WAIMEA — The lights will go on if needed, said Waimea athletic director Jon Kobayashi of Saturday’s Kauai Interscholastic Federation football game where the Menehune will host Kauai High School at Hanapepe Stadium. “The junior varsity game will start at
WAIMEA — The lights will go on if needed, said Waimea athletic director Jon Kobayashi of Saturday’s Kauai Interscholastic Federation football game where the Menehune will host Kauai High School at Hanapepe Stadium.
“The junior varsity game will start at 2 p.m., and the varsity game will begin about 30 minutes following the end of the JV match,” Kobayashi said. “I estimate that will be between 4:15 and 4:30 p.m. for the varsity play. This is a compromise and Waimea thanks the officials, including the county, state and federal agencies, for allowing us to play because of the heightened number of fledging birds following the full moon.”
The full moon will take place Oct. 5 in Hawaii.
Football fans are encouraged to be on the lookout for any birds which may become confused and fall out of the sky. Fallen birds should be reported to officials who will be at the front gate, the food booth or the press box. The special monitoring teams will also be in place.
“We at the KIF are continuing to work with the officials to try and reach outcomes where both birds and people win,” Kobayashi said. “We thank the people for allowing us this opportunity.”
Attendance to this game is expected to be high in light of the importance to the Menehune who enter Saturday’s game with a 3-2-0 regular season record.
The Menehune face off against Kauai High School, who following last week’s 30-0 win over Kapaa sits at 4-2-0.
A Menehune win will improve Waimea to 4-2-0 while Kauai will slip to 4-3-0 heading into the final KIF season games where Waimea will meet Kapaa (3-3-0 following the Sept. 30 outcome), Oct. 14 at Vidinha Stadium.
Ms. Joyce Evens, a Waimea instructor, said if the game does not end by the time the sun sets, stadium lights will be turned on to allow the completion of the game.
“But the lights will go off once the game ends,” Evens said. “During the last night game on Sept. 22 when the Memo of Understanding was signed, there was some time to allow people to exit the stadium following the game. This time, the lights will go out even sooner.”
A fan suggested — bring a flashlight!