Hawaii Pacific softball community members ‘upset’ over planned move to Sand Island
HONOLULU — An announced change of venue for Hawaii Pacific University’s storied softball program has been met with dismay and anger from members of the Sharks community.
Former HPU softball coaches and players spoke out to Spectrum News in the days after the private institution announced July 14 it will move its practices and games from Howard A. Okita Field at the Hawaii Loa satellite campus in Kaneohe to Sand Island, close to its Aloha Tower Marketplace hub, starting in fall 2024.
HPU expects to save some money with the move and said it can create better accessibility for its student-athletes at the site across Honolulu Harbor from Aloha Tower. But HPU softball community members who spoke to Spectrum News said the sites do not compare when it comes to field quality, amenities, scenery and history — the last of those being perhaps the most important to them, as the late former coach Howard Okita built it up personally, by hand, over the decades to match the program’s rise from humble roots into an NCAA Division II national champion.
