New Class AA Football Format a Hit

TORII STATION, Okinawa — Preparing for the Far East Class AA football playoffs in years past meant coaches had to morph into part game planner and part travel agent.

Sergio Mendoza remembers. In 2006, the Kadena coach had to double-book flight reservations and billeting for three different locations, then had to cancel tickets and orders when he found he’d be going to Seoul American for the title game — which the Panthers lost 12-6 in overtime.

Now, those days are over. Thanks to a change in plans by DODDS-Pacific’s Far East Activities Council, starting in November, all four Class AA semifinalists will head to Okinawa for an all-in-one-location playoff capped by a third-place game and a championship game on Nov. 9.

"I like the new format," Mendoza said. "It will be good for everybody."

The format change marks the first major task taken up by Don Hobbs as he accepts his new role as DODDS-Pacific’s athletics coordinator.

Hobbs says the reaction to the format change has been "all positive, without exception. They like the fact that they don’t have their mind bogged down with [paperwork]."

Having to travel two successive weekends was "a little drastic" for players and coaches at any level, Hobbs said. Now, teams will play two games in six days, practice in the interim and even take in a cultural site, such as the Ocean Expo Park aquarium.

"That’s something I think we’ve been missing," Mendoza said.

It’s the first major change to the football playoffs established in 2005 by FEAC. Issues such as whether and when the playoffs will rotate among the host schools are "to be determined," Hobbs said. "We’ll have time … to determine if another host site has sufficient billeting and adequate playing fields."

Since September 2003, Hobbs had overseen football and all 19 activities on the FEAC calendar; now, those chores will be divided, between Hobbs and a new activities czar to be named.

Naming an athletics coordinator brings DODDS-Pacific into alignment with DODDS-Europe, where Karen Seadore coordinates athletics.

"One person can focus on one aspect of co-curricular activities," Hobbs said. "I’m not spread thin. That’s the main reason.

"It’s all stuff I’m interested in and makes my job more enjoyable," he said.

Hobbs is working under new DODDS-Pacific director Diana Ohman, who switched spots with new Europe director Nancy Bresell.

"I like a phrase she [Ohman] wrote on a board at an all-hands meeting a few weeks ago: ‘Get ’er done.’ There are things I have to discuss with her, but I find her very, very supportive. I know she knows the role that athletics play in the life of a high school student," Hobbs said.

Hobbs discussed football, his new position and other topics in a wide-ranging interview last week at DODDS-Pacific’s regional headquarters at Torii Station. Other issues he addressed:

•  No consideration was given, Hobbs said, to lumping the Class A title game in with the Class AA playoffs because "we’d be talking [billeting 140 people] instead of 84. And if we have any other Far East event on Okinawa at the same time, it puts a squeeze on billeting. But also, with Class A, it’s nice to have a crowd at the game. We’d be taking a home game away from the fans."
•  While DODDS-Pacific has long scheduled Far East tournaments to change sites every two years, many have stayed in place — some far longer than that, such as Class A soccer at Matthew C. Perry since 2005. "Other schools … have a variety of reasons for not being able to host. They don’t have the billeting, the facilities, whatever," Hobbs said. "One of my goals this year is to see if we can get some of the other schools on board."
•  With enrollment at Zama, Yokota and Edgren just above or below 300, and with a high school at Camp Humphreys slated to open soon, more Class A schools are dotting the map. Redefining the enrollment cap, 360 for football and 300 for all others, is "always under consideration," Hobbs said. "The ideal situation would be to have six small and six large schools." Having three levels — Kadena, Kubasaki, Seoul American and Nile C. Kinnick at Class AAA; Yokota, Zama, Edgren and Guam High at Class AA; and Osan, Daegu, E.J. King and Perry at Class A — "could be discussed," Hobbs said. "We’d have to combine two of those tournaments at one location. If we went to three locations for all events, we’d be talking more money."
•  Reopening Far East wrestling, tennis and cross country meets to international schools is always under consideration, Hobbs said, "and that will be discussed. I want to get the feelings of people out in the field. And then, we’ll have to battle the reasons provided when the non-DODDS schools were excluded … billeting and facilities. I think those are real issues," maybe more so today than in 2004 when the decision was made, Hobbs said.
•  There is "always hope" that baseball, softball and track and field might be added to the FEAC calendar, Hobbs said. At the last FEAC meeting in May it was "discussed, put on hold, but it’s going to be addressed" at future FEAC and district superintendent meetings. The big hurdle, he said, is Advanced Placement exam weeks in early May, followed by Far East soccer tournament week, then final exams and graduation preparation.
•  DODEA worldwide got what Hobbs termed a "nice present" over the summer, awarding a contract to Team Sports Planet, an apparel company in Philadelphia that will outfit all DODEA teams in all sports. Hobbs didn’t reveal the exact amount of the contract; one official privately told Stripes it was in the "low seven figures" for all schools. "It was sufficient for the needs of all the schools," Hobbs said.