UH sporting events remain open to the public for now

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Despite the NCAA’s decision to ban spectators from the NCAA Basketball tournament, local sports fans are still welcome to attend University of Hawaii home sporting events -- for now.

A host of different championship tournaments such as the Big West, MAC, and several others are hosting championship tournaments without allowing spectators to attend in an attempt to combat the spread of COVID-19.

The Bank of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic begins Thursday Mar. 11 and will run into the weekend as UH will host, Texas Tech, Minnesota, and Drexel University in Philadelphia over the course of the four day tournament.

UH fans that spoke with Hawaii News Now ahead of the tournament’s opening game against Texas Tech said despite the coronavirus concerns they didn’t want to miss attending sporting events while they still had the chance.

Tammy Hornback traveled from Oregon for the game and hasn’t loss sleep amidst the Coronavirus outbreak.

“You can get sick going to the store,” said Hornback. “We had a normal flight over here and we are just staying healthy and washing our hands."

Kathy Sabourin traveled from Colorado to watch her daughter Rachel play for the Wahine and hasn’t regretted making the trip.

“We don’t really have angst or anything,” said Sabourin. “I know there is something going on, but we wouldn’t miss this game for the world.”

Aside from the Wahine Softball tournament, the UH Baseball team is slated to host a four game series against Chicago State beginning on Friday and as of now, no UH sporting events have been cancelled or postponed.

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