A Punahou defender wraps up a Castle ball carrier during a scrimmage on July 27, 2019. Contingent upon state and county directives and safety guidelines, a date of Aug. 17 has been penciled in as a tentative start date for football next season. Teams will be allowed to start practices then, with the possibility of Sept. 4-5 serving as the first weekend of games. Leighland Tagawa | SL

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A committee made up of athletic directors and league executive directors commissioned by the Hawaii High School Athletic Association approved on Monday a tentative plan to start the fall prep sports season in August.

The news was first reported by KITV's Cody Krupp, who spoke with HHSAA executive director Chris Chun, and confirmed to ScoringLive by state football coordinator and Farrington athletic director Harold Tanaka Tuesday afternoon.

While the proposed timeline will be contingent upon state and county directives and safety guidelines, a date of Aug. 17 is the tentative start date for football. Teams will be allowed to start practices then, with the possibility of Sept. 4-5 serving as the first weekend of games.

Tanaka said the tentative start date will hinge largely upon the re-opening of school campuses by the state Department of Education and the HHSAA will have to continue to work closely with the offices of Governor David Ige and the county mayors.

"If they release the social distancing then teams can start getting ready maybe in the middle of June, so that they can start running, lifting, throwing the ball around at least, so they can get back in condition because basically guys are just working out on their own, so I think it will be a little bit of a rude awakening if we get to August 17th and it's like, ‘OK, let's go!,' " Tanaka said.

Tanaka said that aside from ironing out the details of the calendar — which would shorten the football season from 14 to 11 weeks — a slew of other issues still need to be addressed.

"There's other problems we need to figure out like physicals, getting kids into the doctor's office and so many other factors that are going to make this thing challenging, but it's doable," Tanaka said.

Some of the collateral damage that may fall out from the proposed adjusted schedule could be the elimination of non-league (preseason) games or an abbreviated state tournament. Chun last week alluded to the possibility of fewer than three divisions for the 2020 season.

"If we're going to go with an 11-week season and assume that the state tournament will only be two weeks, then somehow we've got to squeeze a (regular) season and a (league) championship into nine weeks, which doesn't leave a lot of room to work with, so we might have to cut out that preseason week, but the other thing is, somebody brought up a good point in our meeting that what if the superintendent doesn't allow (intra-state) travel?," Tanaka cautioned. "That's a big wrinkle and we don't know, because who knows, what if this thing (COVID-19) comes back?"

The committee will reconvene on Monday, hopefully with more answers to the many questions that have arisen.

"I mean, there's a lot of moving parts. This pandemic has really shuffled everybody's lifestyle and everything in general," Tanaka said. "We don't even know if we're going to be able to get back into the schools yet."

A pair of "new" coaches expressed their satisfaction with the news when reached by phone Tuesday.

"I mean, it's a start and it's good, but of course, obviously the safety of our kids is first and foremost and I'm sure the DOE and HHSAA will lay out a contingency plan as to how we're going to go about it if we start in August, but it's a start and hopefully they can finalize it and we can be able to start working out," said Hilo's Lave Suiaunoa, who ascended from defensive assistant to head coach with the departure of Kaeo Drummondo in the offseason.

Punahou interim coach Leonard Lau said the tentative start date gives the players something to work toward.

"The HHSAA, by setting those dates, has really given our student-athletes some hope, so that's a good start and we'll just kind of work from there. They all want to play and they want to get back on the field and compete, but our students' safety and well-being is always our top priority and we're committed to creating a safe learning environment for all our students, so we've just got to take it one step at a time," Lau said.

Other coaches, however, are skeptical of just how feasible it will be to play football in three months' time.

"I don't see it at all happening in August," Kaimuki coach David Tautofi said. "I see it more happening in October, but I'm always hopeful."

Tautofi pointed to safety concerns as a big hindrance under the proposed start date.

"I think everybody understands that there is a certain expectation that needs to be met when it comes to these kids and their training, building up their endurance physically, mentally and emotionally and with the game-planning and all that stuff, two weeks is not enough time, that's for sure," Tautofi said. "There's heat acclimation and so many safety things that we are bound to and have to abide by as coaches, but now that gets tossed out the door with this August 17th date? That's where the red flags go up for me."

Saint Louis coach Ron Lee shares in Tautofi's skepticism.

"The way things are going now, I don't know if we're going to be able to play in August. I mean, we haven't even opened the restaurants," Lee said. "You can't even go to the park and workout in groups and we're going to have football in August? I don't think so."

While there are a large number of variables in the equation for a possible return to play, one thing is certain.

"I do think we're going to see some changes," Tanaka said. "Nobody knows what it is, but we're all trying to get ready for it.

Chun told KITV that the schedule is flexible enough to push back a start for the football season until mid-October. He also said that all other fall sports will have a start date of Aug. 31.