WAIKOLOA, HAWAII » Softball regionals are a reality for 2016.

The Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association approved a proposal Wednesday at the Hilton Waikoloa Village to use the regional format for the Hawaii High School Athletic Association’s softball state tournament on a trial basis.

The regional format allows neighbor-island schools to host the early rounds. In recent years, all Division I state softball tournaments were held at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium, with the D-II portion at various sites.

Prior to the final vote, St. Andrew’s Priory athletic director Missy Kilbey pretty much echoed the sentiments of a bloc of voters aligned with the neighbor-island leagues and the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, saying, "We had a great discussion in the committee about this. In reviews by the HHSAA office, regional tournaments have been a proven success. It gets the outer islands involved. It is (a plus) financially. And student-athletes are not missing as much school."

Under the regional format, which has been tried in soccer, volleyball and girls basketball within the past few years, games are typically played on Fridays and Saturdays over two weekends instead of the regular four days in a row (either Tuesday through Friday, or Wednesday through Saturday) for most sports.

Kaiser AD Rodney Iwasaki brought up legitimate concerns, but it didn’t sway the voters.

"Sometimes, we (in the Oahu Interscholastic Association) are traveling and it’s an OIA vs. OIA game or an OIA vs. ILH game (both leagues are based on Oahu). It doesn’t make sense. There should be a way to allow us to stay at home if that happens."

Kilbey said logistics like that can be worked out. There are other logistical problems some ADs are worried about as well, including some confusion on host sites that cropped up earlier this year (many girls soccer coaches didn’t know until about a week before the state tournament if a regional site was going to be in Kailua-Kona or Hilo.)

Bryce Kaneshiro, the Waialua AD, had a concern that fewer players statewide will be able to play at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium, which he said, "Is the place to play and will always be remembered."

The final softball regional vote was 58-31, and the proposal now moves on to the HHSAA executive board, which is largely made up of league presidents, Thursday at Waikoloa.

The softball regionals proposal was originally shot down in committee, but made it back to the general assembly by a legislative action called a minority report.

All together, 29 proposals were brought to the table for the conference, but only 21 made it to the final vote. Of that number, all but two items passed. The ADs voted down one and another was withdrawn before a vote was taken.

A measure that would have changed classification of the cheerleading state tournament from large squad or medium squad (based on number of participants on a team) to Division I and II (based on the school’s classification) did not make it out of committee and a minority report was not filed.

A proposal to reduce the number of weight classes in boys and girls wrestling to 12 from 14 passed by a 46-40 vote.

‘Iolani AD Carl Schroers argued beforehand in favor, saying, "The numbers (of participants) are going down. Too many wrestlers do not have enough matches (and win by forfeit)."

Lahainaluna AD Scott Soldwisch, who voted against it, said afterward, "I’m not against studying it first instead of passing it and guessing on the numbers."

Two proposals concerning the baseball and softball state tournaments passed by a wide margin after being shot down in committee. It calls for the four seeded teams in the Division I baseball and D-I and D-II softball quarterfinals to be the home team instead of a coin flip determining who bats first and last.

Waianae AD Glenn Tokunaga brought up concerns about giving the seeded teams, which also get a first-round bye, too much of an advantage.

‘Iolani’s Schroers said it was important to "protect the seeded teams" and that being the home team is not as much of an advantage as it seems. He said home teams went 9-9 in last season’s baseball tournament.

The banning of double-knee seionage, a throw in judo, was another proposal that passed and brought up some debate.

Moanalua AD Joel Kawachi was concerned that referees might erroneously penalize a judoka for a legal, one-knee throw if the wrestler’s second knee also hits the ground because of a weight shift. That proposal had also been voted down in committee before being resurrected, and the final general assembly vote was 43-9 with 36 abstaining, mostly from the OIA.

A measure concerning the start date of football season had momentum coming out of a 22-6-7 vote in committee, but failed 51-34-3 in the final tally.

If it had passed, football teams would have been able to start practicing July 13, one week earlier than the July 20 start date for conditioning and two weeks before the July 27 beginning of practices in pads. Many coaches said they think it is unsafe to begin with pads too soon before their first contact scrimmages against other schools in late July or early August.

Among the other proposals that passed were:

» The bowling state championships must be held at a venue that has at least 22 lanes. Final vote: 68-18.

» The performance order for state cheerleading will change from picking numbers to seeding based on league championship scores. Final vote: 56-30.

» A dermatologist will be on site for weigh-ins for both days (instead of just the first day) of the state wrestling tournament. Dermatologists can prove or disprove the finding of the wrestling officials (for instance, if a skin condition is contagious or not). Final vote: 87-0.

» Skin, hair and nail checks will be done on both days (instead of just the first day) of the state wrestling tournament. Final vote: 88-0.