The months-long closure of the War Memorial Football Stadium parking lot for extensive improvements will be a major hurdle for track and field event organizers on Maui, who nonetheless are optimistic the sport could see a resurgence from a new program for younger athletes.
The Maui Interscholastic League has cut four meets from its 2020 schedule, and the closure also is hampering a budding track program for elementary and middle schoolers, organizers say.
The dirty work outside the stadium officially started last week with the construction of a 15-foot-high barrier to block the front entrance of the parking lot. The asphalt surface is riddled with cracks and potholes, most of which have never been repaired since the original pavement was poured in 1969.
The face-lift is long overdue, and the stadium parking lot is expected to be closed through Sept. 1, according to the county Department of Parks and Recreation.
The $2.2 million project, awarded to local contractor Manu Builders, includes the removal and replacement of the existing asphalt surface, drainage improvements to meet stormwater standards, additional sidewalks and raised medians for safety and accessibility, and new tree and grass plantings.
Forty parking stalls will be added, including 12 accessible stalls and 11 van-accessible stalls in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act.
MIL SEASON CUT SHORT
Track and field is the sport most affected by the project. The MIL season opened Feb. 28 with an abbreviated practice meet at the Yamamoto Track & Field Facility inside the stadium. With four meets dropped from the schedule, the parks department made concessions for the MIL track and field championships to be held at the Yamamoto facility May 7-8, but six other track meets have been redirected Upcountry to King Kekaulike High School (March 27, April 9 and April 24) and Kamehameha Schools Maui (April 3, April 17 and May 1).
“I’ve never experienced anything like this, losing this many events in a season,” said Rudy Huber, head coach at Kamehameha Schools Maui and a leading figure in Maui’s running community. “It doesn’t make any sense that the county would let this happen. They took away four big meets from the kids, and they couldn’t postpone this until track season was over?”
The parks department agreed to build a temporary walkway to the stadium on the Little League field side of the parking lot to accommodate the MIL track and field championships and Maui and Baldwin high school graduations on May 17 and 21, respectively.
MIL baseball fans will have to walk to the adjacent Maehara Stadium from the surrounding parking lots or get dropped off at a designated area, but the 2020 schedule remains intact.
NEW YOUTH MEETS
Meanwhile, the County of Maui and Kiwanis Club of Maui’s track and field meet, usually held in March, was looking for a much-needed boost in 2020.
The club’s Robert Pellettieri had talked with Huber about the future of the middle school meet, now in its 95th year. Huber was eventually invited to speak at one of the group’s weekly lunch meetings.
“I told them what I thought about the whole thing and what we should do, and they were all for it,” Huber said.
He feels middle school track has been pushed to the wayside in recent years.
“There really has never been a season. It’s been the Kiwanis meet and maybe one other meet and that’s it, and usually the Kiwanis meet is big. However, in recent years the participation numbers have slipped.”
Huber suggested a series of meets so the middle school kids have something to look forward to, and with the Kiwanis’ help a new four-meet youth track season is set to debut next month.
“Our goal is to make the meet faster so it’s done in four hours, from 8 a.m. to noon,” Huber said. “We agreed to get rid of some of the events that are not track and field-related, and we added the shot put. Then we decided to add third, fourth and fifth graders. So, hopefully, it will be a bigger meet and more exciting.”
FEEDER PROGRAM
Grade school entrants initially will be limited to four events: the 100-, 200- and 400-meter runs and long jump. Middle school athletes will have eight events: the 100, 200, 400, 800, long jump, high jump, shot put and 4-by-100 relay.
The flex arm hang, softball throw and 50- and 60-yard sprints have all been discontinued. Schools are allowed to submit three students per event.
“The Kiwanis have agreed to help with the timing so we will have electronic timing, and as things get more and more popular, we can add events and add meets,” said Huber, 53. “We’re trying to make track fun again. … We need organizers to have more of a vision to make it fun for the kids and the crowd.”
It’s evident that running is Huber’s passion. A longtime cross-country youth coordinator for the Valley Isle Road Runners, he started Hawaii Elite Track Club in 1993. Huber also owns the Front Street Mile, which will celebrate its 20th year in September, and served as race director of the Maui Marathon from 2011 to 2018.
The inaugural youth track season starts April 18 at King Kekaulike Stadium. The second meet will be April 25 at Kamehameha Maui’s Kanaiaupuni Stadium, then May 2 at the Na Ali‘i campus again, followed by the 95th annual Kiwanis Championships at Kamehameha Maui on May 9.
“I think it’s outstanding,” said King Kekaulike head coach Jesse Henderson. “Every sport needs a feeder program. This gives us the opportunity to look at the younger kids and to come out for more than just one track meet a year. And we’re also going to have our kids working the meet, so they will be able to interact with the high school track athletes as well. It’s just a positive all the way around.”
Rodney S. Yap has been covering Maui sports for more than 30 years. Email him at ryap2019@gmail.com.
