HONOLULU — A group of parents of student-athletes at Hawaii Pacific University are taking public their concerns about what they call the “negligent” behavior of HPU athletics toward their children over the past year.
Parents of three current and former members of the HPU acrobatics and tumbling team spoke to Spectrum News about their rising anger and frustration about issues they say have been building since last May.
What You Need To Know
A group of parents of acrobatics and tumbling student-athletes at Hawaii Pacific University came forward to share with Spectrum News their concerns and frustrations about Sharks athletics over the past year
Their anger stemmed from a seven-month period in which HPU did not hire a new head coach in the sport, raising fears about the future of the program, though HPU got a head coach in place for the 2023 season, and some of its athletes will participate in a national championship meet this weekend
HPU hired one of its student-athletes to be its head coach in the fall of 2022, but that was short-lived as Athletic Director Debbie Snell suspended and removed the student-turned-coach soon afterward
HPU and Snell are the subject of lawsuits from current and former Sharks head coaches in two other sports
