Ask the Mayor: Why Can’t Gym Facilities Be Used for Futsal?

Waiakoa Gym. Photo credit: County of Maui.

Mayor Alan Arakawa answers some of the questions submitted to his office staff.

Submit your own questions about County of Maui programs, services, operations or policies to Mayor Alan Arakawa via email at AskTheMayor@mauicounty.gov, call 270-7855 or send them by mail to 200 S. High St., 9th Floor, Wailuku, HI 96793. Questions submitted will be considered for inclusion in the “Ask the Mayor” column.

Aloha Mayor:

Q: I recently went to the Upcountry Parks and Recreation office to see if we could get either Hali‘imaile Gym or Kula Gym for futsal soccer practice, being that they’re not used a lot. I was told they were not allowing soccer in the gyms, yet War Memorial is used for futsal.

Also, two goals that were being used daily by youth soccer teams were removed from the Eddie Tam complex. Why remove the goals if they are being used by the youth?

A: I checked with the Parks and Recreation Department about this, and the two staff members who handle these types of inquiries both mentioned that while futsal is an allowed gym use, currently, all our gyms are being used by leagues and practices such as youth volleyball and basketball teams, along with the scheduled junior basketball league.

Basically, our gyms are reserved daily during prime time (4 to 10 p.m.) for both youth and adult activities Monday through Friday, and all day on Saturdays and Sundays.

There are a few time slots available, but for the most part, our gyms are always heavily used.

Customers with gym usage requests are advised to submit a permit application, and Parks and Recreation staff will do their best to get them scheduled. However, available time slots are extremely limited.

With regard to the goals, there are currently five sets in place at Eddie Tam Complex; one set was moved because the goals were interfering with softball activities. That set has been placed at Ha‘ikū Field, which would have been without goals because the existing ones were determined to be beyond repair.

Parks is ordering two sets of full-size, aluminum goals, and in general, is doing the best they can to accommodate all park users with the resources available.