Hula Bowl

The Hula Bowl is an independently administered post-season invitational college football game held each year in Hawaii, currently at Aloha Stadium in the Hālawa district of Honolulu, Hawaiokinai. The longest-running sporting event in Hawaiokinai, it has been considered a premier venue to launch professional careers in the National Football League. Today the Hula Bowl is a trademarked institution of the Downtown Athletic Club, of Heisman Trophy fame.

In its current format it pits an all-star team of players who attended college in the Eastern United States against a team of players from the Western United States. In the past, a North vs. South format has been used and in some years, the teams were split into the Aina and Kai teams, the Hawaiian words for land and water (designating "East" and "West", respectively). For many years it was distinguished from a similar event, the Senior Bowl, by playing by collegiate rather than professional rules and by being amateur, which at one point was very important for those wishing to remain eligible to compete in collegiate or other amateur sports in the future, but is less relevant today. The game, and especially the practice sessions leading up to it, are attended by many professional scouts, and can have an important bearing on where a player, particularly one from a lesser-known school, is drafted by the NFL.

History

The Hula Bowl was established in 1946 by Paul Stupin as the Hula Bowl All-Star Football Classic. It was originally played in the Honolulu Stadium in Honolulu before the bowl was moved to the Aloha Stadium in neighboring Halawa. In 1998, then-Maui County Mayor Linda Lingle convinced organizers to move the game to the War Memorial Stadium in the town of Kahului. However, due to poor attendance and reduced revenue, the Hula Bowl returned to Aloha Stadium for its 2006 game, the 60th Anniversary contest, and Cornerstone Financial Services became the titlular sponsor as the game was renamed the "Cornerstone Bancard Hula Bowl".

Future direction of the Hula Bowl

On July 1, 2006, it was announced that the AFCA would end its ten-year relationship with the Hula Bowl due to "philosophical differences" over the future plans for the game [ [http://www.afca.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=60616&SPID=6609&DB_OEM_ID=9300&ATCLID=603675 AFCA Ends Relationship with Hula Bowl] ] , including proposed changes for the 2007 game — such as reintroducing the "Hawaiokinaian Islands versus Mainland" matchup used from 1947 to 1959. University of Hawaiokinai head coach June Jones expressed a willingness to coach a potential Hawaiokinaian Islands team, which would have a mix of Hawaiokinaian and Polynesian players and, bowl organizers hope, would draw more fans to the game. The Hula Bowl had also discussed the idea of allowing junior status players to participate in the game and bringing over college football players from Japan, something the game has done in the recent past. [ [http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Jul/29/sp/FP607290333.html Hula Bowl tries to reinvent itself] , "The Honolulu Advertiser", July 29, 2006.]

Game officials have also discussed awarding a national "Hula Bowl Player of the Week" to college players during the regular season; the winning players would be invited to play in the Hula Bowl and be able to direct a $1,000 donation to a charity in their state. [ibid.]

In 2008, the coaches will be Jeff Jagodzinski from Boston College and Ron Zook from Illinois for the Aina (East) team, and Mike Riley from Oregon State and Mike Sanford of Nevada-Las Vegas for the Kai (West) team.

Past Hula Bowl results

All-Time Series: North 9-7-1; College Stars 1-0; East 16-11-1; Aina 3-0

* The game was played at Honolulu Stadium from 1960 through 1974 prior to moving to Aloha Stadium. Aloha Stadium hosted this game from 1975-97, and started hosting the game again in 2006 after being moved back from War Memorial Stadium.

* When the inaugural Hula Bowl All-Star Football Classic was played on January 5, 1947, the teams were composed of mainland college players pitted against a local team of graduates of Leilehua, a local high school in Wahiawā, Hawai'i. The teams played a two-game series every January until 1951, when the format was changed to allow NFL players to join the Hawaiian all-stars in an effort to create a more competitive environment. In the 1960s the Hula Bowl changed formats again, limiting play to only collegiate athletes.

Past Hula Bowl MVP's

ee also

* Poi Bowl (1936—1939)
* Pineapple Bowl (1940—1952)
* Aloha Bowl (1982—2000)
* Oahu Bowl (1998—2000)
* Hawaii Bowl (since 2002)
* List of college bowl games

External links

* [http://www.hulabowlhawaii.com/ Hula Bowl Hawaiokinai]

References