life, to compete against the best. Whether its on the football field, in the classroom, or what have you.

If what you are saying is true, why is athletics any different? Iolani strives to be the best (just as every other school does). They have rigorous entry requirements, high standards that must be maintained to remain in the school, so why is the athletic staff content competing at a lower level of competition? Iolani can and should compete against Division I competition. Schools in the OIA do it all the time. Campbell, Moanalua, Kaiser and Kapolei all started in Division II. When given the opportunity, they competed against Division I schools and found success. McKinley, Kaimuki, and Waipahu haven't been the most successful in Division I for various reasons but they still took the opportunity to better themselves.

And finally, these athletes CHOOSE to play football. Like any other sport or activity, if it affects their academics negatively it is their choice to stop. But do not tell us about your running back who had trouble concentrating because of an injury. You will not find any sympathy, at least from me. Not when there are students, and very good football players, all over the country getting CAREER ending injuries when an athletic scholarship is their only ticket into college. Injuries are a part of the game and whether you play Division I or Division II will not change.

Please do not come here and try to defend yourself against arguments that aren't there. And surely do not bash alumni and students at other schools.

You mentioned that Iolani seems to be disliked more than many schools, and I agree. My perception is that it's disliked because of its academic elitism. There's nothing wrong with academic excellence, but nonetheless it does engender resentment. If you're not an Iolani grad, how are you likely to feel about Iolani's academics? How does Iolani's academics make your alma mater look by comparison?

That's very true. And 1808Anonymous gives everybody else a reason to hate Iolani because of the way he is coming across. If he and other Iolani grads could learn to show humility, most people wouldn't hate them as much. Didn't Father Bray preach humility? If so, Iolani students and grads like 1808Anonymous are tarnishing his memory. And saying Iolani does not recruit? Give me a break and stop denying it. It only makes you look more arrogant than you already do. There are good, humble Iolani students and graduates whom I feel sorry for because of people like 18808Anonymous. Playing the big boys more will benefit Iolani and show their administration that playing weaker teams (that don't recruit as much) to inflate your ego is wrong. If one were to compare 1808Anonymous to Swag43, Swag43 would be the most humble person posting here.

[HS Football Fanatic]

@1808Anonymous: The HHSAA divides sports into 2 divisions for a reason and one reason only: to create parity. The HHSAA attempts to foster competition by pitting teams of similar skill against each other. Iolani has proved itself time and time again able to move up into Division I competition and yet has refused to do so. It has nothing to do with academics. Every student athlete in the state must maintain a certain level of academic performance if they want to play. While Iolani may be more academically rigorous than other schools, students at Iolani are under no less pressure than others to perform both on the field and in the classroom.

There isn't a dislike of Iolani because you win. Kahuku, Punahou, St. Louis, and Mililani also win and are consistent (just as Iolani is) yet they are not vilified the way Iolani is. The problem rests in the parity and who they play. It is very clear that Iolani is capable of having success at the Division I level. Iolani deserves to play at the Division I level and, while academics should always come first, the students and athletic staff at the school should recognize that it would benefit the student athletes to compete at the higher level. There should be the drive, as there is in many other programs and many other aspects in life, to compete against the best. Whether its on the football field, in the classroom, or what have you.

If what you are saying is true, why is athletics any different? Iolani strives to be the best (just as every other school does). They have rigorous entry requirements, high standards that must be maintained to remain in the school, so why is the athletic staff content competing at a lower level of competition? Iolani can and should compete against Division I competition. Schools in the OIA do it all the time. Campbell, Moanalua, Kaiser and Kapolei all started in Division II. When given the opportunity, they competed against Division I schools and found success. McKinley, Kaimuki, and Waipahu haven't been the most successful in Division I for various reasons but they still took the opportunity to better themselves.

And finally, these athletes CHOOSE to play football. Like any other sport or activity, if it affects their academics negatively it is their choice to stop. But do not tell us about your running back who had trouble concentrating because of an injury. You will not find any sympathy, at least from me. Not when there are students, and very good football players, all over the country getting CAREER ending injuries when an athletic scholarship is their only ticket into college. Injuries are a part of the game and whether you play Division I or Division II will not change.

