Six years removed from Saint Louis School, Marcus Mariota will be a “captain” for the Polynesian Hall of Fame’s inaugural high school football all-star game at Aloha Stadium.
The Jan. 21, 2017 game, which is to feature primarily Polynesian players from Hawaii, the U.S. mainland, Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Samoa, won unanimous approval from the Aloha Stadium Authority on Thursday.
The opposing captain will be Ronnie Stanley. Hall spokesman Phil Hetu said Mariota, the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner, and Stanley, the 2015 Polynesian College Football Player of the Year from Notre Dame, will choose among 84 high-ranked high school players in a concept similar to that of the NFL Pro Bowl, where Jerry Rice and Michael Irvin were captains.
“Well, we’re going to have Team Mariota and Team Stanley,” Hetu said.
Mariota said through a spokesman, “I am very excited to be involved with the Polynesian Bowl Game. Being a part of something that honors my heritage is very important to me. I am looking forward to working with the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame to assist in making this the best high school all-star game in the country. It is exciting that the game will be held in Honolulu and feature some of our best local players. This will give our local and international players opportunities and exposure that is much needed. Team Mariota is ready to go.”
Seventy-five percent are expected to be of Polynesian ancestry.
The authority agreed to waive $1,000 in rental fees, while the event will pay operating costs.
“I feel this event is long overdue,” said member Keith “Kika” Bukoski.
Organizers told the authority that they are in discussion with ESPN3 about televising the game.
“I firmly believe this event has a lot of potential,” said authority member Keith Amemiya.
A spokesman said Mariota’s “Motiv8” foundation “will be providing the Nike uniforms and apparel for the players and coaches.”
Hetu said organizers hope to have the game attain the same level as the eight-year old Under Armour All-America Football Game in Orlando, Fla., and the 16-year-old U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas, both held in early January.
In other news, the field at Aloha Stadium is now officially “Hawaiian Tel Federal Credit Union Field at Aloha Stadium” the Stadium Authority said.
Hawaiian Tel FCU this month becomes the naming rights holder for the field, replacing Hawaiian Airlines, which did not renew a five-year agreement that expired in December.
Hawaiian Tel FCU will pay $275,000 per year over the life of the three-year agreement. The airline had paid $2.5 million over the course of its 2011-15 deal.
“I know it is far from what we would actually like to see and what was done in the past, but we’re just grateful that Hawaiian Tel FCU was willing to step to the plate and negotiate a naming rights agreement for the field,” stadium manager Scott Chan told the authority.
Officials have cited declining attendance at UH games as a factor in the drop.
