A crowd numbering close to 225 people - the largest in several years - turned out for the event. The breakfast was free for all in attendance, courtesy of the ABC. There was also an athletics slide show and video that was played in the cafeteria for everyone to view as they proceeded through the food line. The piece was produced by Gary Okuda, friend of ABC President Leighton Lee.
Guest speakers this year were former state cross country and track & field champion Matt Stevens and current University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine volleyball player Tara Hittle.
Stevens, who also ran collegiately at Harvard University and Hawaii Pacific University, told the crowd how HBA provided him with great preparation for the athletic and academic challenges he faced in college. The 1997 HHSAA Hall of Honor inductee also shared how his Christian faith helped him through a bout with depression and how God led him back to HBA as a history teacher and cross country coach. He encouraged the athletes in attendance to continue to seek after a relationship with God, to uphold the HBA tradition of competing with integrity and to take advantage of all that HBA has to offer.
Presenting the same Christ-centered message as Stevens, Tara Hittle focused on how a serious foot injury two years ago broke her cycle of selfishness and self-reliance and led to a renewal in her spiritual life. During that redshirt year, she struggled to deal with not playing and felt God was humbling her and, in the process, teaching her to rely more fully on him. She said that her faith has been strengthened and that she is looking forward to playing for God's glory in this, her senior year.
The breakfast and program ran from 8:30 AM to about 10:15 AM. Following the completion of the event, many of the HBA girls volleyball players posed for pictures with Hittle.
If you would like to find out more about the HBA Athletic Booster Club or would like to volunteer at an activity or fundraiser, please contact Deren Oshiro at 564-0327 or at:
doshiro@hba.net 
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