Through the years, Thomas Yoshida has been ceaseless in his contributions to Hawaii high school sports organization with media relations, scorekeeping and as a basketball official.
A true man of service to Hawaii sports, Yoshida was honored by the National Federation of State High School Associations at its summer luncheon meeting in Orlando, Fla., which was part of a weeklong convention June 28 through July 2.
The NFHS is composed of high school associations in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, and about 500 association staffers, board members and other activities leaders from around the nation were there.
The ability to travel and see people in person was a breath of fresh air for most who attended, especially since last year’s meeting was done virtually.
Yoshida, who has offered his expertise to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association for many years, was one of 20 from the various state associations to receive the distinguished NFHS Citation.
A video screenshot of Hawaii’s Thomas Yoshida
receiving his NFHS Citation.
“That is very humbling,” he said. “Typically the award is given to executive directors and for me to be nominated and to be named simply shocked me. I’ve been very fortunate that the HHSAA was very gracious in allowing me to do things that I love to do, namely taking stats and compiling records. The football and basketball records always intrigued me because they represent the best performance we’ve seen through the years and they should be celebrated for it. It’s a never-ending process, but the more we can honor our past athletes, perhaps the current athletes can appreciate what they accomplished.”
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Yoshida has been hard at work helping others to learn his skills, too.
“Being a basketball official for 38 seasons was a pleasure and for the last 15 years, I’ve been giving back by teaching, mentoring and sharing my knowledge to help the next generation get better,” he said. “I want to thank the HHSAA staff, including Chris Chun, Russell Aoki and Natalie Iwamoto for nominating me for this award. This award is more than just recognizing me for my contributions, but representing Hawaii to the nation that we have not only great athletes but people behind the scenes who work just as hard to make the athletes shine.”
In addition, Natalie Iwamoto — the Hawaii High School Athletic Association’s director of information and marketing — was the presider for the NFHS Hall of Fame induction, which was one part of the week-long convention.
Hawaii’s own Natalie Iwamoto decked out while performing her duties as presider at the NFHS Hall of Fame induction.
“One of the greatest honors of my professional career was presiding (at) the 2021 National High School Hall of Fame,” Iwamoto wrote on Facebook. “Thank you to the NFHS for extending me this great privilege. And thank you to my ohana, friends and federation family for their confidence in me and their loving support. My heart is filled with gratitude.”
Yoshida appreciated the effort Iwamoto put into it.
“Natalie took her role seriously and she did a flawless job,” he said. “I sat in on her rehearsals and like many athletes, she put in the work and got rave reviews from the state associations from across the country.. I couldn’t be more proud of her selection as well as her performance at the event. She made Hawaiii proud.”
During the week-long convention, many workshops were held on a wide range of topics, including transgender athletes, negotiating facility contracts, promoting multi-activity students, post-pandemic activity reclassifications, post-pandemic eligibility changes, the appropriate time to hold a state championship for an emerging sport, and medical and legal issues.
