Iolani AD Hiramoto
announces retirementAfter five years in the position,
she says she wants to move on
Iolani athletic director Judy Hiramoto is going out a champion.
Hiramoto, 56, announced her retirement yesterday, three days after the Raiders won their third state basketball championship in a row.
She'll stay on the job -- in which she oversees bowling, soccer, tennis, paddling, golf and judo along with basketball -- until June, ending her five years in the position.
"She's a great person and we became a great team," said Carl Schroers, Iolani's other athletic director. "She was instrumental in the success of the program. She works really well with people -- kids and adults -- and everyone who meets her likes her. She also works God-awful, long hours."
Prior to her AD post, Hiramoto was a counselor at Iolani for five years. After arriving from the mainland in the late 1960s, she worked briefly at Baldwin on Maui and then at Aliamanu Intermediate before spending 17 years as a counselor at Moanalua, where she also coached boys and girls tennis. She moved on to the state Department of Education Central District Office as a resource teacher before going to work for Iolani.
"It was a hard decision, because it's probably one of the best jobs in the world," Hiramoto said. "The kids are such wonderful people -- absolutely the best. But it came down to time demands. There's three sports seasons, one right after the other, followed by a summer fun program that brings more kids on campus than we have here for the regular school year. It's just time to move and time to be looking to do other things."
Schroers said the Iolani administration will begin the search for Hiramoto's replacement.
More than 900 students participate in sports at Iolani, which also employs more than 100 coaches, according to Schroers.