Edison’s football team was supposed to start the 2023 high school season with back-to-back games in Maui, but the contests were canceled Wednesday because of wildfires that have ravaged the Hawaiian island.
The Chargers were to open the season Saturday against Baldwin in the Maui town of Wailuku and then play in Lahaina against Lahainaluna on Aug. 18. The team was supposed to leave Thursday for the nine-day trip.
Fires have forced the evacuation of many Maui residents. The Associated Press reported that one shelter was said to have more than 1,000 evacuees on its grounds Wednesday morning and that Maui’s Kahului Airport was sheltering around 2,000 travelers who had just arrived on the island or whose flights were canceled.
“I’ve talked to both athletic directors (for the Maui schools) and the games aren’t going to happen and they shouldn’t happen,” said Edison coach Jeff Grady. “The last thing on their minds is playing a high school football game. Our hearts go out to those people.”
Our hearts go out to the residents of Lahaina and Maui as they face these devastating fires. We can not imagine what they are going through in this time. Praying for their safety.
With that being said, our trip to Maui has been cancelled. This is much bigger than football.
— Edison Football ⚡️ (@EdisonChargerFB) August 9, 2023
Edison was planning to send 80 players, its coaching staff and support personnel to Maui.
Grady said Wednesday he did not know if Edison would receive some financial relief from the cancellations.
Edison hopes to find opponents to fill the two openings on its schedule. The Chargers have open dates in Week 0 (Aug. 17-19), Week 2 (Aug.31-Sept. 2) and Week 5 (Sept. 21-23).
Villa Park’s football team is still planning to play its season opener Friday night in Hawaii. Villa Park is playing in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, which is not battling any wildfires at this time.
Villa Park’s players and coaches arrived in Honolulu on Sunday and have spent the week swimming at the beach, cliff diving and doing other team activities while also preparing to play Damien High of Honolulu on Friday night.
Long Beach Poly’s football team is also dealing with the wildfires in Hawaii. The team has been on the Big Island since Tuesday and is supposed to play Friday night in Konawaena, which was not considered in imminent danger of the wildfires as of Wednesday afternoon.
For related news, see: Long Beach Poly football monitoring Hawaii wildfires ahead of Friday’s season opener
