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Hawai'i Hilo Vulcans Athletics

HAWAI'I HILO VULCANS ATHLETICS
Big Island Sports Hall of Fame
Spencer Honda / Hawai‘i Hilo Sports Information
L to R: Max Unger, Joey Estrella, Sharon Peterson, Caroline Kawamoto Abe

General Hawai‘i Hilo Sports Information

Big Island Sports Hall of Fame: Estrella, Peterson

Former Vulcans head coaches Joey Estrella (baseball) and Sharon Peterson (volleyball) inducted into BISHOF.

HILO, Hawai'i – Former Hawai'i Hilo head coaches Joey Estrella (baseball) and Sharon Peterson (volleyball) were inducted into the Big Island Sports Hall of Fame this past weekend with their faces unveiled as the newest members on the BISHOF display at the Prince Kuhio Plaza.

The BISHOF Class of 2025 also included Max Unger and Sparky Kawamoto.

For more information, or to support BISHOF, visit: BigIslandSports.org.

Joey Estrella

  • 657-935-5 record in 37 seasons (1977-2013) as Vulcans Baseball first head coach
  • NAIA World Series appearances: 1986, 1987, 1989
  • Vulcan Softball assistant coach since 2017
  • Assistant coach on Vulcans Men's Basketball staff (1976-1980)
  • Also served as assistant, interim and permanent athletics director at UH Hilo
  • Alma Mater: St. Joseph's School, UH Hilo, UH Manoa
  • Played basketball at UH Hilo before switching to baseball at UH Manoa

Induction Speech Highlights

  • "My parents were basically my first teachers ... we always went out helping people in the community. Especially my mom was always helping people and I think that's how I got my volunteerism and guidance to go help people."
  • "It is my opportunity right here today to honor all the student-athletes that played for me. To honor them for all the hard work, all the dedication, all the patience — and many didn't listen to me anyway so that doesn't matter — but to honor them for the opportunity to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to experience."
  • "I'm smart: I listen to my wife. I had an opportunity to go back to UH Manoa after I came here because Stan Sheriff had asked, 'Hey, we have this position. Would you be interested?' I talk to the wife about certain things and she said, 'You know, unless you're making a hell of a lot more money,' which I wasn't going to do, 'I want our kids to grow up in Hilo.' And this is from a woman that lived on O'ahu. I have wonderful children. I have a Hall-of-Fame wife."
  • "The one thing I wanted to leave with is what my mom told me: 'No matter where you go, no matter where you at, no matter who you with or what situation, try to leave it better than you found it.' I hope that at UH Hilo I did that."


Sharon Peterson

  • 513-238 record in 25 seasons (1978-2002) as Vulcans Women's Volleyball head coach
  • Six National Championships: 1981 NAIA, 1981 AIAW, 1982 NAIA, 1983 NAIA, 1984 NAIA, 1988
  • High School head coach at Hawai'i Prep Academy (2003-2021) and Parker School (2022-Present)

Induction Speech Highlights

  • Peterson was introduced by former players: Lyndell Lindsey (1978-1979), Sweetie Lindsey Osorio (1977-1980), Nalani Spencer-Viveiros (1981-1984), Edie Manzano-Frazier (1978-1982), Vetoann Baker (1978-1979), Carla Carpenter-Kabalis (1978-1981) and Charlene Kahuanui Christenson (1978-1981).
  • "I heard someone say that one 'yes' is worth a thousand 'no's,' and I think that's what has guided my life all the way through from deciding to go into volleyball. That was one yes. To go to college: one yes. To continue coaching — and it started at Punahou where I said yes to going over there to teach P.E. and then ended up coaching volleyball for the first time. I fell in love with it."
  • "I came to the Big Island and coached at some high schools. I have to mention this — there's a young man who came into one of my practices and said, 'We have a local men's team in town. Could you come out one night and help?' That was another yes. Well, that's how I met my husband. He was on that team. He's been a wonderful supporter of mine and has been to I think every single match except maybe one where I had him off scouting."
  • "The biggest yes is from Ramon Goya asking, 'Would you like to coach down at UH Hilo?' I had absolutely no idea this would be a dream job. I knew it would be coaching, but Ramon, Jimmy Yagi, the booster club, anyone that was involved at UH Hilo made me feel like a very important person."
  • "I was so lucky to have the girls that I had coming in. They were tough, they were competitive, spirited and they never gave up. They were so much fun to coach, they were so open and we had a fun time winning. We did a lot of that."
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