By Payne Moses/Cronkite News
PHOENIX – It was June 1975, and the clock read 6 p.m. That meant David Hines and a host of his teammates were meeting for another scorching hot football practice at Mesa Community College.
He was listed as a defensive back on the depth chart, but that didn’t prevent Hines from helping his friend and backup quarterback Dan Manucci with his craft.
“I could always rely on Dave to catch some extra balls and do some extra work with me,” said Manucci.
And his given position certainly didn’t stop him from switching to wide receiver so that he could run through plays with three or four different 7-on-7 teams.
As an Arizona native, the heat was no bother to Hines. However, his time commitment – every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday that particular June – and selflessness contributed to the MCC Thunderbirds winning the NJCAA national championship that season.
Now, nearly 50 years later, he is retiring on June 30 from his position as executive director of the Arizona Interscholastic Association and saying goodbye to 47 years in education.
Athletic excellence produced immeasurable fruit for Hines throughout his entire career. He has held various roles, including coach, teacher, athletic director, assistant principal, tournament director, assistant executive director, and executive director, all in Arizona.
In a word, Hines was “involved,” according to Manucci, who has been a football color analyst for the AIA since 2005.
From adding open division state championships to incorporating more sports into the AIA fold, to advancing media coverage of Arizona high school sports, Hines impacted thousands of young lives and the nation’s overall perception of the state.
“It’s been humbling and it’s been an honor to serve the kids, the coaches, the administrators of our state, and to just try to continue with educational athletics as the main focus,” Hines said.
Steady progression through the ranks
Hines, who turned 70 in March, attended Tempe High School before entering the educational career field in 1978 after earning a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University.
Following stints at Mesa’s MacArthur Elementary and high schools, Westwood, Mesa, and Red Mountain, Hines spent 12 years at Mesa Mountain View High School as athletic director and assistant principal beginning in 1996.
Craig Luketich, a former Mesa Mountain View principal of 19 years, said even in Hines’ interview process at the school, it was apparent they shared beliefs on the accountability of education.
“We just had so many things (in common) about being a leader and being a coach, being an administrator. … In our eyes, they’re all one and the same,” Luketich said. “Those things fit well for both of us as we approached what we did together.”
As the Mesa Mountain View athletic director, Hines oversaw four football state championships (1996, 1997, 1999, 2002) among other titles in a dominant run for one of the largest high schools in the state.
Bernie Busken, Mesa Mountain View football coach from 1995 to 2001, said Hines was “a great boss” in his time there and had “a quiet intensity about him.”
“Consistency and fairness,” said Busken of Hines’ career-long impact in the AIA. “All the coaches liked him. It was natural for him to move into the AIA because he had been one of us. … He’d tell you, you were wrong, he’d tell you if (something) wasn’t going to happen, but he would also try to help you if there was any way that he could.”
Eye on the family
Hines became the AIA’s third full-time tournament director in 2008, a position he held for six years.
His son, Brent Hines, was by his side at practically every athletic event, even those before the AIA came knocking.
“I was born the day between prelims and the finals for the East Valley region track meet back in 1987,” said Brent, who was also a ball boy for Busken at his alma mater, Mesa Mountain View. “My dad had always been working tournaments, especially track, and we just grew up doing it.”
Brent said having his dad double as his assistant principal in high school perhaps helped him “stay out of trouble.” One perk he could always count on was a Dr. Pepper in Hines’ office refrigerator.
“I was at the school. That’s a good thing and a bad thing,” Hines said about his time working as administrator while Brent and his daughter, Jenna, attended the same school. “They never were a problem, but their friends would go, ‘Well, we can’t do that because your dad would find out.’”
Influence and progress
For two years following his time as tournament director, Hines was the assistant to former AIA Executive Director Harold Slemmer. When Slemmer announced his retirement, Hines was aptly prepared for the consequential position.
In 2019, Hines’ third year as executive director, the first Open Division state championship debuted in football with 4A’s Saguaro matched up against 6A’s Chandler. Since then, basketball, soccer, and track have also been added to the Open competition, which determines the undisputed state champion.
“We take those really top schools, put them together, and then give opportunities for the other kids that really would not ever have a chance to play for a division championship or a state championship,” Hines said. “But now our competition is much more competitive in the regular season, competitive in the postseason.”
Manucci, who specifically broadcasts AIA football games of the week, said the “progressive nature” of the Open Division concept that Hines helped ignite was a continuation of Slemmer’s vision for the game. Additionally, the watchability of high school football has been greatly enhanced by more games being streamed and available over the airwaves, as well as long-lasting partnerships with Glendale’s State Farm Stadium and Tempe’s Mountain America Stadium.
“I think the creativity, that way of progressing, lets people see it, at least from the TV side,” Manucci said. “The different championship venues have been paramount and have really expanded or had more eyeballs on the AIA.”
In the AIA track sphere, its first run through the Open Division in 2023 resulted in six state-record performances. They occurred in the boys’ 400-meter dash, girls’ 100-meter hurdles, girls’ 300-meter hurdles, boys’ 4×800-meter relay, girls’ long jump, and boys’ javelin. All but the girls’ 100-meter hurdles records still hold true through the 2025 meet.
Along the lines of increased opportunity, Hines’ leadership was integral in installing unified sports and AIA varsity sports like girls and boys beach volleyball, girls wrestling, and flag football.
“The more opportunities that we could give our kids, the more opportunities they have to participate,” Hines said.
Whether students at small schools play multiple sports or those at large schools specialize in one, Hines said the additional options have been “absolutely fantastic” in serving the needs of all.
Calling it a career
As recognition of his many years of service, Hines joined an elite company in January as one of 14 high school leaders to receive a National Federation of State High School Associations Citation. According to NFHS, citations are “designed to honor individuals who have made contributions to the NFHS, state high school associations, athletic directors and coaching professions, the officiating avocation, and fine arts/performing arts programs.
”He will be presented with the NFHS distinction in Chicago on July 1, one day after officially retiring.
The NFHS reported that 133,036 students (75,794 boys and 57,242 girls) participated in AIA sports during the 2023-24 academic year. In a retrospective speech at the annual conference of the Arizona Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, Hines said the AIA experienced the most tremendous growth spurt in 10 years since its founding in 1913.
Dr. Jim Dean, also in January, was announced as Hines’ successor after 31 years in Arizona education and first arriving at the AIA in 2023. Hines said he knows that Dean is prepared to lead, given how he has “studied” AIA operations over the past two years.
So, after nearly half a century in education, why was now the right time for Hines to be done?
Besides the AIA needing “new blood,” Hines simply wants to spend more time with his grandkids and be “more involved” – just as he had displayed at MCC.A lifetime of promoting educational athletics for more family time. Not a bad trade.
“I did not plan to be the executive director of the AIA,” Hines said. “It just happened that it was available and I was chosen to do that.”
