Botelho recovering from
triple-bypass heart surgeryThe ILH executive director
plans to get back to work soon
Interscholastic League of Honolulu executive director Don Botelho is resting at home after undergoing triple-bypass heart surgery at Queen's last Friday.
Botelho, 71, is recovering quickly and plans to return to work soon, his wife, Shirley, said.
"He has to take it easy a little bit, but he will be back," she said. "We're asking that people not call and visit, because the more he can rest the faster he can get back to being healthy."
Botelho, who returned home from the hospital yesterday, did not attend last week's Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association conference because of the surgery. But a proposal for classification in the state football tournament which he crafted was approved by the state's ADs.
"He was in good spirits when I saw him at the hospital Monday evening," ILH president Tony Ramos said. "He's very important to the state and the league and we're looking forward to him coming back."
Botelho officially started his new job June 1. He was one of four people who ran the ILH after the death of Clay Benham last year.
Botelho, a former University of Hawaii quarterback and assistant coach, was a longtime football coach at Damien and Pac-Five and athletic director at Mid-Pacific. He led the Wolfpack to Prep Bowl championships in 1982 and 1985. Botelho stepped down as Pac-Five coach when he took the ILH job in March; former Pac-Five standout Joe Onosai was named his replacement.
Botelho is the state football coordinator for the Hawaii High School Athletic Association and is on the National Federation of State High School Association's football rules committee.
He recently hired Saint Louis School assistant athletic director Georges Gilbert as an assistant. Gilbert leaves his current job June 30.
"It's a new adventure. I'm just waiting for the captain to come back and take the reins," said Gilbert, who assisted Crusaders' AD Cal Lee the last seven years. "Since Clay passed away, Coach Bo's been the heart and soul of the league. Never a day goes by without us learning something from him."