The Poi Bowl was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most o ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

played during the late 1930s in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, at Honolulu Stadium. The game featured the then- Hawaii Rainbows and, usually, an invited team from the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

History

The game was contested in early January from 1936 to 1939. The bowl was named after poi, a traditional

taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Africa ...

-based staple food in

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

, on suggestion from Vernon "Red" McQueen, sports editor of ''

The Honolulu Advertiser ''The Honolulu Advertiser'' was a daily newspaper published in Honolulu, Hawaii. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the largest daily newspaper in the American state of Hawaii. It published daily with special Sunday and ...

''. In December 1938, the contest was renamed as the

Pineapple Bowl The Pineapple Bowl was a college football bowl game played during the 1940s and early 1950s in Honolulu, Hawaii, at Honolulu Stadium. The game featured the then- Hawaii Rainbows and an invited team from the mainland. History The Pineapple Bowl ...

at the request of the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

. The university invited teams from the

to participate in the Poi Bowl every year except for 1937, when they played a local all-star team. The game was normally contested on

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

, except in 1939 when the holiday fell on a Sunday, and by mutual agreement of the teams in 1937 due to heavy rain. For the 1937 game, Hawaii's opponent was to be determined by a Christmas Day contest between Kamehameha alumni and the "Town Team". However, when that game ended in a tie, an all-star roster of players from those two teams was selected.

Game results

The University of Hawaii went 1–3 in the Poi Bowl. While

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleg ...

records indicate the January 1939 edition was staged as the Poi Bowl, contemporary newspaper reports indicate it was held under the Pineapple Bowl name. The media guide of the now-

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team represents the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in NCAA Division I FBS college football. It was part of the Western Athletic Conference until July 2012, when the team joined the Mountain West Conferen ...

program does not include any Poi Bowl games in their bowl game history. Results do appear in the NCAA's bowl game history, in the "Unsanctioned Or Other Bowls" section.

References

{{Reflist American football in Hawaii College sports in Hawaii Defunct college football bowls Recurring sporting events established in 1936 1936 establishments in Hawaii 1939 disestablishments in Hawaii Recurring events disestablished in 1939

History

Game results

See also

References