The inaugural intermediate school football and volleyball seasons have barely started and already Waianae Intermediate School principal Raechelle Fabrao is labeling her school one of the "winners."

Not just on the field and courts, but in the classrooms and corridors.

"We had 111 on-campus incidents in the first quarter last year and 64 in the same period this year," Fabrao said.

A big reason for the decline, Fabrao said, "is the kids know if they get in fights or cause trouble they’ll be off the team. So there is a different climate this year academically, behaviorally and socially."

Fifty Waianae students are playing football and 16 are in volleyball as part of an afterschool pilot program in selected public schools. Waianae and Nanakuli High/Intermediate on Oahu and Ka‘u High/Pahala Intermediate, Keaau Middle and Pahoa High/Intermediate on Hawaii island are taking part in the first-year program for seventh- and eighth-graders, underwritten entirely by donations, officials said.

Previously, only private schools and a handful of public schools, with volunteer supervision, have had intermediate sports.

"So far, I think it is a big success," said Raymond Fujino, executive director of the Oahu Interscholastic Association, who credits "Board of Education member (Keith) Amemiya with working hard to get us the funding to get this going."

Amemiya, who championed the "Save Our Schools" drive that raised $1.3 million to stave off high school cuts in 2009 as executive director of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, has so far secured $725,000 of the $800,000 necessary to fund the intermediate program for three years at the five target schools. Roberts Hawaii School Bus is providing free transportation on Oahu and Hawaii island.

Fabrao said the program has proven so popular "that when I go to meetings the other principals want to know how they can get involved, too. They want to bring it to their schools."

Darin Pilialoha, principal of Nanakuli High and Intermediate, said 45 play football and 20 are out for volleyball at his school, where the offerings have "helped our students academically, physically and emotionally. The biggest thing is that they understand that if they don’t do their part (in the classroom and on campus) then they don’t get to participate."

Students are required to carry at least a 2.0 grade-point average, come to school regularly, enroll in the After School All-Stars program and attend an afterschool "power hour" study hall to participate. Boys basketball will also be offered in the spring, while girls will have basketball in the winter and soccer in the spring.

Principals at Waianae and Nanakuli say the program is so popular that they’ve had to cap football participation at 45-50 due to limited =equipment and uniforms.

"We had 96 turn out for football but could keep only 50," Fabrao said.

Fabrao, a 1984 Waianae High graduate, said she saw up close the benefits of an intermediate program when she began teaching on the mainland.

"I coached in Oregon and thought we should have it here, too. Almost every state does. For me, this is something I have always dreamed about us having, too."

Intermediate sports has been on and off drawing boards here for more than 20 years.

"Keith Amemiya and I talked about this as part of the vision for Hawaii years ago when he was in the middle of his tenure as the executive director for HHSAA," said businessman Duane Kurisu, who donated $150,000 toward the project. "So, when he asked for my participation in the initial stages of his fundraising efforts for middle school athletics last year, it was easy to say ‘yes’."

Kurisu, a director of and minority investor in Oahu Publications Inc., publisher of the Star-Advertiser, said, "The middle school years are some of the toughest years in a child’s life. There is just so much going on physically and socially at that time. Many times we wonder what happens to those bright-eyed elementary school children with vivid dreams for what they want to be in the future, but who end up seemingly lost or troubled when they reach high school."

Fabrao said, "Part of my thinking is that if we had an intermediate school league it might help keep some of the students who struggle when they get to high school, where the ninth-grade failure rate is high. Through sports there is another reason for them to stay in school. And, with intermediate sports, by the time they get to high school they know what the rules are and what is expected of them in the classroom and are setting and meeting their own goals. They have to answer to themselves."

Kurisu said, "The discipline and rigor required and the accolades and recognition that come from participation in sports during their middle school years could help. What better thing can we do, as members of the community, than for us to stand sentinel in joining hands to support this cause and set the foundation for a better Hawaii."

Information on the program is available through the HHSAA Office (587-4495 or info@sportshigh.com). Tax-deductible donations are being placed in a dedicated HHSAA account.