Following the conclusion of the 2024-25 school year, Arizona Interscholastic Association Executive Director David Hines will retire after eight years in the position. He has spent the last 16 years working at the AIA and will leave as just the seventh association leader since 1925.

“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.

Hines has overseen the largest expansion in athletics, activities and technology at the state level, and also guided the association and its member schools through the pandemic. It marks one of the most dynamic periods in AIA history. And Hines will remember the effort it took to get the association to this high-water mark with the help of an increased staff to better serve the member schools.

“The growth of the AIA and the things we can do have put us in the forefront nationally,” he said. “The progress with AZPreps365 and the AIA online dashboard has been so beneficial for athletic directors to have a one stop shop for many things. It is good to know the association has really moved the membership forward and we’re able to implement procedures that other states aren’t really doing.”

An Arizona native, Hines graduated from Tempe High School and went on to Mesa Community College where he was a member of the football team that won the 1975 NJCAA National Championship. He went on to get his bachelor’s degree from Arizona State and master’s from Nova Southeastern University.

Hines began his career in education right out of college in the 1978-79 school year as a physical education teacher at MacArthur Elementary in Mesa, followed by teaching, PE and coaching opportunities at Westwood, Mesa and Red Mountain High Schools. At Mesa in the 1987-88 season, Hines was the head coach of the Jackrabbits’ AAA-1 boys track and field team state title squad.

Getting into administration, Hines moved over to Mesa Mountain View High School in 1996 to serve as the athletic director and assistant principal. It was that 12-year run that piqued Hines’ interest to do more for in the administrative realm and expand beyond the Mesa school system into statewide service.

Former Executive Director Harold Slemmer hired Hines to become the third full-time tournament coordinator at the AIA for the 2008-09 school year. After six years in that role, he moved over to become Slemmer’s Assistant Executive Director. Two years later in 2017, the AIA Executive Board tapped Hines to lead the association following Slemmer’s retirement.

One of the biggest legacies Hines leaves the member schools is the expansion of sports and the amount of opportunities students now have to compete. During Hines’ tenure, the AIA added adaptive sports, sanctioned beach volleyball, girls wrestling and flag football, and just recently added boys beach volleyball as the newest emerging sport.

“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,” said Hines. “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.”

In the last few years, the AIA has added an Open Division in football, two Open Divisions in basketball, and expanded the number of conferences in soccer and added an Open Division. In his 10-year retrospective speech to the state’s athletic administrators at the annual AIAAA conference, he highlighted the largest growth of participation in any previous 10-year block in state history.

David Hines presents the 5A Volleyball state championship trophy to Millennium in 2018. (Mark Jones photo/MaxPreps)

“I want to express my deepest gratitude for Mr. David Hines’ incredible dedication and hard work over the years,” said AIA Executive Board President and Glendale Union District Athletic Director Matt Belden. “His exceptional organizational skills, unwavering commitment, and positive attitude have been the backbone of our association. His ability to handle challenges with grace and efficiency has not only made a lasting impact on our daily operations but has also inspired those around him. David’s contributions have been invaluable, and his presence will be profoundly missed.”

Hines added, “I always looked at everything like a coach, so this has been a team effort. 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 has been the recipient of numerous awards, served on 12 national committees, and has been inducted into the AIAAA, Arizona Coaches Association, Mountain View High School, and Mesa City Sports Halls of Fame.