Without referees, there would be no real sports.
Yep, and when you go to a sporting event, if you don’t notice the referees, that means they’re probably doing a good job.
The problem is there is a pattern where the great referees and officials are so unnoticed that they never receive the recognition they deserve.
I’ll say it again: Without referees, there would be no real sports.
With that in mind, the Hawaii Sports Officials Hall of Fame announced on Sunday that they are adding three new members for the Class of 2021.
The new inductees will be: Hubert P. Minn (boxing), Gordon Scruton (track and field) and Arnold S. Soma (baseball), and they will be honored in a ceremony and banquet Sept. 5 at the Ala Moana Hotel.
The ceremony will also include the 2020 list of four new Hall of Fame officials — Jan Allen (soccer), Samuel Delos Reyes (basketball), Wayne Lee (volleyball) and Matthew Sumstine (football). Those four have yet to be celebrated at an induction banquet because last year’s event was canceled due to COVID-19.
“We are extremely excited to honor these seven individuals for induction to the Hall of Fame,” HSOHOF president Cal Evans said in a news release. “These are the very best officials in the State of Hawaii and we are privileged to honor our third and fourth classes.”
Hubert Minn followed in his father Herbert BS Minn’s footsteps by
becoming a professional boxing judge in 1997, and he has judged over 55 world title matches. He has served as the World Boxing Council’s chairman of the Ring Officials Committee for the last 23 years, and he is the chairperson of the North American Boxing Federation, and Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation.
Minn’s father was inducted to the HSOHOF in 2019.
Gordon Scruton has officiated and administered track and field in Hawaii for seven decades. From 1970 to 2013, he was the
head official for the HHSAA track and tield championships. He also officiated for USA Track and Field, the NCAA championships, IAAF World Masters and the USATF Olympic trials.
Scruton’s love of track and field took him across the globe to see the Olympics in Montreal in 1976 and the world track
and field championships from 1983 in Helsinki to 2011 in Korea.
Arnold Soma is a a well-respected umpire throughout the islands who first
worked as a volunteer for Little League baseball then worked 10 years in Babe Ruth and 20 years for American Legion. He also worked in the OIA and ILH as well as University of Hawaii games for two decades.
Among Soma’s career highlights was working as the plate umpire for the 1982 WAC championship game and many HHSAA championship games.
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ALSO AT BedrockSportsHawaii.com:
>> Opinion (Based On Facts) — Hawaii High School Football And Other Sports’ In-Person Fan Attendance Is Likely
>> NFL Ref Matt Sumstine Calls Out For Women (And Men) To Learn How To Officiate
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