Six officials inducted into Hawaii Hall of Fame
May 8—Six officials have been inducted into the Hawaii Sports Officials Hall of Fame as the Class of 2023, the HSOHOF announced on Sunday.
Six officials have been inducted into the Hawaii Sports Officials Hall of Fame as the Class of 2023, the HSOHOF announced on Sunday.
Denice Hanson (volleyball ), Lloyd Hisaka (football-basketball ), Donald Meinel (softball ), J. Craig Petersen (basketball ), John Smith (baseball ) and Glenn Young (football ) will be honored at an in-person ceremony on Sept. 3 at the Ala Moana Hotel.
The Hawaii Sports Officials Hall of Fame honors officials who have demonstrated the highest level of achievement, character, leadership, skill and commitment-to-officiating over a significant period.—Hanson was a standout volleyball player and canoe paddler. As an official, Hanson worked at nearly every level of league play, from high school to USA Volleyball. She later worked as an NCAA Division I official for the Western Athletic and the Big West Conferences. Hanson passed away in 2021.—Hisaka has been officiating collegiate and high school football and basketball games since 1976. But his impact extended beyond the field and court. For nearly 50 years, Dr. Hisaka taught college students to officiate flag football as part of the UH Manoa Intramural Sports program. He served on the NFHS rules committee and was honored as an NFHS distinguished official. He was also a founding member of the Hawaii Football Official's Clinic.—Meinel has umpired slow and fast-pitch games, as well as high school and collegiate (Division I and II ) games since 1988. Before that, he was elected president of the Amateur Softball Association of Hawaii in 1985, serving three years until his appointment as Commissioner of USA Softball in 1988. He served in that role for 33 years until his retirement in 2021.—Peterson joined the Hawaii Basketball Official's Association under fellow Hall of Fame inductee James Aiona in 1972, and soon became one of the top high school officials on Oahu. He officiated high school basketball games for 17 seasons, including two HHSAA State Championship games.in 1979, Peterson became a collegiate official with the WAC, working full schedules in Hawaii and on the mainland. He became the only Hawaii official to work a WAC men's championship game in 1993. He also officiated for Big West women's basketball, working events such as the Maui Invitational and the National Invitational Tournament.—Smith moved to Hawaii from his native Louisiana in 1966 and became an umpire a year later in the Majors Division of the Palolo Little League. He began umpiring Babe Ruth and high school junior varsity games in 1971, and worked varsity, AJA and American Legion games two years later. He began umpiring University of Hawaii games in 1975 (his sons Gene and David played for UH while Smith was umpiring ). He scheduled umpires for American Legion, high school, AJA and the Hawaii Baseball League in the 1980s. Smith passed away in 2017.—Mostly remembered as a long-time assistant basketball coach and founder of the 'Iolani Classic, Young also had a distinguished career as a football official. He worked 25 years for the Oahu Interscholastic Association, during which time he officiated multiple OIA Championships, the Oahu Prep Bowl and the first two HHSAA state championship games. He was among the first coordinator of officials for the HHSAA football championships. Young passed away in 2015.
