Now that the two Koreas have defrosted a sliver of cold war common ground at the Winter Olympics, two other long-standing antagonists, the OIA and ILH, appear headed — cross your fingers — to a nearly half-century rapprochement.

Athletics directors at the private school ILH voted unanimously Monday to recommend to their principals a three-tier regular and postseason football-only alliance with the rival OIA beginning this season, parties said.

Last month the public school OIA took the promising first step, announcing the adoption of a three-tier format for its teams and then, behind the scenes, pitched an alignment proposal to the ILH on a two-year trial.

It marked a milestone breakthrough on the part of the state’s biggest league, a body that just this past season reversed field from 2016 and adamantly refused to have any of its 22 schools represented in the Division I level in the Hawaii High School Athletic Association playoffs.

The abrupt pullout underlined the frosty acrimony that has hung over the two leagues since the contentious 1970 breakup of public and private schools.

But by going to a three-tiered division format — open, D-I and D-II — for the regular season and HHSAA State Championships and structuring the levels the way they have, the OIA’s plan perfectly dovetailed with what has been long needed, an alliance that extends to both regular and postseason play.

While the alliance is not yet set in stone and we withhold some of the applause until the first kickoff of the season is in the air, the change of direction is hardly a coincidence. The OIA might move with the speed of molasses, but it does so with clear calculation.

For reasons of competitive balance, interest and finances, such an enterprise makes plenty of sense and, potentially, dollars, at a time when the public schools are hard pressed just to pay for bus transportation for their teams.

Under the plan, the OIA’s six Open Division teams (Campbell, Farrington, Kahuku, Kapolei, Mililani and Waianae) would match up with the ILH’s Open teams (Kamehameha, Punahou and Saint Louis) in the regular season with similar pairings at the D-I and D-II levels.

Kahuku playing five OIA opponents and the three ILH teams makes a whole lot more sense than playing, say, Campbell, Farrington and Kapolei twice each in a round robin and, potentially, a third time in the postseason.

Both leagues would retain their autonomy, crown their own champions based on standings in league games and hold onto the gate receipts generated by intraleague games. Interleague games and contests played at Aloha Stadium are expected to be divided roughly on a basis that approximates the composition (22 OIA schools and seven ILH) of the alliance.

Mixing public and private teams is not a totally new concept, having been employed to some extent from the 1940s through ’60s, when the old ILH combined both.

That helped make the 1960s, especially, a golden era for high school football here, and an alliance would be a step toward regaining some of that luster now that the parties seem more willing to discuss transfer eligibility and financial issues.

What an alliance does is promise much needed balance in a period of increasingly one-sided blowouts. Under two divisions the OIA has seen such an imbalance that forfeits have become all too frequent and player turnouts at some schools have significantly declined.

Former HHSAA executive director Keith Amemiya, who pushed an alliance for more than a decade, said “A big mahalo to the OIA for taking the first step towards making OIA-ILH regular-season interleague football a reality. If approved, this interleague play will result in more balanced competition and increased fan interest on all three levels. Additionally, the expected revenue increase will benefit the entire athletic programs and all of their student-athletes from the various different sports.”

Amemiya, who drove the highly successful Save Our Sports fundraising drive that produced $1.5 million for public schools when state budgets were cut a decade ago, has had a standing pledge to help raise funds from the community if the leagues got together.

Bringing the two Oahu leagues together is a concept that is both overdue and too important to miss out on now.

OIA – ILH Timeline

1903 — Honolulu High (later renamed McKinley), Kamehameha and Punahou form three-team league.

1909 — Interscholastic League of Honolulu formed with University of Hawaii as an unofficial member.

1924 — Saint Louis added to ILH.

1932 — Roosevelt joins.

1936-38 — ‘Iolani and Farrington added.

1940 — Rural Oahu Interscholastic Association formed with Kahuku, Leilehua, Benjamin Parker (now Castle), Waialua and Waipahu as charter members.

1944 — Kaimuki joins ILH.

1945 — ‘Iolani, which dropped football during World War II, rejoins ILH.

1955 — Kailua joins ROIA.

1958 — Radford and Waianae added to ROIA.

1960 — Kalani joins the ILH.

1962-‘69 — Aiea, Campbell and Nanakuli join ROIA.

1970 — Farrington, Kaimuki, Kalani, McKinley and Roosevelt bolt the ILH and the resulting in an expanded ROIA that is renamed the OIA.

1970-71 — ILH operates as a five-team league with Damien, ‘Iolani, Kamehameha, Punahou and Saint Louis.

1972-73 — Hawaii Baptist Academy, Maryknoll, Mid-Pacific Institute and University High join forces as the HUMMERS in the ILH. Addition of Our Redeemer Lutheran brings realignment under banner of Pac-Five.

1973 — OIA and ILH begin postseason Prep Bowl, later renamed the Oahu Prep Bowl. Waianae wins first title.

1999 — Oahu Prep Bowl gives way for first Hawaii High School Athletic Association championship in football. Saint Louis wins inaugural title.

2003 — Division II added to HHSAA state championships.

2016 — HHSAA adds open division to expand state championships to three tiers.

2017 — OIA reverses course and boycotts Division I, sending representatives to only two divisions in state championships.

2018 — OIA principals approve three-tier regular and postseason format for 2018 season and make a proposal to the ILH. ILH athletic directors voted Monday to approve a two-year pilot program beginning with the 2018 season that would align the two years on a football-only basis. Plan must be ratified by ILH principals.

Source: Star-Advertiser research.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.