Surfing officially becomes a high school interscholastic sport in Hawaii!

September 23, 2025

Important Facts:

‍

- Surfing will be a spring 2026 sport in all five Hawaii high school leagues: OIA, ILH, BIIF, MIL, KIF.

- Three disciplines to be included: shortboard, longboard, bodyboard.

- The governor announced the first high school state championships will take place May 1-2, 2026, at Hoʻokipa Beach Park on Maui.

- Girls and boys will be included in all leagues, with team and individual competition. A variety of skill levels will be included.

- If your school does not yet have a team, notify your athletic director ASAP that you are interested in having one. Schools must declare their intent to field a team by October 1, 2025.

‍

Short History:

‍

The State school board approved surfing as a school sport in Hawaii public schools in 2004, though no funding was allocated. In 2005, the DOE approved surfing safety guidelines for public schools, and then updated them in 2014. In 2014, the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) first offered surfing as an official varsity sport; it would be the only league to do so until recently. In 2023, the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation published Surfing in Hawaii Schools, a Whitepaper. In 2025, Rep. Sean Quinlan introduced Hawaii House Bill 133 (HB133), signed by Governor Josh Green in May to become Act 141, allocating funding to the Hawaii Department of Education to support surfing teams in public high schools for two years. Only recently did enough leagues announce plans for tournaments to prompt HHSAA to plan a state championship.

‍

Mahalo:

‍

Pictured at the Governor's press conference on September 22: (L-R) Keith Amemiya, chair of Governor Green's Sports Task Force; Sarah Fairchild, Executive Director of the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation; Kim Ball, Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) Surfing Co-coordinator; Daniel Ikaika Ito, Board Chair of Nā Kama Kai & Board Member of the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation; Josh Green, Governor of Hawaii; Sean Quinlan, Hawaii State Representative; Kylie Sato, Member of the Leilehua High School Surf Team; Carissa Moore, 5X World Surfing Champion & Olympic Gold Medalist in Surfing.

Many other advocates for this were not pictured but hopefully will be in attendance at the championships!!! MAHALO to the water sports community that has rooted for this for decades, and testified in support of the funding bill.

‍