The University of Hawaii must wait until the Big West meetings in early December to learn the fate of four of its sports programs that will not be part of the school’s football-driven move to the Mountain West.

UH is hopeful that its men’s volleyball, beach volleyball, women’s water polo and men’s swimming and diving programs can remain in the Big West as affiliate members. The MWC, of which UH will be a full member in 2026, does not sponsor those sports.

A gathering of the Big West Board of Directors, which is comprised of university presidents and chancellors, will cap the Big West meetings that run Dec. 4 to 6, Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly told Spectrum News.

“The plan is to have a decision coming out of that meeting,” Butterly said in a message Thursday.

UH hoped to soothe any hard feelings over its sudden move shortly after the news broke Oct. 15. Athletic Director Craig Angelos said of the Big West, “they’ve been a really good partner for us, and treated us very well. … (The move) had nothing, nothing to do with our dissatisfaction at all, because we love the Big West.”

Butterly said UH has requested that a single vote be held on its participation in the four sports. 

“We will work off that initial request first,” Butterly said. “If the membership wants to go sport by sport, we could take a vote via that path."

He said schools that do not sponsor certain sports may not wish to vote on those sports, he added. Some are sponsored by as few as six members.

The Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine have been national contenders in the sports in question; its men’s volleyball team won the NCAA championship in 2021 and 2022 and its water polo team reached the national semifinals this spring.

UH plans to place the four sports in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation if the Big West turns them down. Big West affiliate membership is expected to cost $25,000 per sport on an annual basis.

The Big West’s other member schools that compete in men’s volleyball are Long Beach State, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, CSUN and UC Santa Barbara.

Cal Poly, LBSU, UC Davis, Cal State Bakersfield, CSUN and affiliate member Sacramento State are represented in beach volleyball.

UCI, LBSU, UCSD, CSUN, UCSB, UCD and Cal State Fullerton have women’s water polo.

Cal Poly, UCSB, CSUB and UCSD have men’s swimming and diving.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.