Have Your Red Raiders Live, On TV and Online Whenever
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usThe allure of Kahuku athletics is far-reaching, as seen in the volume of orders coming into the Kahuku.org store that makes and sells Red Raider sports apparel and other items.
Fans will find their teams even more accessible this fall with the recent agreement to broadcast Kahuku sports live over the Internet on Network1sports.com.
The school’s first audio broadcast, which is free to listeners, came Aug. 21, when the football team beat Kailua (54-25) in the OIA Red East opener for both teams. Under the agreement, games shown on OC-16 will not be carried by Network1sports.com this year, but that’s fine with most of Red Raider Nation, since it’s now guaranteed access to nearly every game by way of TV or the Internet site.
“We want to get the word out,” said longtime athletic director Joe Whitford. “For those who can’t make it to the game because they’re working late or whatever, they can still listen to the game.”
Kahuku alumni are spread out geographically, so the arrangement figures to be popular with audiences even outside of Hawaii.
The first broadcast had 200 hits, without the aid of advertising, Whitford said. “We had listeners from all over the Mainland and in the South Pacific. A lot of them also accessed our chat room.”
To say the stars were aligned for the arrangement is an understatement. Network owner Greg Hitchcock was actually vacationing at Turtle Bay and drove onto the campus one day without knowing anything about Kahuku. He went to the front office and asked if he could talk to the athletic director. Whitford happened to be in the office.
“He just happened to see our school,” Whitford said. “Usually, he would go the other way when driving (to town).”
Putting Kahuku games on Network1sports.com cost the school nothing.
“He sent us the equipment to get us on the air,” Whitford said, noting that in the future, the broadcasts could be “a revenue source.
“We need to look at it.” Whitford stepped in to do the play-by-play with former Red Raider coach Siuaki Livai as color analyst. Whitford has done broadcasting for BYU, but hadn’t done play-by-play before the Kailua game. “It’s exciting,” he admitted. “I’m trying to do the best that I can.”
Livai led Kahuku to four state titles during his tenure. “He’s still learning as well,” Whitford added. “He knows a lot about football, having been the head coach here. He’s been to the top, and he understands the athletes themselves. He brings a tremendous perspective.”
Friday night’s football game at Kaiser will not be broadcast, but Whitford said that upcoming road games against both Roosevelt Sept. 17 and Moanalua Sept. 24 will be online.
With last weekend’s game with Saint Louis on OC-16 and games with Farrington and Castle slated to be on the network, Kahuku could have four home games on statewide television in 2010, should it also appear in an OIA playoff game later in the season.
All Kahuku girls home volleyball matches also will be broadcast, as well as boys and girls basketball games. Former UH player and Kahuku standout Teisa Fotu Auva’a will provide the color on the volleyball broadcasts.
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