Please do not come here and try to defend yourself against arguments that aren't there. And surely do not bash alumni and students at other schools.

You mentioned that Iolani seems to be disliked more than many schools, and I agree. My perception is that it's disliked because of its academic elitism. There's nothing wrong with academic excellence, but nonetheless it does engender resentment. If you're not an Iolani grad, how are you likely to feel about Iolani's academics? How does Iolani's academics make your alma mater look by comparison?

That's very true. And 1808Anonymous gives everybody else a reason to hate Iolani because of the way he is coming across. If he and other Iolani grads could learn to show humility, most people wouldn't hate them as much. Didn't Father Bray preach humility? If so, Iolani students and grads like 1808Anonymous are tarnishing his memory. And saying Iolani does not recruit? Give me a break and stop denying it. It only makes you look more arrogant than you already do. There are good, humble Iolani students and graduates whom I feel sorry for because of people like 18808Anonymous. Playing the big boys more will benefit Iolani and show their administration that playing weaker teams (that don't recruit as much) to inflate your ego is wrong. If one were to compare 1808Anonymous to Swag43, Swag43 would be the most humble person posting here.

Well, I know several Iolani grads who are nice guys, but I think guys will still resent Iolani. Again, unless you're an Iolani grad, how does Iolani's academics make you feel about your alma mater? Again, I think Iolani's academics breed resentment because guys who aren't Iolani grads want their alma mater to shine, not Iolani.

[politclyincrekt]

You mentioned that Iolani seems to be disliked more than many schools, and I agree. My perception is that it's disliked because of its academic elitism. There's nothing wrong with academic excellence, but nonetheless it does engender resentment. If you're not an Iolani grad, how are you likely to feel about Iolani's academics? How does Iolani's academics make your alma mater look by comparison?

I'm a McKinley grad. Do I resent Iolani because they have higher academic standards? No because I wasn't paying tens of thousands of dollars to go to high school. I expect graduates of these private schools to do well simply because of the opportunities they are paying for when they attend these schools. They are paying to "get ahead." Does it make my alma mater look bad? Not when I go to class at UH and sit next to Iolani and Punahou graduates who've somehow ended up in the same place as me. If I (or my parents) could do it all over would I attend one of these private schools? No I would not because I'm proud of where I came from and, regardless of how I may be treated or if I'm looked down upon because I am a McKinley graduate, the only thing I can do is represent my alma mater the best I can.

In terms of the elitism (or perceived elitism) at these private schools, a lot has to do with the parents and how they raise their child. I am fairly close with a lot of Punahou graduates and parents who send their kids to Punahou and, for the most part, they want what's best for their child. And these schools want what's best for their students. Just like any other group of people. There are a select few people who attend these schools thinking they are better than "the rest of us" and look down on other groups because they have money, influence, etc. but that's how it is everywhere. It's no fault of the school. It just so happens that a higher percentage of these people send their children to private schools.

[soleu]

Congrats Iolani on finally making the move. Hide your talent OIA because there's another school looking to build a team for the D1 stage. I look forward to seeing even more home grown talent at the NCAA and NFL level. Don't get me wrong, public schools do great with the resources that they have to move the top talent ahead but those resources are very limited compared to the private schools.

The trend of quality Hawaii college fb players continues upward.

[politclyincrekt]

Congrats Iolani on finally making the move. Hide your talent OIA because there's another school looking to build a team for the D1 stage. I look forward to seeing even more home grown talent at the NCAA and NFL level. Don't get me wrong, public schools do great with the resources that they have to move the top talent ahead but those resources are very limited compared to the private schools.

The trend of quality Hawaii college fb players continues upward.

So you're saying that if a dominant player like Marcus Mariota went to a public school, he wouldn't be the success he is today? Say, if he lit up the OIA at Leilehua he wouldn't have started at Oregon and he would not be going in the first round of the draft?

[soleu]

Congrats Iolani on finally making the move. Hide your talent OIA because there's another school looking to build a team for the D1 stage. I look forward to seeing even more home grown talent at the NCAA and NFL level. Don't get me wrong, public schools do great with the resources that they have to move the top talent ahead but those resources are very limited compared to the private schools.

The trend of quality Hawaii college fb players continues upward.

