I feel bad for Jacinta Fonoti.
The smiling girl from Mililani, a senior athlete, suffered a serious shoulder injury last Saturday in a match against Waianae’s Leina Balancio-Sadamaru.
I was at that event, the OIA Wrestling Championships at the Leilehua gym, but was shooting video of boys matches when the injury happened, ending Fonoti’s bid for a 186-pound league title, which wound up going by injury default to Balancio-Sadamaru.
With states coming up this weekend, it’s doubtful Fonoti, a two-time placer at the big show in the Blaisdell, will be able to compete for a coveted Hawaii championship.
Injuries are a part of sports.
But every one of the handful of coaches I’ve spoken to who witnessed the match says it was an illegal and dangerous hold that her opponent used. They all believe, as you would expect from a high school athlete, that the hold was NOT intentional on Balancio-Sadamaru’s part.
Fonoti was screaming in pain and Mililani head coach Jamie Keehu and an assistant ran onto the mat to alert the two officials that their athlete was in jeopardy. As everyone knows, coaches approaching referees on the mat during a match is a no-no.
Mililani’s Jacinta Fonoti screams in pain a moment before her coaches rushed on to the mat to alert the officials that they thought this was an illegal and dangerous hold.
So, both coaches were hit with flagrant misconducts. Keehu’s penalty has since been reduced to unsportsmanlike conduct, and he can coach at the state tournament.
But what do you do when your athlete is in trouble like that? I know I would not just stand there.
“When a kid is screaming in pain, regardless of whether they thought it was illegal or not, the match should be stopped immediately,” Keehu wrote in an email to Bedrock Sports Hawaii.
A Tuesday email from Bedrock to head of officials Stan Ono requesting comment was not immediately returned. On Wednesday, Bedrock Sports called Joy Matsukawa, the acting Mililani athletic director who is also an OIA wrestling coordinator, and left a voicemail message requesting comment.
If either Ono or Matsukawa responds, it will be reflected in an update to this article.
Let it be known that this is not an easy story to write. Wrestling officials do a wonderful job and are indispensable. And it’s a TOUGH JOB. This is not being written to vilify them.
The incident was unfortunate. Did Keehu and his assistant make a mistake by going on to the mat? Technically, yes. Did the referees make a mistake by not blowing the whistle to help Fonoti who was screaming in pain?
I am not a judge, but it looks that way.
As a reporter, you look for facts. I hesitated writing this story as soon as the sparks of controversy started to buzz at Leilehua all the way until now. As a journalist, you are trained to get both sides of the story and I only have one — another reason for hesitation.
No matter what, I was eventually going to write something more (than the initial brief report in the “game” story), but what made it easier to do is that when the SLOW-LOADING videos that my son, Elijah Abramo, finally appeared on my computer Tuesday night, I watched the 186-pound match.
What I saw was Fonoti’s shoulder being twisted very unnaturally. I’m not a doctor and I’m not a wrestling coach, but what I saw on that video looked really dangerous to me. I also see that the Mililani assistant touches Sadamaru-Balancio on the back (as if to let her know she is seriously hurting Fonoti) for a second, which, by the letter of the law, is also a no-no.
You can watch the video here:
>> SEE: All 28 OIA Wrestling Championships Matches On Video; Plus: A Photo Gallery
What I believe will happen and what I hope will happen is that this unfortunate incident will be discussed by the proper officials and that extra safety measures (specifically dealing with when an athlete is in danger) will be put in place.
Fonoti has paid a deep price. Not only is she likely to miss out on states, her senior softball season for the Trojans is also in jeopardy.
7 Comments
Mahalo for taking the time to write this piece about my daughter and the injury she suffered this weekend. We are hoping for a speedy and full recovery and truly believe that without the swift actions of the Mililani coaches she would be in a very different situation. Our goal now is to gather support for her coaches who we feel are being unjustly penalized for saving their athlete, who was clearly in distress, from debilitating injury.
We understand that interference in a match sets a bad precedent but a line needs to be drawn for the safety of all high school athletes.
We thank the wrestling community for embracing our family throughout this journey.
GO TROJANS!
Burgundy Fonoti
Something needs to be in placed to protect our children, I feel the coach’s and his assistance did what was right rather then stand there and just watch as she cried out in pains such illegal move and no action taken by referee. Now she also misses the chance in state OIA, softball and potential scholarships. 😢
Article states “SCREAMING IN PAIN” red flag right there first thought reading this why hasn’t any of the officials watching this match blew the whistle yet? ive watched TWO videos the official that’s on the video on the website is seen in the second video the second video i got via text from someone that was present at the tournament.
( PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS PERSON RECORDING IS ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE MATT NOT SCREAMING OR SHOUTING. )
As i was watching the second video behind the official there’s a crowd of spectators inches away also watching the match the second the girls shoulder gets dislocated as you can see in BOTH of the videos the crowd behind the official is SCREAMING at him “HER ARM” someone even got off the bleachers also inches away but on the side of him and also was screaming “HER ARM” how do you not hear any of that? okay yes i get tournaments are loud but inches away on the side of you? behind you? as coach keehu stated “WETHER THEY THOUGHT IT WAS AN ILLEGAL MOVE OR NOT THE MATCH SHOULD BE STOPPED IMMEDIATELY”. was the coaches in the wrong for stepping in? with the rules YES of course but in this situation i have to disagree. ANY coach that sees there kid in jeopardy and not one official calls it i can almost garuntee you words will be exchanged in the heat of the moment and they’ll stop it themselves. any coach or parent would do that. yes the assistant coach did tap the girl it was in the HEAT OF THE MOMENT he noticed no official called it yet what is tapping the ref going to do give them another flag of disrupting? No. that coach so happens to be my old coach i helped coach alongside him for quite awhile and his coaching has gotten many people far in wrestling he done what anyone would’ve done he took action and so did the head coach in my eyes that’s not poor sportsmanship that’s making sure that she gets the medical attention she needs before anything else happened I’m no doctor but injuries like that make grown men cry imagine what that girl was feeling those couple minutes/seconds her shoulder is getting pulled back? she could’ve went into shock from being in so much pain or even worse she could’ve passed out from hyperventilating any sport that has to do with physical contact there is always a risk of getting injured. but the minute the referees “thought” it was an illegal move they should’ve stopped the match not let it roll out. the coaches sprung into action i get there’s laws but they couldn’t take it anymore longer watching as the girl endures pain nobody would be able to like i said and ill say it again ANYBODY WOULDVE DONE THE SAME despite the risks she was at jeopardy COACH OR PARENTS. these are teenagers still not grown people they came to show out and do something they grown to love and that’s wrestling.
This is very unfortunate. This should not have happened and I hope all stakeholders, not only the coaches in running this sport responsible for the injury.
I recall 2 years ago, major injuries occurring with with no concern from anyone of the Coach, Referee, Administrators, tournament directors or others involved. No communication!
I am glad you as parents have a start of getting attention to this incident.
As a parent when a child screams of pain we run…now this coaches are responsible for this children and they did there job very well…the child’s arm is broken and that’s a fact. What is the referee doing that he did not see nor hear the child scream…I would be thanking this coaches for breaking rule to make sure that the child is well…my opinion is the coaches made a sound decision…BE SAFE….
When a referee does not see something potentially dangerous to a athlete it would be irresponsible for a coach to sit and watch as their athlete incurs an possible serious injury that could be avoided, by bringing it to the referees attention as soon as possible, however it happens. To discipline a coach because of this is pretty asinine.
Jacinta I hope you have speedy recovery. @ coaches of Mililani, Thank you so much for looking out for Jacinta and @ Wrestling Officials, as it was said before you all are appreciated, hopefully you can take into account the incident as a whole and realize safety of an athlete vs Technically the rule is…safety of an athlete is so much more important. It would be sad to hear a coach or an assistant coach who worked all season with their athletes miss state due to trying to keep one of their athletes safe. It should always be about the safety of our Athlete.
I can’t imagine the fear, pain and panic Jacinta must’ve experienced not to mention that of her parents and grandparents. From the article and comments, there was also a lot of fear for her from the audience. Safety and the protection of life and limb should be a priority placed above all else. Yes, rules are put in place for a reason, but common sense and protection of a child should prevail above all else. The referee’s responsibilities are to control the match and the safety of the athletes. If the referee in this case failed to see or hear the excruciatingly painful screams, then the coaches who are responsible for their athletes need to intervene. How can a coach be disciplined for ensuring the safety of a child? It would be immoral and unethical to see a child hurt and stand by because of a rule. It is now unethical to punish the coaches for ensuring the athlete’s safety especially when the referee failed to. I commend the coaches for ensuring Jacinta’s safety. Prayers for Jacinta’s complete healing and justice for her coaches who put her safety before all else!
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