Kapaa High athletic director Greg Gonsalves earns state award of merit

Greg Gonsalves’ reach at Kapaa High School has gone well beyond filling out schedules and lining up games. The athletic director’s 25 years in the job were recognized May 7, when he received the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association State Award of Merit during the Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association state conference.

The national award is given to one member in each state for outstanding leadership and meritorious service in interscholastic athletic administration. The association says its mission is to preserve, enhance and promote educational-based athletics through the professional development of athletic administrators, a standard that places Gonsalves’ work in Kapaa inside a much larger push to protect school sports as part of education, not just entertainment.

At Kapaa High, that leadership has had visible effects. The award announcement said participation numbers have grown under Gonsalves, student-athletes are expanding their training, academic-support initiatives have started, and opportunities to compete statewide have risen. In other words, the job has touched every part of the program, from who gets to play to how those students are supported in the classroom and prepared for competition.

That matters on Kauai, where a school athletic director often carries responsibilities that stretch far beyond one campus. Kapaa High is at 4695 Mailihuna Road in Kapaa and was founded in 1946. The school joined the Hawaii High School Athletic Association in 1956 and is part of the Kauai Interscholastic Federation, the island league first organized in 1937 with Kauai High School and Waimea High School. Today, KIF includes eight member schools competing in 29 varsity sports and eight junior varsity sports, a reminder of how much coordination is required to keep island athletics moving.

The timing of the honor also put Kapaa’s program in the middle of a broader state network. The 2026 HIADA conference is scheduled for June 2 to 4 at the Hilton Waikoloa Village on Hawaii Island, underscoring that the May 7 presentation happened in a statewide professional setting, not just a school ceremony.

Gonsalves has also served as stake president of the Kauai Hawaii Stake and bishop of the Kapaa 2nd Ward for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, roles that reflect the same kind of organizational and community leadership the award recognizes. In a county where school sports depend on continuity, safety, eligibility oversight and steady institutional memory, his 25-year tenure has helped shape one of Kauai’s most visible athletic programs.