It didn’t take long for fallout from this week’s devastating wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui to reach Huntington Beach, California.
Edison High School’s varsity football team had been scheduled to depart Aug. 10 for a nine-day visit to Maui. The trip has been scrapped, however, due to fire damage in the coastal town of Lahaina and elsewhere on the island.
The Chargers’ scheduled games Aug. 12 against Baldwin High in Wailuku and Aug. 18 against Lahainaluna in Lahaina have been canceled leaving huge holes in the team’s schedule.
“Right now, our thoughts just go out to the community in Hawaii, and hope they are able to weather this storm, so to speak,” Edison Assistant Principal Ed Begany told The Epoch Times. “It’s unfortunate. I feel bad for our families and our program, but our thoughts go to Lahaina. Hopefully their community can rebound from this.”
The nightmarish wildfires fanned by Hurricane Dora passing south of the Hawaiian Islands were responsible for at least 93 deaths, untold property damage, and massive evacuations as of Aug. 12, according to Maui officials.
The cancellation of Edison’s trip became official Aug. 9, but not without some challenges of its own. Power and telephone outages on Maui made communication between respective school officials difficult.
“The decision was kind of made for us,” said Mr. Begany, who also oversees Edison athletics. “We’re not going to put our kids and our families in harm’s way. The hotel we were going to stay in has evacuated. It’s devastating, obviously. We’ve been working real hard to go. It’s a bonding concept any time you’re able to experience that.”
As of now, at least, the Chargers will have to wait until a scheduled Aug. 25 game against Leuzinger High in Lawndale to open their season. The team’s players are naturally disappointed.
“They were devastated, but they understand,” Mr. Begany said. “It’s not something they wanted to have happen, but we’re resilient. The kids understand it’s an unsafe situation. We’re not going to take a chance and go put ourselves in that situation.”
Coach Jeff Grady and school officials are hoping to find opponents to fill two of the three open dates on Edison’s schedule, the weekends of Aug. 18, Sept. 1, and Sept. 22.
“We want to play games,” Mr. Begany said. “Our kids work really hard in the offseason, and we want to make sure they’re able to showcase themselves.”
The biggest challenge, of course, is that most schools’ schedules have long since filled.
In light of the cancellations, Edison is willing to consider opposition outside the CIF Southern Section.
“We’re looking at any of the close sections,” Mr. Begany said. “We have a couple of leads, but nothing very solid. Anybody that’s willing to come here, or we’re willing to go there … it depends on how far it is and if we can make it all happen.”
Another Orange County team, Villa Park of Orange, is scheduled to play Aug. 11 against Damien in Honolulu. With the island of Oahu unaffected by the wildfires, that game remains on, Spartans Athletic Director Tom Fox confirmed to The Epoch Times in an email.
An Aug. 11 game between Long Beach Poly and Konawaena High of Kealakekua on the Big Island of Hawaii also remained on as of Aug. 10, according to Long Beach Poly officials.
While there have also been wildfires on the Big Island, they have not been nearly as destructive as those on Maui.
