Farrington parts ways with long-time hoops coach Leopoldo

After 22 years, Steven Leopoldo is no longer a basketball coach at Farrington.

Leopoldo guided the Lady Governors to an OIA Division II championship in 2014 with daughter Brydgette Leopoldo as their leading scorer.

That squad was seeded third in the state championships and lost to BIIF runner-up Kamehameha-Hawaii, 64-58, in the quarterfinals.

In ’19, coach Leopoldo led the Farrington boys to the OIA D-II title. The Govs defeated KIF champion Kauai 62-52 and BIIF champion Hawaii Prep 58-44. Farrington then lost to Damien 73-50 in the final. This year, Farrington won the OIA D-II boys championship, rallying past Kalani 68-55 in the final. The Governors were seeded second in the state tournament and lost to ILH runner-up University 48-29 in the first round.

Farrington’s decision to release Leopoldo caught him by surprise.

“I think they terminated me. They told me come have a meeting, we’ll talk about coaching. Next thing, they tell me for being a coach here at Farrington, you have to be a faculty or staff member,” Leopoldo said of the meeting with administrators two weeks ago. Leopoldo noted that boys volleyball coach Reagan Agena and girls volleyball coach Raymond Patcho are not on Farrington’s faculty or staff.

“They caught me off guard. They know I’m security (on campus), but they never offered me anything else,” he said. “Everybody’s calling me, asking if I stepped down. No, I didn’t step down.”

He spent years as an assistant coach on the girls side under then-head coach Caroline Tatupu.

“To me, it’s unprofessional what they did. It leaked out already that Sol (Batoon) was going to be the coach. He went around telling people,” Leopoldo said. “I heard so many rumors. I was told back in April, so-and-so was going to be the (new) coach.”

Batoon is a teacher at Farrington, a former St. Francis athletic director and coach. He also coached at St. Joseph, Campbell and Thompson Academy.

Farrington athletic director Harold Tanaka did not return calls seeking comment about Leopoldo.

“I’m not going to do anything now. I can’t complain because it’s a year-to-year position. It’s up to the principal (Alfredo Carganilla). He runs the school. Coach Tanaka said it’s the principal’s call,” Leopoldo said.

Leopoldo was an all-star guard for Farrington in the early 1980s, teaming up with younger brother Leo during the heyday of coach Harry Pacarro’s era. Coaching at another school isn’t in his plans.

“Half of me wants to do it, half of me doesn’t. It depends on where it is,” Leopoldo said. “I’ll keep my door open and what comes, comes.”

“These former players that come back and thank me year after year, how much I’ve impacted their lives, to this day I see a lot of them at the store, at the beach, in the community. That’s the thing I’ll miss,” Leopoldo said. “The coaches I bonded with year after year, the (OIA) East coaches and West coaches. I have good friendships with all of them. I’ll miss them, too. But hey, maybe it’s a blessing. There will be more time for my kids year ’round.”

His family includes children ages 10, 8, 5 and 3.