Many Hawaiʻi high schools are gearing up for their first-ever competitive surfing seasons this year as officials unveiled plans for a statewide student championship meet in early May on Maui.

But while the dates and location were announced Monday, state officials said they are still working on details such as how many schools will have competitive surf teams this year and what the format of the championship meet will be.

Hawaiʻi made surfing a high school sport more than 20 years ago and is home to internationally recognized surfers like gold medalist Carissa Moore. But the Hawaiʻi High School Athletic Association has never held a championship meet for students.

Before this year, the Maui Interscholastic League was the only athletic association recognizing surfing as a sport. Limited funding kept schools on other islands from forming surf teams until this year, when lawmakers set aside money for competitions and the four athletic leagues governing high school sports on Oʻahu, Kauaʻi and the Big Island voted to recognize surfing as an official sport. 

Kylie Sato, a junior on Leilehua High School’s surf team, said Monday during a press conference that she “truly didn’t believe that this day would happen” while she was still attending high school. “Since the first day of my freshman year, I’ve been advocating for high school surfing.” 

Gov. Josh Green said the high school state championships will be held on May 1-2 at Maui’s Hoʻokipa Beach Park.

The meet will offer shortboard, longboard and bodyboarding competitions and will offer an equal number of spots for boys and girls, said Kim Ball, surfing co-coordinator for the Maui Interscholastic League.

In past years, schools outside of Maui only recognized surfing as clubs, rather than varsity sports, leaving students and coaches to raise thousands of dollars to cover the costs of competitions and travel. Last year, 12 public schools on Oʻahu had surf clubs, but advisers had to volunteer their time and pay to complete mandatory courses on ocean safety, said Beth Matsuda, who helps coordinate training for surfing coaches and students in the Oʻahu Interscholastic Association. 

To encourage more schools to establish surfing as a sport, the state set aside nearly $1.4 million over the next two years to cover the costs of coaches’ salaries, transportation and league meets. The funding helps schools transition their informal surf clubs to varsity teams, since students no longer have to raise funds to participate in meets and teachers can receive small salaries as coaches.

“It’s a lot of work,” said Farrington High School surfing coach Brady Giusta, adding that his surf club previously had to raise $3,500 to cover their contest entry fees. 

The state is still determining how many teams will compete in the upcoming season, although most athletic leagues needed to guarantee that several of their member schools would have teams before they approved surfing as a sport, said Keith Amemiya, chair of Green’s sports task force. But, he said, he expects participation will be high, especially since many schools already offer surf clubs. 

The format of the state championship is also in the works, Ball said.  

Boys and girls participate equally in Maui high school surfing competitions, he said. 

At Farrington, nearly 50 students are considering joining the surf team this year, the highest level of interest the school has seen since the Covid-19 pandemic, Giusta said. Students are excited to have the opportunity to participate in a school sport and compete at the state level, he said. 

Transitioning from a school club to an official sports team requires more coordination with athletic directors, but many of the safety requirements for students and coaches remain the same, said Trenton McCullough, who coaches Kahuku High School’s surf team on Oʻahu.

Even before athletic leagues recognized surfing as a sport, surf club advisers needed to have CPR and first aid certifications and complete classes around ocean safety and rescue. Students also need to receive their junior lifeguard certifications, according to guidance from the Hawaiʻi Department of Education. 

The same training requirements apply to coaches and athletes participating in official surf teams. 

In the past, McCullough said, it’s been difficult for some coaches and students to complete the training requirements. The City and County of Honolulu offers free junior lifeguard safety classes over the summer, McCullough said, but they can be time-consuming and kids must renew their certification every two years to participate on surf teams. 

Some schools with new surfing programs have also had challenges hiring coaches, Matsuda said. At the start of the school year, four Oʻahu high schools were seeking coaches to run their surfing programs, according to the athletic league’s website. 

Earlier this year, DOE raised concerns about lawmakers’ proposals to set aside money for surf teams and competitions, pointing to student safety risks and the high costs of hosting competitions. Coaches can’t control their practice environments, Superintendent Keith Hayashi said in written testimony, and schools aren’t guaranteed safe ocean conditions for practices and meets.

“While the Department appreciates appropriations to support surfing in high school athletic programs, funding would not alleviate these concerns,” Hayashi said in his testimony in March.

The department also projected that athletic leagues could spend roughly $5,800 to host a single meet— a number lawmakers and advocates later suggested was an overestimate.

The governor pushed back against these concerns in the press conference on Monday, pointing to the safety training both students and coaches need to complete before getting in the water. In a state where drowning is the leading cause of death for kids, surf teams and their required qualifications can get more kids the water safety training they need, Green said. 

When it comes to funding, Amemiya said, he’s confident the $686,000 from the Legislature this year will be enough to cover the costs of the first statewide season of surfing. The Maui Interscholastic League has previously estimated that it costs $20,000 to host an initial surfing season for 10 teams, but more than half of the upfront costs go toward equipment that can be reused in later years.

Davin Kazama, surfing coordinator for the Hawaiʻi High School Athletics Association, said unknowns like the total number of participating teams make planning the statewide championship harder. But, he said, schools should finalize their participation in the coming weeks, and the season won’t start until early spring. 

Kazama said he expects participation to be high, especially since students and coaches have pushed for state funding for surfing for years.

“This is something that a big and talented team has wanted for so long,” Kazama said. “Let’s celebrate these kids like never before come May.” 

Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.