Student displaced by wildfire pleads with DOE to reconsider rule keeping her off the court

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A Lahainaluna High student is fighting to play her senior year of high school volleyball, but a Department of Education rule is keeping her off the court.

“Our school holds so much pride and I just want to be able to play with them again.”

Sophia Nicole Abut was set to start her senior year at Llahainaluna before the Aug. 8 wildfire leveled her hometown. In the wake of the disaster, she made the choice to transfer to King Kekaulike.

“I made the decision to transfer to King Kekaulike to continue my education,” Abut told Hawaii News Now. ”Obviously, not knowing when Lahainaluna was going to be opening up.”

When the Department of Education finally revealed plans to reopen Lahaina schools, Abut re-enrolled in LahainaLuna to reunite with and finish her high school career and get back on the court.

The DOE denied her the change.

‘My coach took me to talk to the athletic director to explain my situation and I just got a straight up no,” said Abut, who is struggling to understand why an exception can’t be made.

“Knowing you lost your town and knowing you can’t play the sport you love, that you’ve been playing for so long and you’ve been looking forward to your senior years since like the fifth grade has just been taken away from you,” Abut said. “It just doesn’t sit right with me.”

She penned this letter to the Maui Interscholastic League pleading to get back on the court.

In a statement, the Maui Interscholastic League said:

As our community is aware, due to the smaller size of the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL), competition amongst school athletics is elevated. As students began temporary enrollment at other Maui schools as a result of the wildfires, a league decision was made that student athletes would need to choose between participating in athletics at their new school, or waiting to participate in athletics at Lahainaluna once it reopened. Incoming temporary students were therefore informed that they should not participate in their temporary school’s athletic programs if they intended to re-enroll at Lahainaluna and participate in athletics there. We understand how significant athletics are for students and families and appreciate the support and understanding from our students, staff and families during this challenging time.

Abut is now forced to watch from the stands.

“I just feel like I really want to be on the court,” she said. “Like I feel really anxious and I just feel kind of sad that I’m missing out, but I’m just here to support both teams.”

After seeing the support from both of her now former teams, she’s still fighting.

“I feel like it shouldn’t be that big of a problem.”