Kaiser forfeits rest of football season

A tumultuous season for the Kaiser football program came to a sudden end Tuesday.

An altercation at the Kaiser football field requiring police attention Monday led to the school’s decision to cancel the rest of the Cougars’ season.

According to multiple sources, head coach Arnold Martinez and parents of players were involved in an incident Monday that included shouting and pushing and shoving. Police were called and arrived shortly afterward.

It led to the distribution of a letter Tuesday from Kaiser principal Justin Mew announcing that the season was over for the varsity and junior varsity teams.

The incident is the latest in a problematic season for the Kaiser varsity team, which had forfeited four of its first five games due to low roster numbers. In the only game it played, Kaiser lost to Campbell 71-0.

Tensions were high since before the season began and there were other previous flare-ups. Two sources said there was an incident after the Campbell game on the way to the bus involving Mew and an agitated parent.

The school reportedly has asked for a police presence of six to eight officers for the rest of this week, which concludes with the annual homecoming assembly Friday.

Sources have also confirmed that Martinez filed a restraining order against at least one parent, that the coaching staff has been escorted by police off campus in recent weeks and that a police car has been cruising around near Kaiser practices since before Sept. 6, when the Cougars were doing drills at a Hawaii Kai Park prior to getting the green light to use the school’s new field.

Before Monday’s incident, Kaiser was reportedly planning to bring up approximately five to seven players from the JV squad to the varsity to participate in the scheduled homecoming game so there would be enough manpower against Moanalua.

At 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, four police cars were at the entrance to Kaiser’s new artificial turf field, which has yet to be used by the Cougars for a real game.

The incident on Monday led to an emergency meeting of faculty and staff later that day, when Mew made it known to them that the football season would be canceled due to safety concerns. Martinez and the Kaiser administration then held a meeting Tuesday with players to let them know of the decision.

There has been a rift between certain parents and the coaching staff that began prior to the season. It led to a meeting in which it was decided by Mew that the school would play a condensed schedule, although at the time it wasn’t clear which games the Cougars would play and which ones they would forfeit.

Martinez is the fourth head coach Kaiser has had in the past seven years. He took the job weeks before the start of the 2016 season. Kaiser was without a head coach during all of that spring and did not post the job opening until the summer, two months before the season. Most high school administrators who need to hire a head football coach try to have one in place as early as possible to ensure the players are going through the proper conditioning in the offseason, which starts late in November and runs deep into July.

Mew’s letter, addressed to the Kaiser Cougar Ohana and obtained by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, reads as follows:

“Due to a series of prevailing events and extreme concerns for student and staff safety, the decision has been made, in consultation with Complex Area Superintendent Donna Lum Kagawa, to cancel both the Junior Varsity (JV) and Varsity football seasons effective immediately.

“The well-being of our school community is a top priority and we are committed to keeping our students and staff safe. An incident occurred on campus yesterday evening, Sept. 18, which required police involvement. This unacceptable behavior is one of a series of escalating events that has led us to this difficult decision.

“While we recognize that football is traditionally a highlight of Homecoming Week, we assure you that Kaiser’s Homecoming festivities will continue.

“We would like to thank the players on the JV and Varsity football teams for their hard work and perseverance. It is our hope that the Kaiser community will come together in a positive manner to support the school.”

A blessing for the new field, scheduled for this week, has been postponed.