HIADA moderator Jeff Meister addresses attendees during the General Assembly of the 59th annual Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association conference at the Kauai Marriott Resort at Kalapaki Beach. Brien Ing | SL

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LIHUE, Kauai — Athletic administrators from across the state are gathered on Kauai this week for the 59th annual Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association Conference at the Kauai Marriott Resort on Kalapaki Beach.

The HIADA conference got underway Tuesday afternoon and will continue Wednesday before concluding Thursday morning at the lush 800-acre beachfront resort. The administrators, who represent 91 member schools from the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, will discuss and, if necessary, vote on 46 items over the course of the week.

Following the opening general assembly, the ADs split into four groups or committees, each of which will oversee approximately a dozen items. The groups took a straw poll on each item Tuesday before going back to their respective league caucuses in the evening. The same groups will reconvene Wednesday for another round of discussion and a committee vote.

Any item that passes out of committee vote will be put before the final general assembly Thursday morning and should it pass there, would be sent to the HHSAA Executive Board — which meets Thursday evening — for approval, denial or amendment.

Some of the most notable items are centered around football, including one to allow for the use of instant replay for state football tournament. That measure, however, did not garner much support in Wednesday's straw poll according to one AD in the closed-door meeting.

The proposal was put forth from the HHSAA. Farrington athletic director Harold Tanaka, who also serves as the football coordinator for both the HHSAA and the Oahu Interscholastic Association, said the timing is right for the implementation of replay.

"It's time for replay and Aloha Stadium is the only (venue) with the capability, so that would be only the stadium games for replay," Tanaka said.

Under the format that was used for the 2018 season, that would mean just the three championship games, along with the two Open Division semifinals, would be subject to use of replay.

Tanaka noted that the added financial expenses — essentially just increasing the officiating crew by one body for each of those five games — would be minimal.

"That's why it's so easy, because it's already built in at Aloha Stadium, so you just have to get the manpower, which is probably no problem," Tanaka said.

The proposal only pertains to games that are already being televised from Aloha Stadium, which has left some football coaches calling for replay to be expanded to be used for the entirety of the season for consistency's sake. Tanaka, however, said that is simply not in the cards at this point in time.

"I mean, I know they want it, but it's just feasibly probably impossible to do, so I know they want it all year, but we just can't do it," said Tanaka, who served as Farrington's football coach before ascending to become the school's athletic director in 2001.

As it is written, the proposal does not include parameters on what can or cannot be reviewed; that would be tasked to the HHSAA football committee, Tanaka and HHSAA football officials coordinator Matt Sumstine. It can, however, be amended prior to a call for a committee vote Wednesday, which may help muster some support in its favor.

The National Federation of High Schools — the body that sets guidelines on competition rules for most prep sports across the country — does not have an standard recommendation in relation to the use of replay, but has approved the use of instant replay per state association adoption. According to a recent NFHS survey that the proposal cites as part of its rationale, 67 percent of coaches and 56 percent of officials favor the use of replay.