Hawaii student-athletes announce college commitments on signing day

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Hundreds of Hawaii high school athletes made commitments Wednesday to play collegiate sports across the state.

Nearly 50 of these athletes announced their college commitments at the Hawaii State National Letter of Intent Signing Day at the Sheraton.

Some of the top local talent decided to stay home, including Maryknoll’s Reyni Hiraoka and Sheyzhelle Iokia, who both committed to the Univeristy of Hawaii at Manoa’s softball program.

Another softball standout, Mililani’s Kahiau Aina, is headed to the University of Washington after helping lead the Trojans to three straight state championships.

“It meant a lot to me knowing that everything that I worked for has finally paid off after that pen touched the paper, and I’m beyond excited to see what comes after this,” Aina said.

Kawika Kane, an organizer of the signing day event, said it’s important for student-athletes to have not only a passion for sports and education, but also gratitude for their opportunities.

“Being passionate for life, passionate for the academics, passionate for athletics,” she said. “There’s gonna be a lot of opportunities as a young adult in college, so look at those opportunities, take advantage of those opportunities, and then gratitude, I think gratefulness is important.”

The next signing day event for Kane and crew will be next April.