Today marks the beginning of an unprecedented week and a half for the Maui Interscholastic League.

The Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Division I state baseball tournament begins today at Maehara Stadium — it’s the headline act of the five state tournaments that will be held on the Valley Isle between now and May 12, more than have ever been held here in a single fall, winter or spring season.

In addition to baseball, there’s also state tennis and girls golf this week, and next week brings boys golf and Division II softball.

In all honesty, I feel like it’s actually six state tournaments in that nine-day span because state tennis is counted as one, but it crowns team, individual and doubles state champions for boys and girls.

Oh, and let’s not forget the MIL track and field championships, which are set for Thursday and Friday next door to Maehara at War Memorial Stadium.

It makes me shake my head in wonder at just how it’s all going to get done, but I have no doubt that it will run like a well-oiled machine, although hotels, rental cars and restaurant reservations are going to be hard to come by, I’m certain.

And let’s be perfectly clear here — this wouldn’t be possible at all without the tireless, never-ending work of the MIL athletic directors and all of their compatriots, from school administrators to assistant ADs to athletic trainers to security guards at event entrances to countless volunteers.

No one works harder than Maui High School AD Mike Ban, who is currently coordinating MIL softball and track and field. He can routinely be seen late at night with the lights on, taking care of Patsy Mink Field, the softball facility on the Sabers’ campus.

Ban said last week that he routinely starts his days at 6:30 a.m. and gets home around 11 p.m. these days. It is others he is thinking of, however, which is a hallmark of the Sabers’ AD.

“I think the appreciation for the administration, the athletic directors, the athletic trainers, volunteers to put on all this for the kids, for the teams, I think that’s very important and they should be recognized for their efforts in having this season after two years of COVID,” Ban said. “And providing this opportunity and this season for the kids, not only the champions, but every kid that came out.

“If it wasn’t for these kids coming out and participating, trying, we wouldn’t have a job, we wouldn’t have sports, we wouldn’t have school spirit, we wouldn’t have community involvement.”

Ban has been a champion of the efforts to step up and do whatever is necessary to get all of this done, which is perhaps the most challenging span of collective work in the MIL’s nearly 100-year history.

“I think this is very important for the student-athletes’ mental health as well as our school community,” Ban said. “Everybody here is so happy to come out and watch sports. So, we’re just thankful and grateful for this opportunity.”

Heartwarming stories are all over the place since we got back to sports after 20-plus months off due to COVID-19.

The most recent of those sagas include King Kekaulike’s run to the state tournament in boys volleyball after an 0-6 start to MIL play, albeit with just three players who had ever played the sport before this season.

Another story that caught my eye was the hugs shared by the Baldwin and Maui high school softball players after the Bears wrapped up the MIL championship last week.

The absolute joy I’ve seen on the faces of judoka from Molokai — kids thrilled to get on a plane, travel to Maui, sleep in a high school gym, get up and compete and then go back to OGG to go home — it’s that kind of thing that reminds me every day just how important extracurricular activities are for these Maui County kids.

These high school kids — and let’s not forget, they’re kids — have grown up together on the athletic fields, courts and gyms around the county.

Baldwin is the No. 1 seed in the baseball tournament and I’m certain that tonight’s Maui High-Kalani game and Thursday’s Baldwin game against the winner of today’s Hilo-Kamehameha Kapalama game — both MIL games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. — will be standing room-only packed houses at Maehara.

It is that kind of thing that has motivated the MIL athletic directors to work well past 40 hours a week for all of the 2021-22 academic year.

Ban was at the MIL judo championships on Saturday, helping St. Anthony AD Robbie Spenser, who is new to the gig, run things there.

Baldwin’s Wade Hondo and King Kekaulike’s P.K. Higa were there, too.

The MIL ADs’ work is seemingly never-ending.

“It’s been hectic, it’s been crazy, obviously you hit it on the head with COVID,” Higa said. “The difficulty is the timing of everything, trying to get flights out, trying to see who’s qualifying and then turning around in two, three days to play again. It’s a real challenge compared to what it was pre-COVID.”

All of the MIL ADs know that if they were to hesitate, at all, on being able to pull off these state tournaments well, the folks on Oahu would immediately jump on the chance to take away any or all state tournaments held here. I guarantee there will be complaining about having to travel to Maui for the HHSAA extravaganza here, no matter what.

