A special ceremony and press conference to announce the inaugural HHSAA surfing tournament was held at the Hawai‘i State Capitol on Monday.
Among the speakers were Gov. Josh Green, Olympic gold medalist Carissa Moore, Rep. Sean Quinlan, MIL surfing coordinator Kim Ball, Leilehua surfer Kylie Sato and Keith Amemiya, chair of Gov. Green's Sports Task Force.
On Monday, it was revealed that the 2026 HHSAA surfing championships will be held at Ho‘okipa Beach in Maui on May 1-2, with state champions crowned in shortboard, longboard and bodyboarding competitions.
"The surfing championships are a long time coming," said Green, noting the prominence of surfing in the islands.
Approximately $685,000 was secured toward the inaugural state surfing season across the Islands.
"I think that Hawai‘i has given two great gifts to the world. The first gift, of course, is aloha, but the second gift is surfing," Quinlan said, crediting the efforts of Green and Amemiya to secure the funding needed to hold a season. "Surfing is a communion with nature. It's something that nurtures your mind, your body and your soul. And I'm so proud to be up here today talking about fostering a new generation of champions. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the Green Administration."
While May 2026 will mark the start of the first official statewide high school surfing competition, the Maui Interscholastic League has sanctioned the sport for over a decade.
The MIL began utilizing surfing as a club sport in the mid-1990's, while it became officially sanctioned by the league in 2014. Green praised Ball, the founder and current MIL surfing coordinator, for guiding the rest of the Islands through the process.
"You can imagine the enthusiasm and excitement after 29 years that we're finally going to have a state championship the county of Maui and our MIL surf crew will do all we can to make it a memorable event," Ball said.
Surfing will mark the second sport in as many years that the HHSAA has added to its spring lineup. In 2025, girls flag football was added to the slate, with Campbell taking the inaugural crown.
"We've always seen that children who participate in high school sports do better in school, and they have higher graduation rates, and then they also ultimately thrive after their competitions," Green said. "We see a lot of that at every level, but high school in particular, sets kids up for the future."
Moore, whose surfing career was rapidly ascending by the time she was in high school, joked that having surfing during her days at Punahou "would have saved me a lot of miles around the track in order to make up my PE credits."
"I couldn't be more thrilled that Hawai‘i school systems are supporting surfing in a very fast-paced world," Moore added. "It will encourage the next generation to slow down and connect with something bigger than themselves. That, to me, is truly crucial to living a life of joy and purpose. It's not about competing — it's about growing, building confidence and strengthening our community."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