So you're saying that if a dominant player like Marcus Mariota went to a public school, he wouldn't be the success he is today? Say, if he lit up the OIA at Leilehua he wouldn't have started at Oregon and he would not be going in the first round of the draft?

Nope. I'm saying more D1 talent. Our island boys get a shot on the D1 stage. Resources and connections is what I see when it comes to the biggest difference of public and private schools. I'm not gonna bring up names for respect to the great players and families but I'm tired of seeing top talent wasted because of limited resources.

[HighFlyer]

Iolani belongs in D1. No question about it. Yet, there was a suggestion Paul Honda made a couple of days ago. I don't agree with it but find it interesting: have Iolani avoid playing P5, St. Francis, and Damien (thus relegating them to playing the Big Three twice) but let them participate in the D2 tournament if they can beat the winner of D2. I can sort of get behind it, although I know Coach Look won't. Regardless, the day might come where D1 is the only place Iolani can play if St. Francis, Damien, and the Pac-Five schools all choose to go to 8-man football. That would leave the ILH with the Big Three and Iolani. I'd love to see that happen. If anyone on Oahu is fielding 8-man teams, let me know, because doing that would suit some schools better than taking on the big OIA teams and ILH teams.

[HS Football Fanatic]

will the iolani coaching staff now be forced to start attending popwarner football games in an attempt to recruit some beefy boys into their roster and then create a "BRIDGE" program for the less financially and educated beefy boys? similar to what punahou / stlouis /kam been doing all along

And, Kamehameha's situation is exacerbated by the fact that all students / players there, have to be part-Hawaiian. So, the coaches can't just recruit the best players; they also have to make sure the players have Hawaiian blood.

[HighFlyer]

will the iolani coaching staff now be forced to start attending popwarner football games in an attempt to recruit some beefy boys into their roster and then create a "BRIDGE" program for the less financially and educated beefy boys? similar to what punahou / stlouis /kam been doing all along

And, Kamehameha's situation is exacerbated by the fact that all students / players there, have to be part-Hawaiian. So, the coaches can't just recruit the best players; they also have to make sure the players have Hawaiian blood.

Who are we kidding? Iolani's been going after pop warner kids before most of us were born! A lot of people also like to think that Iolani is one of the ten best historical HS FB programs in Hawaii. LOL. Shows the arrogance of most Iolani graduates that played FB. If they didn't recruit as much as they did would they be as successful against the LESSER D2 teams? The equivalent of Iolani playing D2 teams is an average NFL team playing the best college football teams in the country. If Iolani does not recruit, Lennay Kekua is a real person.

[DaDeaderHorse]

will the iolani coaching staff now be forced to start attending popwarner football games in an attempt to recruit some beefy boys into their roster and then create a "BRIDGE" program for the less financially and educated beefy boys? similar to what punahou / stlouis /kam been doing all along

And, Kamehameha's situation is exacerbated by the fact that all students / players there, have to be part-Hawaiian. So, the coaches can't just recruit the best players; they also have to make sure the players have Hawaiian blood.

Who are we kidding? Iolani's been going after pop warner kids before most of us were born! A lot of people also like to think that Iolani is one of the ten best historical HS FB programs in Hawaii. LOL. Shows the arrogance of most Iolani graduates that played FB. If they didn't recruit as much as they did would they be as successful against the LESSER D2 teams? The equivalent of Iolani playing D2 teams is an average NFL team playing the best college football teams in the country. If Iolani does not recruit, Lennay Kekua is a real person.

Geez ..... Iolani does NOT recruit anymore nor have been recruiting for the last 10 years or so. If recruiting to you means, players are asked to enroll and pay $20k a year in tuition then Iolani is guilty as charged. However, if you are insinuating that Iolani provides players with "free rides" or no tuition for players like St. Louis and Punahou then please send me the name those players that you know and I will talk to their parents and I'll get back to you with the facts. Iolani offers $2500 sports scholarships for those who financially qualify and up to $10k of financial aid for those who qualify. That leaves parents to pay the rest which equals the same tuition cost for St. Louis.

I don't care if they go to D1 or D2, but they don't recruit and this is FACT. I wish they would recruit so they could stay in D1 and then you'll have nothing to gripe about. Again, please provide me with those players you think have "full rides" to Iolani and I will check.

