The most recent football schedule issued by the Oahu Interscholastic Association shows that Waialua will not play any JV football games this year.
Bulldogs athletic director Bryce Kaneshiro confirmed that Monday.
“It’s been a recurring problem,” said Kaneshiro, who added that Waialua hasn’t had a JV team since 2013.
“Kids show interest at signups and that gives us hope,” he said. “Then in the summer that interest starts to wane and some kids decide not to play.”
About 35 players signed up in May and by June there were less than half of that out for the JV team.
“Then we hope that at the beginning of the school year there will be an influx,” Kaneshiro said.
As it turns out, 10 freshmen players and two sophomores have been brought up to the varsity team, which is 35 strong now.
In another downside, those 10 freshmen — now that they’re on the varsity — can not play JV next year if Waialua fields a team. By rule, once you play varsity, you are ineligible for JV.
Kaneshiro said a lot of those underclassmen played and contributed in the Bulldogs’ varsity game against Kaimuki — a 63-0 loss on Aug. 12. This year’s varsity team (0-2) also includes four sophomores who played on the varsity as freshmen last year.
“For us to ever have a JV team, we’ll have to have a big turnout of ninth-graders one year,” he said.
In 2016, when the Waialua varsity won the OIA Division II championship, the 22 seniors on the team were freshmen on that 2013 Bulldogs JV team, the last JV squad the school fielded.
I sang “Wailua Sky” by The Krush at a talent show once and it killed. Not a dry eye in the house!