Losing precious state tournaments is simply something the MIL AD team is unwilling to let happen.

“I think as a league, sportsmanship is unique here — the kids see each other every week, week to week, so there’s a pretty special bond and most of them are probably related in some form or other,” Higa said. “It is a good reflection on the coaches, the programs, the administrations of every school in the league.”

Remember this is a league that includes three islands and 13 schools, from the 38 high school-level students at St. Anthony to the more than 2,000 at Maui High.

“We’re always looking for what’s best, what’s in the best interest of all of our kids, whether it’s a small school or big school,” Higa said. “I think that’s kind of the great dynamics that we have.”

It’s an act of teamwork and camaraderie that has existed between the MIL ADs forever, but has ramped up and become an absolute necessity since the COVID pause in the fall made all of the sports’ seasons more compact and busy.

“Oh, I think the great thing that we’ve had is that the ADs, all the ADs, kind of know what each other are going through,” Hondo said Saturday during the MIL judo championships. “So, everybody helps support in any way that they can.”

Hondo said that school administrations across the league are also extremely helpful and that communication has been the key.

“I think what’s helped is that we’ve tried to build an open communication a little bit more, especially with COVID and everything,” Hondo said. “We needed to make sure that everybody was on the same page, that we kept talking to each other because I think once you start getting isolated then you kind of lose track of what we’re trying to do.”

Hondo said the stories he has seen up close and personal are what drive him to spend extra hours at Maehara Stadium or Maui High Field making sure that baseball games start on time.

“That’s where I think we’re really unique,” he said. “We’re pushing this idea of educational athletics, the idea of sportsmanship, the idea of the real true student-athlete. That (COVID) break I think really signaled to us that it was like having to — not really start over again — but again just really emphasize it a little bit more.

“And it’s been ongoing. Like you say, you have stories like that that show it’s working. People believe in it, the philosophy is there and I think the MIL, especially this year, has really thrived because of that philosophy.”

Hondo said the efforts of the MIL ADs go above just the student-athletes. The crowds that will fill Maehara Stadium this week are a prime example of that.

“I think No. 1 it’s very good for our community — the MIL, we have great coaches and most of all we have great community, great student-athletes and great support, so any time that we can get a state tournament come here so that the community can see our kids in person,” Hondo said. “I think it’s a great opportunity and we’re glad the HHSAA is allowing those things to come over and we’re hoping to get more.”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.

*****

Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Division I State Championship

At Maehara Stadium

Today’s Games

First Round

Pearl City vs. Moanalua, 10:45 a.m.

Hilo vs. Kamehameha Kapalama, 1:30 p.m.

Iolani vs. Kailua, 4:15 p.m.

Maui High vs. Kalani, 7 p.m.

Thursday’s Games

Consolation

Hilo-Kamehameha Kapalama loser vs. Iolani-Kailua loser, 8:45 a.m.

Quarterfinals

No. 4 Mililani vs. Iolani-Kailua winner, 11:15 a.m.

No. 3 Waiakea vs. Maui High-Kalani winner, 1:45 p.m.

No. 2 Saint Louis vs. Pearl City-Moanalua, 4:30 p.m.

No. 1 Baldwin vs. Hilo-Kamehameha Kapalama winner, 7 p.m.

Friday’s Games

Consolation

Maui High-Kalani loser vs. Pearl City-Moanalua loser, 8:45 a.m.

Saint Louis-Pearl City/Moanalua loser vs. Waiakea-Maui High/Kalani loser, 10:45 a.m.

Baldwin-Hilo/Kamehameha Kapalama loser vs. Mililani-Iolani/Kailua loser, 1:45 p.m.

Semifinals

Saint Louis-Pearl City/Moanalua winner vs. Waiakea-Maui High/Kalani winner, 4:30 p.m.

Baldwin-Hilo/Kamehameha Kapalama winner vs. Mililani-Iolani/Kailua winner, 7 p.m.

Saturday’s Games

Consolation final, 10:30 a.m.

Fifth-place game, 12:30 p.m.

Third-place game, 3 p.m.

Championship, 6 p.m.