With each meal that athletes at the University of Hawaii on two islands chow down on beginning this fall, they might want to consider raising a fork in honor of the men’s volleyball team.
The national championship runner-up Rainbow Warriors aren’t directly picking up the check for what are expected to be expanded training tables, but they surely aided the process.
As one of its final acts in the just-completed session at the state Capitol, the Legislature authorized a $4 million recurring appropriation to help athletes on the Manoa and Hilo campuses.
The appropriation provided by House Bill 1547 is expected to be split 90/10, with Manoa receiving $3.6 million and Hilo $400,000 annually.
Much of that is targeted to providing meals, which was underlined as an area of need by university officials.
In testimony to the Legislature, Manoa athletic director David Matlin and interim vice chancellor for academic affairs and vice chancellor for research Michael Bruno, said, “Providing certain meals is an important health and wellness component of UHM athletics’ efforts to enhance the student-athlete success and is subject to NCAA bylaws. Currently, the meals that UHM athletics does provide are not the maximum allowed under NCAA bylaws but reflect the balance of: looking out for the health and wellness of our student-athletes, maintaining a competitive and gender equitable program and managing unfunded requirements such as meals that impact costs.”
In seeking the funding, UH told lawmakers that it estimates it has $7.2 million in annual expenses, including travel, above what its continental peers pay.
UH has long sought help from the Legislature and finally won a $3 million annual appropriation three years ago that sent $2.7 million to Manoa and $300,000 to Hilo.
It probably wasn’t a coincidence that, after years of asking, the appropriation came immediately following the euphoria of the Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine basketball teams going to the NCAA Tournament in March 2016.
That appropriation, which was originally designed to be recurring, was later modified and without action this year would have lapsed entirely.
UH officials painstakingly presented a strong case for the funds to be restored, lawmakers said. Still, at one point last month, HB 1547 was considered dead.
But, again, it isn’t hard to see that the excitement generated by a UH team on a spell-binding national run, this time a men’s volleyball team that had played to sold-out crowds, made it easier to garner support for what ultimately became a $4 million appropriation.
It awaits only the the signature of Gov. David Ige, who has been among the crowds at championship matches, home and away.
“These funds are difference-making for our student-athletes and athletic program for both Manoa and Hilo,” Matlin said in an email. “We are very appreciative of the Legislature’s continued support of UH Athletics. We are proud of our student-athletes and the impact they make in our community as ambassadors of aloha.”
Not to overlook the impact that their winning ways can have in critical times at the Capitol, either.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
