PHOENIX — Few people, if any, have been involved in high school sports in Arizona for longer than David Hines, the executive director of the Arizona Interscholastic Association, which oversees high school sports and activities across the state.
The Tempe High School alum will see his 47-year career come to a close when he retires at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
The AIA announced Hines' impending retirement on Monday.
"I have enjoyed each stop on my way to this position and the different roles I have served in. I’ve enjoyed working with the people in our office and alongside the statewide membership. But I’m not done yet. We still have a lot to accomplish this year," Hines said in an article on AZPreps365.com.
Hines grew up in Arizona, graduating from Tempe High School in 1973, Mesa Community College in 1975 and Arizona State University in 1977. The only portion of Hines' education that did not come in Arizona was when he earned his master's degree in educational leadership from Nova Southeastern University in Florida in 1992.
After graduating from ASU with a degree in education, Hines took a job as a physical education teacher at MacArthur Elementary School in Mesa. He would later hold various teaching and coaching jobs in Mesa at Westwood, Mesa and Red Mountain High Schools.
Hines even led the Mesa High School football team to a AAA-1 state championship in 1987.
In 1996, Hines moved into an administrative role as the athletic director and assistant principal at Mountain View High School in Mesa. He would hold that role for 12 years before taking his first job with the AIA as a tournament coordinator.
In 2014, Hines was promoted to AIA's assistant executive director. He took over as the executive director after Harold Slemmer retired in 2017. Hines is the seventh person to lead the AIA since 1925.
Since Hines took over, he has overseen the addition of Open Division playoffs in football along with boys and girls basketball.
Hines has also seen the addition of several AIA-sanctioned sports, including beach volleyball, girls wrestling, girls flag football and boys beach volleyball. The organization has also added adaptive sports.
"The things we’re doing with the Open Division and the true state championships, we’re elevating that to coincide with the growth of Arizona," Hines said. "We now have kids that are very competitive nationally and are able to go up against schools in states considered to be high-powered. We’ve even had more state records broken (in track & field) in the past two years than we have in a long time."
Over his career, Hines has served on 12 national committees and has been inducted into Halls of Fame for the Arizona Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, Arizona Coaches Association, Mountain View High School and Mesa City Sports.
"I always looked at everything like a coach, so this has been a team effort," Hines said. "Responsibilities for me have changed over time. But as a team and as a group, we all have important jobs. What I’m most proud of is being able to hire excellent people that don’t need a lot of direction. We have accelerated the engagement of the state championships with our fans, teams and the players. We have given them the opportunity to realize that this is a big deal. That’s what has been enhanced so far and we’re continuing to get better."
Hines' replacement as executive director of the AIA has not been announced.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to four major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events every year, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
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