At the time — June 22, 1998 — and on the surface, it seemed like the oddest of choices.

Keith Amemiya, a young, up-and-coming Honolulu attorney who admitted his athletic background was limited mainly to "being a big fan," was selected from a pool of 18 applicants to become executive director of the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association, the state's governing body for high school sports.

It was odd on both fronts.

Previous HHSAA executive directors had come almost exclusively from athletic administration backgrounds — former athletic directors or league executives, or at least coaches.

Amemiya ran cross country and track at Punahou School, but had never coached or been involved in high school athletics in any way after that.

And for Amemiya, it certainly was an "out of left field" move, considering he was seven years into a career in commercial litigation, president of the Hawai'i State Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division and pulling down a six-figure salary.

Accepting the HHSAA position would mean at least a 50-percent pay cut.

But he did it anyway.

"My first reaction was like everybody else's — I was surprised," said Chris Kobayashi, a fellow attorney and Amemiya's close friend since childhood. "He didn't talk to me a whole lot about it (switching careers), I didn't know he had that desire or inclination. But I did know he was always interested in sports ..."

CHANGING TIMES

Beneath the surface, the HHSAA executive director job was bound to go to someone with a non-traditional background.

The organization had recently become autonomous after decades as a division of the state's Department of Education, so any longtime DOE employee — such as a public school athletic director — was unlikely to sacrifice their tenure and union benefits for a job with an independent non-profit organization.

Also, because of its autonomy, the HHSAA was responsible for raising its own funds and would receive only limited financial support from the legislature, if any.

"Raising funds was a big issue," said Tony Ramos, the retired Kamehameha Schools principal who was president of the HHSAA's executive board at the time. "It was a real change to move from the state (agency) mentality. We realized that it's a business, and we needed to run it like a business. Keith was young, enthusiastic and energetic, and we needed that fresh approach."

Dan Arita, president of Data House and a member of the selection committee, said Amemiya's youth (age 32) and legal background also were big pluses.

"My take was, let's find somebody who is younger with energy, who can give us longevity," Arita said. "We wanted somebody with an entrepreneurial kind of spirit. And we knew gender equity was going to be another big issue, so we thought Keith could handle that with his legal background."

Amemiya said he was "intrigued" by the job because "I enjoy sports and I knew how important high school athletics is to the entire state." But with oversight of 85-plus high schools and their 30,000 athletes, he quickly learned that the "job was massive."

"The first week, it was what I expected — an undertaking with many challenges," Amemiya said. "There's a lot of constituencies to answer to. But I strongly felt there was huge upside, and I immediately felt comforted by the support of the athletic directors and principals from around the state."

Amemiya said being an outsider turned out to be "fortunate" because it gave him a clean slate.

Also, his business (B.B.A. in finance from University of Hawai'i) and legal contacts allowed him access to the private sector that others in athletics may not have have had.

"If I didn't know someone in the business community, I had one of my friends help me make those connections," Amemiya said.

EARLY EXPANSION

In his first year, Amemiya helped improve gender equity by leading the HHSAA in presenting its first girls wrestling and girls golf state tournaments, and he helped create a Director of Information position to the HHSAA staff to oversee development of a Web site and media relations, increasing exposure.

In his second year, he led the charge to create the HHSAA football state tournament, after 26 years of "mythical" state championships awarded to the winner of the O'ahu Prep Bowl.

"At the time, every other sport had a state championship, so I felt football should have one as well," Amemiya said. "Also, I felt it was important to include the Neighbor Islands, because they deserve as much opportunity as the O'ahu kids. And because football is so popular in Hawai'i, I thought it would help in increasing sponsorships and gate receipts."

For that first football state tournament, Chevron agreed to a sponsorship of $100,000 — more than all the other state tournament donations combined. The football tournament now is being sponsored by First Hawaiian Bank, and the HHSAA's list of other corporate title sponsors includes Island Movers, New City Nissan, Hawaiian Airlines, Wally Yonamine Foundation and Data House.

Girls wrestling, girls golf and football were among eight new state tournaments created under Amemiya's tenure, and Hawai'i now leads the nation in state tournament sports (19).

That includes recently added tournaments for air riflery, canoe paddling, cheerleading, judo and girls water polo.

"To have the growth in Hawai'i speaks well about Keith's leadership," said Bob Kanaby, the executive director of the National Federation of High School State Associations. "He's reached out to all islands and has helped increase the opportunities there."

DIVISION II, DIVERSITY

Amemiya's legacy, though, probably will be his push to diversify the HHSAA's role by creating new avenues for growth.

By initiating the Division II elements — first in football and now in every team sport — the HHSAA basically has doubled the amount of state tournaments offered. And with events and programs like the 2002 HHSAA Football Classic doubleheader that featured national powers De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) and Long Beach (Calif.) Poly, the "Team Aloha" girls basketball travel squad and the upcoming Hawai'i/Polynesia-Mainland Bowl football all-star game, Amemiya has helped expand the organization's ability to help bring exposure and potential scholarship offers to Hawai'i.

Amemiya also kick-started a fund-raising effort to install a new synthetic surface at Roosevelt, and he and his wife, Bonny, even donated $20,000 for the new scoreboard there.

"He's added another dimension to the HHSAA," said Mayor Mufi Hannemann. "He doesn't wait for opportunities to fall into his lap — he creates his own. I like to do projects with Keith, because the phrase 'No can do' is not part of his thinking. If he feels something is good for our kids, our youths, he's gonna do it."

In his 10 years at the HHSAA helm, Amemiya has proved that the "oddest of choices" in June 1998 turned out to be a wise one.

"Whether they knew it or not, he was uniquely qualified," Kobayashi said. "This job suits him better than what he was doing before."