Warriors trade dance studio for dormitory living

The University of Hawaii football team will no longer have a room with an eww.

For the first time since 2005, the Rainbow Warriors will live exclusively in an on-campus dormitory during the three weeks of training camp in August.

Except for 2012, when the Warriors trained at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, they resided fully or partly in two second-floor dance studios in the athletic complex. They slept on rented cots, shared electrical outlets, and used the showers and bathrooms in the football locker room.

While the dance studios enhanced team bonding, the open-air conditions also led to several players suffering bad colds. A few years ago, a player said he suffered a respiratory ailment from sleeping in the studios.

In some form, Division I football teams are sequestered during their training camps. The Warriors were forced to seek alternative housing when a dormitory they were renting underwent reconstruction in 2006. The Warriors then used the dance studios, a move started by then head coach June Jones and maintained by successor Greg McMackin.

It was a cost-saving measure to house 104 players in two dance studios. The Warriors could not meet the asking price for the dorms the past three years.

This year, head coach Norm Chow negotiated an arrangement for the Warriors to live in the dormitories during training camp. Chow met with each senior player before finalizing the deal.

“It’s a good thing,” said Lance Williams, a co-captain and senior outside linebacker. “We’ve got a/c (in the dorms). The studios are too dusty. It’s too much for the janitors to handle.”

The Warriors are expected to continue team-bonding activities, such as karaoke competitions and a talent show, when they are not practicing or attending meetings.

“As long as we come together as a team, that’s all that matters,” Williams said. “(Training) camp brings us together. It’s good in helping us become a team. We have to come together as a team and we have to work our butts off and hopefully we can get some wins.”