Maui’s Ben Martin is first paddling official to enter Hawaiʻi Sports Officials Hall of Fame

Ben Martin had a big smile on his face as he took two of his grandchildren to Puʻu Kukui School on Monday morning. 

Martin, a longtime Maui paddling official, was announced as the first official from the outrigger canoe paddling realm to be inducted into the Hawaiʻi Sports Officials Hall of Fame in a news release Sunday. Martin is also just the second person from Maui to be inducted into the HSOHOF, joining Judge Joseph Cardoza who was inducted for football in 2022. 

“I was super, super excited, and to be the first ever in the state to be recognized in paddling for this honor,” Martin said Monday after dropping his grandchildren at school. “And knowing that this is the official state team sport in Hawaiʻi, I was really, really excited that I was nominated because of that. Because I’ve been paddling for 40 years, and been officiating for at least 35 years.”

Martin has more than 40 years of outrigger paddling experience and began officiating competitions in the 1990s with the Maui County Hawaiian Canoe Association. He later became the Head Water Official for the Maui Interscholastic League in 2004. 

He has served as a volunteer race official at Hawaiʻi High School Athletic Association state championship regattas and summer MCHCA and Hawaiʻi Canoe Racing Association (HCRA) regattas, mentoring new race officials and exemplifying fairness and sportsmanship. 

His commitment to officiating excellence and his rapport with coaches, paddlers, and race organizers have made him a respected figure in the paddling community, according to the news release.

His wife, Mahina Martin, nominated him for the award.

“She did the initial write-up on my information,” Ben Martin said. “It was about a month ago, and then they made it official over the weekend.”

Martin added, “I cannot explain the honor and the respect that I get from the coaches of (Maui Interscholastic League), as well as the people at the state HHSSA paddling community, MCHCA and (Hawaiʻi Canoe Racing Association).”

Martin is hopeful that his induction will continue to spur the momentum that paddling has gained since the two-year shutdown for COVID in 2020 and 2021. He said high school paddling has been a boon to the sport since it started in the MIL and HHSAA in 2002.

“Within the last, I would say, 15 years, you can see the intensity just picked up every year,” Martin said. “And this past year, the intensity and the enthusiasm that they have in paddling and the support that they give each school, I mean, one school from the other, they help one another. So, you know, the paddling community in the high school, it’s like a big family.”

Martin is joined in the 2025 HSOHOF class by Basilio “Roy” Camello (baseball); Edmund “Ed” Chang (air riflery); Ronald Komine, Sr. (softball); Warren Okinaka (softball); and Hardy Spoehr (football).

The six will be honored in an induction ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 7 at the Ala Moana Hotel on Oʻahu. To attend this event as well as to see a complete list of previous inductees, visit the HSOHOF website at www.hawaiisportsofficialshalloffame.org.