As is becoming a welcome tradition at Lahainaluna, the 4th Annual Fire Up the Imu fundraising event was held prior to the Lunas' preseason varsity football game versus the visiting Kea'au Cougars of the Big Island. The event started at 10:00am but I was a ltitle late coming from Wailuku so I did not get there until about 11:30am. There were games, food (Cool Cat Cafe), and Lahainaluna merchandise for sale. Unfortunately, because I got there a little later, there was not much left to buy from what I saw. That's all right - next time I need to come more early!
The Lahainaluna Pep & Marching band and the cheerleading squads also made an appearance:
Observations
All of these festivities are to benefit the continued construction of the stadium at Lahainaluna. While the field, track and scoreboard are essentially complete, the infrastructure surrounding the field needs to be improved to match the state-of-the-art playing field that we now have. As usual, it was another hot day in Lahaina. Better seating, more seats, restroom facilities, vendor facilities, and SHADE would be appreciated. Hopefully, sufficient lighting can be installed to allow for night games or late afternoon games. Starting games at 1:30pm is brutal - for players and the fans. Imagine if had a JV game starting at 11:00am (which will be the case next week against King Kekaulike). Being out in the hot sun from 10:30am for warm-ups through the end of the varsity game at about 4:00pm will be BRUTAL for an out-of-shape photographer like me. Can you imagine how brutal it will be for fans to sit on the hot metal bleachers for both games? Need plenty water, sunscreen, hat, umbrella, and a defibrillator for sure!
I believe that with lights and increased seating capacity, late afternoon/early evening games can be accommodated at the field and the viewing (and playing) experience would be tremendously enhanced. Watching the view of the sun setting between Lanai and Molokai from Lahainaluna field while watching a football game - not only will it be awesome for the fans, but for the photographers as well.
Good work by all those who put the event together and to those tirelessly working to bring in donations and contributions to help complete the stadium project.
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