Maui Invitational
The Lahaina Civic
Center, where the event is usually held, is currently a hub for wildfire relief efforts across the board and right on the northern edge of the devastation in Lahaina town, so it was simply not an option.
Throw in having boosters in the Kaanapali hotels that are currently housing thousands of people displaced by the fires, and the LCC fades further from being an option to host the event.
War Memorial Gym is being renovated to become a hurricane shelter and the South Maui Community Park gymnasium simply doesn’t have enough parking or seating to make it usable. I was told that Maui High School’s Shine Matsui Athletic Center was discussed, but quickly shot down when the powers-thatbe realized school will be in session Nov. 20-22.
“It was our intention to find a way to host it on Maui, to find a way to host in Lahaina Civic Center,” Bovaird said. “But we totally understand and we totally support the local administration and government over there. They feel that — and obviously for good reason — that they need to continue to use Lahaina Civic Center as a hub for the disaster relief. Who can blame them for that? That’s what it needs to be, is to support the public at this time.
“We considered War Memorial Gym, but it’s under renovation. In my opinion those are the only two venues that could potentially host something of this magnitude over there.”
It took me an extra inquiry to the Kemper Sports Live folks to add to their statement announcing the move to Oahu that they intend to be back here next year. For Bovaird, that is not in question, assuming things will be in place by then to host the event here.
“I know it’s everybody’s full intention to bring the Maui Invitational back to Maui as quickly as we can,” he said. “We’re obviously hoping that that’s next year.”
Bovaird did say that “mixed messages” early in the process may have set things back a bit, but in the end it just wasn’t going to happen here this year.
“There were mixed messages about whether Maui wants tourists or whether they don’t want tourists and there was a lot of concern from fan bases — they don’t know the intricacies of an island like Maui like we do,” Bovaird said. “So, there was a lot of just unknown through a lot of the big fan bases. So, there was a lot of concerns.
“I think the governor has addressed that and the mayor has addressed that since, but … we had to make a decision.”
The logistics of televising 12 college basketball games in three days was a large part of the looming deadline that eventually forced the Sept. 15 announcement that the event would be held on Oahu.
“We waited as long as could, we kept pushing, pushing it back as much as possible,” Bovaird said. “There’s so many details that go along with this tournament that a site had to be determined.”
The SSC is not a perfect locale for the event. The eight teams will be hardpressed to find practice gyms because the University of Hawaii will be busy using its own on-campus facilities.
Rainbow Wahine volleyball’s senior night match against Long Beach State is Nov. 18, about 40 hours before the Maui Invitational starts.
Rainbow Wahine basketball will host the Bank of Hawaii Classic with two games each on Nov. 17 and Nov. 19, the last being a UH-Idaho game that begins at 5 p.m. the night before the Maui Invitational.
“Every intention, every intention, 100 percent,” Bovaird said of the event returning to Maui next year. “That’s where we want to be, that’s where Kemper Sports Live wants to be, that’s where all the top teams that want to come over in the future, that’s where they want to be.
“So, yeah, every intention is for that to happen.”
The Silverswords themselves were disappointed that the event couldn’t happen here this year. Several members of this team played this event in Las Vegas in 2021, one year after it was held in Asheville, N.C., due to the pandemic.
“They’ve heard us talk about some of our experiences going over to Maui for the Maui Invitational,” Bovaird said. “There was definite disappointment in there when I told them, but if we couldn’t host it on Maui then our second choice would be to host it on Oahu. Fortunately the University of Hawaii granted us permission to use their Stan Sheriff Center.
“Guys are excited about that, but it’s not the same as that beautiful stretch of West Maui, for sure. They’re excited about just the opportunity. Nobody really wanted to go anywhere else, but be in Hawaii for sure.”