McKinley High School’s athletic field is still unfinished. Community support is important for this project to progress. The Ala Moana-Kakaako Neighborhood Board on October 27 heard testimony from MHS students, alumni, staff and coaches arguing for the completion of this project. One testimony is reprinted below. This meeting was designed as a listening session, so the board made no recommendation, but the issue will come up again. Bob Morikuni, athletic director, said, “We will need more testimony again, , … so get ready for that.”

_________________________

Aloha, my name is Laiza Cabote and I am a junior at McKinley High School. I was last year’s varsity soccer team captain and this year’s student council treasurer.

To start off, I just want to say thank you for giving me an opportunity to speak on this matter. It really means a lot to me as someone representing my school.

First, I want to talk about my personal experiences as a student athlete. Soccer season occurs during the winter and the days are shorter, so sometimes our practice is cut short because it’s unsafe to play in the dark. Because of that, we lose valuable practice time that would be useful during our games. Having lights at night would greatly help us get that little bit of practice we need as it would significantly make a difference while playing. In addition to this, the completion of the field would allow us to host home games at night because we mainly host them during the day when the heat is scorching hot. It would significantly enhance our playing season by a lot.

I think I can speak for the other sports in the entire school when I say that we have all been waiting excitedly for the completion of the stadium at McKinley High School. We’ve been looking forward to the day we get to host games at our school and show off our beautiful field. I know that it would encourage people to be more proactive in supporting our sport events. I know that the completion of this stadium with lights will make our community come together, strengthen our Tiger pride, and encourage Tiger spirit amongst everyone at school. The completion of the stadium will not only benefit students of McKinley today but for future graduates to come. Thank you.