The Oahu Interscholastic Association will participate this fall in the three-tiered state football format that is being tested out for one season, according to a release sent to the league’s member schools by executive director Ray Fujino on Tuesday night.

In the short release, the league announced its support of the tournament for this year and this year only. The league will discuss the merits of the concept and make recommendations after the season.

Last week, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser learned that the OIA was considering not participating in the state football tournament upon obtaining a letter to Hawaii High School Athletic Association executive director Chris Chun dated Sept. 6 and signed by OIA president Wade Araki. In the letter, the OIA spelled out nine concerns. Chun, whose organization oversees all of Hawaii’s high school state tournaments, responded with a Sept. 9 letter addressing those concerns.

The OIA member schools’ principals and athletic directors met on Tuesday to discuss the issue and, according to sources and backed up by Fujino’s statement in the news release, voted to participate in states after all.

On Aug. 22, the HHSAA executive board, which is comprised of members of all five Hawaii leagues (OIA, Interscholastic League of Honolulu, Maui Interscholastic League, Big Island Interscholastic Federation and Kauai Interscholastic Federation), voted to change the state football tournament from two divisions to three. An Open Division was added as the top tier, with Division I and II remaining intact.

Araki, in his letter to Chun, wondered why the Open Division would be considered a “true” state championship, since only the OIA and the ILH would be participating. Possible noncompliance with Title IX was also an OIA concern, since the new format brings the total number of teams participating in state football —primarily a boys sport — up to 20 from 12. Another concern was an apparent departure from the state qualification formula, which gives berths to leagues proportionate to the number of teams within a league. The OIA, with 22 teams to the ILH’s seven, thought the formula was not being used, since two teams from the ILH will make the Open division compared to four from the OIA.

Apparently, Chun’s responses were good enough for the OIA to decide to take part in the football format pilot program.