Pāhoa school sweeps inaugural Hawaii high school surfing titles

Hawaii Academy of Arts and Science turned the first Hawaii high school surfing state championship into a Pāhoa showcase, with Felix Barton and Alex Ranne winning the boys bodyboard and longboard titles about an hour apart at Hookipa Beach Park on Maui.

Barton, a senior, took the bodyboard crown first and was carried by his coaches after the victory, a scene that captured how quickly a sport with deep cultural roots in Hawaii has become an official school competition. Roughly an hour later, teammate Alex Ranne added the boys longboard title, giving the Pāhoa public charter school an extraordinary double in the inaugural meet.

The result put Hawaii Island, and especially Puna, at the center of a statewide milestone. The championship drew 174 student-athletes from 55 schools, a sign that surfing has moved well beyond an extracurricular niche and into a full interscholastic pipeline with enough participation to support a state title event. For a county where ocean access and surf culture shape daily life, the sweep also raised the profile of local coaching and the school-based path now open to young surfers.

The meet existed because of Act 141, which Gov. Josh Green signed on May 30, 2025, making Hawaii the first state in the nation to sanction surfing as a state high school championship sport. The Hawaii High School Athletic Association later made surfing its 21st sanctioned sport and set the first state championship for May 1-2, 2026 at Hookipa, with Kahului Harbor listed as the backup site.

The new championship built on a longer effort. The Hawaii Department of Education and Board of Education had already sanctioned surfing as a high school sport in 2016, but before the statewide expansion only one of the state’s five local athletic leagues had been sponsoring it. Support for the broader push came from people such as Maui Interscholastic League co-coordinator Kim Ball, along with Green, Rep. Sean Quinlan and Olympic gold medalist Carissa Moore at a September 22, 2025 launch event.

The state law also set aside $685,870 in each of two fiscal years to fund competition. HHSAA said all five leagues would have boys and girls surfing teams beginning in spring 2026, and at least three leagues would recognize shortboard, longboard and bodyboarding. For Hawaii Island, Barton and Ranne’s wins showed that the island is not just participating in the new sport, it is helping define the standard from the start.