On Feb. 8, at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i, Leilani Okuda was inducted into the President William McKinley High School’s Hall of Honor. She was honored for serving the softball community locally, nationally and internationally.
Her many honors include:
• First person from Hawai‘i to be certified as an International Softball Fast Pitch Umpire;
• First Hawai‘i umpire in the Olympics (2004, Athens, Greece);
• First person from Hawai‘i to officiate the Softball International Tournament in Japan;
• First to officiate the Asia Oceania Olympic Qualifier Games; and
• Umpire of the U.S. Cup, World Cup and other International Softball Tournaments.
Okuda began officiating when she was 15 years old, worked at the Hawaii Bobby Sox games for 10 years, Interscholastic League of Honolulu for 20 years, AJA Makule League-Senior Fast Pitch for four years, USA Softball Girl’s Nationals and Women’s Fast Pitch for six years and the International Softball Federation for 15 years.
As an advisor of the McKinley High School’s National Honor Society, she encourages students to give back. Every year, they organize ice cream fundraisers and donate the proceeds to the McKinley High School Foundation.
Okuda continues to serve the community as a volunteer coach, scholarship committee member for the Hawaii Softball Foundation and the Oahu Junior Olympics. She also helps the Oahu Interscholastic Association, the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, McKinley High School and others as an announcer, scorer and in other volunteer roles.
