Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s new guidelines for public gatherings in Honolulu County have come just in time for fans to be able to attend the start of the Oahu Interscholastic Association football season.
Starting Oct. 13, fans can go to football games, but public school stadiums will only be allowed to bring people in at 50% capacity with a maximum of 1,000 customers. See accompanying chart for full guidelines.
The long-awaited OIA football season starts Oct. 15. The OIA, which has not played games in any sport since November 2019, is made up of all public schools. The private school league, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, has been playing football games since August and will be wrapping up its season by the end of October.
“We sincerely thank everyone who has received their vaccination and helped stop the surging COVID-19 numbers, reducing the pressure on our hospitals and healthcare workers,” Blangiardi tweeted Friday. “This is thanks to the stellar combined efforts from our community. … This is about acknowledging the efforts of the majority of our people who have done their part to keep our communities safe. I think it is now fair to say, we recognize we all need to learn to live with COVID-19 while we rebuild our economy and balance our overall public health.”
Most ILH games are being played at Aloha Stadium, which has been deemed not safe to hold fans. The stadium itself is scheduled for demolition in the near future to make way for a new facility within the next few years.
Now, it will be up to each public school hosting a football game to ensure that not too many tickets are sold in order to properly follow these new guidelines. No more games are scheduled this season at private schools.
Two weeks ago, ‘Iolani — a private school — allowed some fans to attend a game at Kozuki Stadium against Damien, but it was limited to parents of seniors on both squads. Private schools are not beholden to the public guidelines if the event it hosts is of an educational nature, of which football is included.
The Oct. 15-16 slate of OIA and ILH games is below.
For a full master schedule of all Hawaii leagues (OIA, ILH, BIIF, MIL, KIF), click here.
FRIDAY, OCT. 15
ILH Open
>> Saint Louis vs. Kamehameha, at Aloha Stadium, 7:30 p.m.
ILH Division I/II
>> PAC-5 vs. Saint Louis II, at Aloha Stadium, 5 p.m.
OIA Open
>> Waianae at Mililani, 7:30 p.m.
>> Kahuku at Kapolei, 7:30
>> Farrington at Campbell, 7:30 p.m.
Nonleague Division I exhibition
>> Damien at Moanalua, time TBA
SATURDAY, OCT. 16
OIA Division I
>> Roosevelt at Waipahu, 6:30 p.m.
OIA Division II
>> Waialua vs. McKinley, at Roosevelt High field, 3 p.m.
>> Radford vs. Kaimuki, at Farrington High field, 6:30 p.m.
>> Kalani at Kaiser, 6:30 p.m.
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RELATED COVERAGE AT BedrockSportsHawaii.com:
>> No. 2 Saint Louis Staves Off Major ILH Football Challenge By No. 3 Punahou
>> Saint Louis II Winds Up The Winner In Topsy-Turvy ILH Football Game
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