Two Maui County Teens Win Student-Athlete Scholarship Essay Contest for Hawaiʻi

The Hawai’i Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association (HIADA) chose two Maui County teenagers as state’s winners of the 2021 NIAAA Student-Athlete Scholarship Essay Contest.

Baldwin High School student Isaiah Souza andLāna’i High School student Ryllah-Rae Rodrigues were selected by a committee of Hawai’i athletic administrators as this year’s essay contest winners.  Applicants submitted essays detailing how athletics participation has positively influenced their lives. They also submitted test scores and GPA’s.

Souza lettered in football and baseball for the Bears, while Rodrigues was a letter winner in basketball and 8-man football for the Pine Lasses. Both are seniors at their respective schools and now advance into the Section 7 regional contest with the winners from California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada.  Section winners then advance to the national finals of the contest run by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA).

The goal of this scholarship program is “to recognize the distinguished scholastic, leadership and sportsmanship attributes of high school student-athletes, and the importance of high school athletics in each student’s life.”

The National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association’s (NIAAA) purpose is “to promote, facilitate and increase the knowledge and understanding of the vital role of interscholastic athletics in the educational system.”