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Saving local companies from dissolution may seemingly be Duane Kurisu's primary hold on philanthropy. In the 1980's, Duane, who started his entrepreneurial endeavor in the property business, began to extend loans to Hawaii companies on the verge of collapse. And this mirrors the principal roots of today's Hawaii Winter Baseball League.
Believing in the influential power of sports-particularly baseball-in bringing cultures together, Duane kept an existing league running, another one of his successful rescue missions. The league took a year in the development stage. Finally, in 1993, the Hawaii Winter League launched its inaugural baseball season, the "first true professional international baseball league in the world" according to Duane.
He said that HWBL was one of his most difficult undertakings but experiencing its upshots proved to be equally rewarding. The league housed some of major league's top batsmen including Ichiro Suzuki, Anthony Sanders, Brian Cooper and dozens of other professional baseball players, certifying the grandeur and success of Hawaii's premier ball game. Players in the HWBL spoke fondly of their participation in the league, like Ichiro Suzuki, who Duane quoted as saying that he pointed his success in the MLB to his involvement in Hawaii winter baseball.
HWBL will again play ball this year after several years on hiatus. For more info please visit www.hawaiiwinterbaseball.com
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