There’s renewed discussion on Kauai over when high school football games are played.
Some want to bring back those beloved Friday night lights, but finding both short and long-term solutions hasn’t come easy.
It’s an issue dating back to 2010. Seemingly every season, there’s a debate over whether to prioritize protecting endangered birds or protecting young athletes from intense afternoon heat.
The Kauai Interscholastic Federation confirmed there will be no nighttime games for 2024 at the recommendation of the Department of Fish and Wildlife Service.
This renewed discussion also comes in light of the Navy’s plan to increase inert bombing exercises at Ka’ula island, a bird sanctuary some 60 miles southwest of Kauai.
Friday night games were first moved to Saturday afternoons in 2010 to protect Newell’s shearwaters and other native birds. Football season coincides with fledgling season, and the county faces steep fines for every downed bird disoriented in stadium lights.
The county even set aside $4.6 million to retrofit lights with domes, but that still wasn’t enough.
