Five Hawaii officials get HOF nod

The Hawaii Sports Officials Hall of Fame’s 2024 class of inductees will include well-known figures from the worlds of football, water polo, boxing and basketball.

The five august arbiters of competitive sport—Jim Beavers, Aaron Chaney, Abraham Pacheco, Kenichi “Stupe” Shimogawa and Thomas Yoshida—are fresh proof that the hall is not for those short of tooth or tender of foot.

“We are extremely excited to honor these five individuals for induction to the class of 2024,” said HSOHOF president Cal Evans. “This is our seventh class and we are very proud to celebrate their accomplishments.”

Beavers started officiating youth football games in Oklahoma in 1956 before moving to Hawaii in 1960. He joined the Oahu Interscholastic Association Football Officials Association in 1974 and spent the next 44 years officiating middle and high school football games, a run that included six Oahu Prep Bowl games and the 2000 HHSAA championship game. In 1999, he succeeded Roy Chong as OIA football commissioner, a post he held for 17 years.

Before he became an official, Chaney was a national championship athlete in water polo at UC Santa Barbara. His involvement in the sport provided the grounding he needed to spend more than 40 years as an acclaimed coach and internationally respected official. Chaney worked 20 NCAA men’s and 10 women’s championships including 15 championship games. He also worked the 2004 and 2008 Olympics in Athens and Beijing, including the men’s semifinal in 2004. Chaney also worked four FINA World Championships highlighted by the women’s bronze medal game. He is a member of both the UCSB and University of Hawaii Swimming Halls of Fame and was inducted to the 2023 USA Water Polo Hall of Fame as a coach and a referee.

Pacheco was also an accomplished athlete before becoming an official in his sport of choice. He was born in Hilo and raised in the sugar plantation camps of Wainaku, competing as a boxer in the 119-pound weight class before becoming a sanctioned official in the 1970s. Pacheco officiated numerous Golden Gloves and Police Activities League events and later worked fights in the North American Boxing Federation, US Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation. He worked over 30 world championship fights across three decades.

Shimogawa, who is being honored posthumously, was a founding member of the Kauai Pop Warner football program in 1963 and served as commissioner of the league from 1964 to 2005, performing every job from on-field official to chain crew, timer to ball person. He was also instrumental in designating game proceeds to the local Shriners organization. His honors include National Federation of Interscholastic Officials Association Hawaii official of the year in 1997.He was also honored at the Hawaii State Legislature in 2011 and 2015 for his contributions to Kauai Pop Warner football. Shimogawa died in 2017.

Thomas Yoshida began officiating when he was just 19 years old, learning under the tutelage of HSO hall-of-famer Fuzzy Richards. Yoshida worked his first varsity basketball game with another hall-of-famer, Sam Delos Reyes, then proceeded to make a name for himself over 41 high school seasons, working 13 state championship games and 31 OIA championships. In 1993, he was hired to work in the Western Athletic Conference and spent 20 years in Division I and 26 years in Division 2 and NAIA. He continues to contribute by serving as rules analyst with Spectrum OC16 as well as presenting rules clinics on Oahu and the neighbor islands.

The five will be honored on Sunday, Sept. 1, at the Ala Moana Hotel. For reservations or to view a complete list of previous inductees, visit the HSOHOF web site at www.hawaiisportsofficialshalloffame.org.