Hawaii’s Thomas Yoshida selected for NFHS Citation Award

Long-time prep basketball official, statistician and HHSAA volunteer, Thomas Yoshida, is one of 12 leaders selected to receive the 2020 NFHS Citation Award. NFHS Citations are presented to individuals associated with categories of professionals who have made significant contributions to the NFHS and/or other national organizations which have impacted high school activities.

Yoshida has been officiating prep basketball for 37 years and is the current president of the Hawaii State Basketball Officials Association. Over his career, he officiated 31 league championship games, 12 HHSAA state championship games and served a stint on the NFHS basketball rules committee in 2006. Additionally, he is a founding board member and vice president of the Hawaii Sports Officials Hall of Fame – an organization established in 2017 to promote positive public awareness of official and their value to sports. When not officiating, Yoshida is well known in the Hawaii sports community as a master statistician and record keeper and is credited with working with numerous individuals to compile the HHSAA basketball and football record books dating back to 1957.

Yoshida joins a short list of four other citation award winners from Hawaii, which include: retired OIA and HHSAA Executive Director Dwight Toyama (2015), former HHSAA Executive Director Keith Amemiya (2010), retired HHSAA Executive Director Edward Kiyuna (2005), and retired ILH Executive Director Don Botelho (2000).

Yoshida will receive his award on June 30 at the 101st Annual NFHS Summer Meeting in Denver Colorado.

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National Federation of State
High School Associations

News Release

12 Leaders in High School Activity Programs to Receive NFHS Citations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Bruce Howard

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (January 21, 2020) — Twelve leaders in high school activity programs across the country have been selected to receive National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Citations.

An award designed to honor individuals who have made contributions to the NFHS, state high school associations, athletic director and coaching professions, the officiating avocation and fine arts/performing arts programs, the NFHS Citation is one of the most highly regarded achievements in high school athletics and performing arts.

The 2020 NFHS Citation recipients will receive their awards June 30 at the annual NFHS Summer Meeting in Denver, Colorado.

Eight of the 12 award winners represent NFHS-member state high school associations, and four represent NFHS professional organizations for officials, coaches, music leaders and speech/debate/theatre directors.

The eight state association recipients are Tom Mezzanotte, Section 1, executive director, Rhode Island Interscholastic League, Warwick, Rhode Island; Mark Byers, Section 2, chief operating officer, Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; Nessie Harris, Section 3, retired associate commissioner, South Carolina High School League, Columbia, South Carolina; Kurt Gibson, Section 4, associate commissioner, Illinois High School Association, Bloomington, Illinois; Kathy Long, Section 5, administrative assistant, Missouri State High School Activities Association, Columbia, Missouri; Paul Angelico, Section 6, retired commissioner, Colorado High School Activities Association, Aurora, Colorado; Thomas Yoshida, Section 7, Hawaii High School Athletic Association, Honolulu, Hawaii; and Russell Schreckenghost, Section 8, associate director, Alaska School Activities Association, Anchorage, Alaska.

The four Citation recipients representing the NFHS professional organizations are Joe Tonelli, NFHS Officials Association, executive staff member, Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, Cheshire, Connecticut; Rob Younger, NFHS Coaches Association, executive director, Oregon Athletic Coaches Association, Sweet Home, Oregon; Cathleen Britton, NFHS Music Association, retired director of music, O’Gorman High School, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Cheryl Frazier, NFHS Speech/Debate/Theatre/Academics Association, director of forensics and theatre, Southland College Prep High School, Richton Park, Illinois.

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About the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS)

The NFHS, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the national leadership organization for high school sports and performing arts activities. Since 1920, the NFHS has led the development of education-based interscholastic sports and performing arts activities that help students succeed in their lives. The NFHS sets direction for the future by building awareness and support, improving the participation experience, establishing consistent standards and rules for competition, and helping those who oversee high school sports and activities. The NFHS writes playing rules for 17 sports for boys and girls at the high school level. Through its 50 member state associations and the District of Columbia, the NFHS reaches more than 19,000 high schools and 12 million participants in high school activity programs, including more than 7.9 million in high school sports. As the recognized national authority on interscholastic activity programs, the NFHS conducts national meetings; sanctions interstate events; offers online publications and services for high school coaches and officials; sponsors professional organizations for high school coaches, officials, speech and debate coaches, and music adjudicators; serves as the national source for interscholastic coach training; and serves as a national information resource of interscholastic athletics and activities. For more information, visit the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org.