Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui has convened a select 16-member panel to advise him on the prospects for creating a state sports commission.

"The purpose of the group is to make a recommendation to the lieutenant governor about charting a course for the future of sports and sports marketing in Hawaii," said Mark Rolfing, the chairman. "It takes in everything in sports here, at all levels. We’re trying to look at the big picture, where we’re at and what the state needs."

Rolfing, an NBC and Golf Channel commentator, is a long-time Maui resident and has been involved in the state’s negotiations with professional sports.

A spokesman for the Lt. Governor’s office characterized the panel as, "a diverse group of individuals with good backgrounds" in the business of sports.

The unpaid volunteer panel is made up of: former Hawaii High School Athletic Association executive director Keith Amemiya, Hawaii News Now General Manager Rick Blangiardi, David Carey, President/CEO at Outrigger Enterprises Group; Walter A. Dods, Jr., former Chief Executive Officer of First Hawaiian Bank; KFVE general manager John Fink, Honolulu Star-Advertiser President and Publisher Dennis Francis, Bank of Hawaii Chairman, President and CEO Peter Ho; former football coach June Jones; attorney Bert T. Kobayashi Jr.; businessman and minority owner of the San Francisco Giants Duane Kurisu; Sherry Menor-McNamara, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii; John Monahan, president and CEO Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau; Rolfing; businessman Al Souza; Hawaii Tourism Authority vice president David Uchiyama; Keith Vieira, Shidler College of Business Executive in Residence.

Kurisu is also a board member of Oahu Publications Inc., publisher of the Star-Advertiser.

The group is said to be strictly advisory and is not expected to continue past the middle of the year. "Time is of the essence," Rolfing said, "We’d like to complete our work in the next 90 days because we feel there are just too many important decisions that can’t wait very much longer."

He said the future of the Pro Bowl, PGA Tour and LPGA Tour events and attracting new ones are among pressing items confronting the state.

The group had its first meeting Jan. 15 and is scheduled for a half-day meeting Feb. 12, a spokesman said.

Rolfing said Hawaii is "one of the few major cities or states without some type of a sports commission or authority and it is something we need to look at."

The Hawaii panel is also scheduled to have a conference call with the National Association of Sports Commissions.