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1. Hawaii Football Program
The University of Hawaiʻi football program has far more off-field events than on-field news in 2022.
That might have been a good thing, considering the Warriors are 3-10 this fall, suffering their first season of double-digit losses since 2013.
UH got a new coach with a familiar name in January, but not the one some supporters had hoped for. Former Warriors coach June Jones didn’t get the job, but one of his most famous players did.
Timmy Chan, who set an NCAA record as a UH quarterback 20 years ago, has been hired to replace Todd Graham.
Graham resigned under pressure after two seasons. Although the Warriors had qualified for his games in the bowl with his 11-11 record both years, Graham was heavily criticized for his style of coaching by many players. Several stars, including co-captains his Chevan Cordeiro and Darius Muasau, have left the team via transfer portals.
Due to the pandemic, spectators were not allowed at most of UH’s home games in 2020 and 2021.
These circumstances have forced Chan to the unenviable task of rebuilding both his roster and his fanbase.
Home games will no longer be at the 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium, where UH last played in 2020 before it closed. Until the stadium is built (Chin is slated to be renovated to a capacity of 17,000 in time for the opening game of the 2023 season).
The state legislature has approved $350 million in final sessions to build the new Aloha Stadium, which is expected to open in 2027, according to the latest estimates.
September, the governor at the time. David Ige has stopped working on a public-private partnership in favor of a standalone stadium. But when Josh Green took office this month, the new governor said he intends to move forward with an original plan that has cost him over $20 million over the past two years.
2. Another NCAA Title
The UH men’s volleyball team successfully defended the national championship by sweeping rival Long Beach State University in May.
Spyros Chakas was named the NCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player with 14 kills, an ace and three blocks in the final game.
Hawaii (27-5) has won five consecutive national titles as a men’s volleyball team. UH did it without his four players who earned All-America honors in 2021.
“Having a whole new team and seeing how everyone is working on their practices, seeing how hard everyone worked in the practice gym…this is even better,” said Big West Player of the Year. Setter Jacob Terre said.
The Warriors made UH history as the only back-to-back team national champions in the school’s chronology, joining the 1982 and 1983 women’s volleyball teams.
3. Allo/Moore/Title IX
It’s been a big year for Jocelyn Aro and Carissa Moore, two of Hawaii’s greatest athletes of all time. The fact that they were women and that 2022 was his 50th anniversary of Title IX – a law that guarantees gender equality in educational opportunities, including inter-school sports – was accidental, but also appropriate.
Moore received the Sullivan Award, which is given to the best college or Olympian in the United States. Punahou graduates won their first surfing Olympic gold medal at Tokyo 2021.
Alabama quarterbacks Bryce Young and Aro were also among the finalists.
A Kahuku and Campbell alum, Aro set a career college softball home run record while leading Nebraska to its second NCAA championship and winning the All-American Player of the Year award.
4. Kahuku
Kahuku were once again victorious as football’s Open Division champions with a 20-0 victory over Mililani.
Coach Sterling Carvalho’s team also ranked 25th on the MaxPreps Top 25 National Ranking.
Kahuku hasn’t lost to a Hawaiian opponent since 2020. This year he went 12-2, the only ones he lost were MaxPreps’ No. 1 St. John Bosco (California) and No. 8 St. Francis Academy (Maryland).
5. Little League
When Hawaii won its first Little League World Series in 2005, the Ewa Beach team needed a walk-off home run from Michael Memea to beat the Curacao team in the title game.
In 2022, Hawaii won its fourth LLWS Championship, also against Curacao. But this time, the Honolulu team didn’t trail again, with back-to-back home runs by Kekoa Payanal and Kama Angel in the bottom of the first, en route to a 13-3, fourth-inning explosion.
The Hawaii team dominated the entire tournament, beating their opponents 60-5 with six wins.
It’s the Honolulu Little League’s second World Championship in five years under manager Gerald Oda.
Hawaii’s four championships are the most of any state since 2000 and second only to California’s seven.
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