[HS Football Fanatic]

Congrats Iolani on finally making the move. Hide your talent OIA because there's another school looking to build a team for the D1 stage. I look forward to seeing even more home grown talent at the NCAA and NFL level. Don't get me wrong, public schools do great with the resources that they have to move the top talent ahead but those resources are very limited compared to the private schools.

The trend of quality Hawaii college fb players continues upward.

Actually, I don't think public schools' resources are necessarily "very limited compared to" the private schools'. That would be the case only if you're talking about Kamehameha, which is super-rich. With the other private schools, a certain amount of resources will go much further with their students because those schools take the cream of the crop. I'm talking especially about Iolani and Punahou. Meanwhile, the public schools have to educate SPED kids, and the SPED programs are a huge drain on the public schools' resources. Of course, every public school has its share of bright kids, but those kids represent only a certain percentage of the student body. Meanwhile, at schools like Iolani and Punahou, almost every kid is bright. In other words, comparing public schools to private schools is almost like comparing apples to oranges, if you're talking about the academic potential of the students. And, what would you expect, when the public schools have to accept all comers?

[HS Football Fanatic]

Congrats Iolani on finally making the move. Hide your talent OIA because there's another school looking to build a team for the D1 stage. I look forward to seeing even more home grown talent at the NCAA and NFL level. Don't get me wrong, public schools do great with the resources that they have to move the top talent ahead but those resources are very limited compared to the private schools.

The trend of quality Hawaii college fb players continues upward.

So you're saying that if a dominant player like Marcus Mariota went to a public school, he wouldn't be the success he is today? Say, if he lit up the OIA at Leilehua he wouldn't have started at Oregon and he would not be going in the first round of the draft?

Good point. When it comes to football, a QB could be drafted by the Pros--and in the first round-- regardless of whether he attended a public or private school. What's more important is the type of offense the school ran. For example, you mentioned Leilehua. For the past ten years or so, Leilehua OCs have not been afraid to let the ball fly, and there've been several outstanding QBs graduating from that school over the past ten years or so. Indeed, if Mariota had attended Leilehua, he probably would have been just as good a QB as he is now. But what if Mariota had attended a private school like, say, Kamehameha (let's put aside for a moment the question of whether he has Hawaiian blood or not). Over the past ten years, the only outstanding QB Kamehameha had, that I can think of, is the one they won the D1 state title with in '09. What was his name? TC Campbell, something like that? Unlike Leilehua, Kamehameha has for the most part been a run-oriented team the past ten years, even longer. Kamehameha OCs have been run-oriented. (Heck, it seems like Kamehameha has been going with the run since the late-'70s.) Therefore, it's perceivable that if Mariota had attended Kamehameha--a private school--he might actually not be as successful a QB today as he would be had he attended Leilehua, a public school. I.e., it's not so much whether the school is public or private, but rather: What type of offense does the school's football team run?

[soleu]

^^^ Oregon doesn't look at a QB that's never touched the field if he doesn't have the STL network. I haven't seen Leilehua talent go to big schools like UCLA, Stanford, Oregon, USC, etc.. It's the connections that I'm talking about. Hawaii HAS the talent but not the connections to the scouts like PUN, STL, and IOL does. Scouts just come here to non-continental US looking for low hanging fruit. Getting into a big name college still plays a big part in getting to the NFL. Private schools do a better job at getting talent there regardless of the reasons why. I still love OIA teams beating out ILH, but at the same time, it's great to watch Hawaii talent show up the mainland kids on a national stage.

[huki-lau-lau]

i to love to see island boys outperform mailnand kids. on the college level hawaii boys stick togeta no matter what high school u go. but here in the islands its healthy to have animosity between high schools so that the competition remain high level. if too much kissy kissy bow down to eachother, going look like the nba everybody like be friends.

so to that...i say redraider #1 we dont need no private school network, we already proven we can make our own story and our own destination, this new era i think will breed another squad of kahuku athletes to touch the nfl. right now haouli kikaha and kona swenki two kids from our chamionship 2009 team in nfl.

cheeeeeehoooo! rr4l