MEDIA RELEASE

Sponsors of the upcoming HI-PAL Winter Basketball Classic have shifted tournament venues so public memorial services for U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye may be held at Hilo’s Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

Upon learning the auditorium is needed for large crowds expected to honor the late senator, the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Hawai‘i Police Activities League promptly modified the 32nd Annual HI-PAL Winter Basketball Classic schedule.

“We join all Hawai‘i residents in mourning the passing of Sen. Inouye and are happy to reschedule tournament play to accommodate memorial services for this true American hero,” Parks Director Clayton Honma said. “The Department of Parks and Recreation and HI-PAL thank the 56 teams entered in the tournament for their understanding.”

Memorial services for Sen. Inouye, who died Monday at the age of 88, will occur Thursday, December 27, at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

The tournament will be played December 26 through December 29. The following gymnasiums will be used:

• Hilo Armory – mixed-gender teams of players up to 8 years old
• Kawananakoa Gym in Keaukaha – boys and girls 9-10 years old
• Andrews Gym at Waiākea Waena Park – boys and girls 11-12 years old
• Pana‘ewa Covered Play Courts – boys and girls 13-14 years old

Game schedules may be viewed online by highlighting “32nd Annual HI-PAL Winter Basketball Classic” listed near the bottom of the homepage on the Department’s website, www.hawaiicounty.gov/parks-and-recreation/

Championship games for all but the youngest age-group category will be played Saturday, December 29, at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. A special skills challenge and dinner banquet will be held at the Hilo Armory on the evening of Thursday, December 27.

For more information, please contact Jason Armstrong, Public Information Officer, at 345-9105, or jarmstrong@co.hawaii.hi.us.