Mana Wahine Wednesday: HNN Digital Sports Reporter Cienna Pilotin

HONOLULU – It’s always normal to feel a bit sentimental during the holidays. 

In her third year with Hawaii News Now, digital sports reporter Cienna Pilotin thinks back on the little girl from Maui that would ask during Christmas time for a trip over to O’ahu to go to a game at the University of Hawai’i. While sports media was not the original plan, she is grateful to have ended up in the field as a lifelong sports fan. 

A former volleyball player, Pilotin grew up loving all kinds of sports in a family that enjoyed everything from the field to the court. Much like most Hawai’i sports fans with professional teams, her loyalties reside in different cities for a multitude of reasons and her heart remains passionate for athletics. 

While she was a volleyball player, she remembers growing up in the prime Kobe-Los Angeles Lakers years and cheering along with her dad as her love for hoops expanded. Her football team – the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs – is a love that came at a younger age as she followed along in her aunt’s path of cheering the Chiefs. 

“All these people think that I’m a bandwagon, I promise you I’m not,” Pilotin laughed as she explained. “My mom’s sister actually lived in Kansas City for a while, so she’s like a huge Chiefs fan, raised her whole family to be Chiefs fans and so I just followed with her – and I went through all the times of them not being good.” 

She continued to get more into football in high school and even found herself becoming a bigger hockey fan during her time in college at UNLV with an expansion franchise overlapping with her stay in the Ninth Island. While she loved sports, it wasn’t the path she had chosen for her undergraduate studies – that would be business, with an interest in marketing of course. 

Pilotin during her graduation from UNLV. | Photo Credit: Cienna Pilotin

That led her back to Hawai’i, more specifically O’ahu, where she then interned at Hawaii News Now. That experience changed the calculation for Pilotin, sending her back to school to get her master’s degree in journalism as she went from the business side of things to the world of media. 

“I look back and I wouldn’t have done it any other way, but I can’t imagine what I would be doing in business,” Pilotin said. “I knew I liked marketing, so within business that was like my focus. So, I took a lot of marketing classes, and I really liked it, and I think that kind of helped me to where I’m at today. I learned a lot from it so I wouldn’t change a thing.”  

She has worked at HNN since 2022, continuing to create her own niche in a world that is oversaturated with voices and outlets to consume information from. Whether it be in tandem working with Kyle Chinen in the field or on HNN Overtime or doing postgame after Hawai’i football home contests, she has worked hard to be essentially everywhere at the same time. 

Hawai’i high school football remains above all though for Pilotin. She has seen the elite showmanship of a Las Vegas Golden Knights home game, been to the Super Bowl for work and watched her own team win it and experienced dozens of other environments throughout the sports landscape and yet, it is the Hawai’i high school football scene that has captured her interest the most. 

“Nothing compares to high school football here … when it’s high school football season, it’s just so fun and you have social media [with it],” Pilotin said. “I’ve kind of just been on TikTok recently, I’m trying to make myself versed with the kids, I guess. So, I see a lot of discussion on TikTok during high school football season and I’ve just done a whole deep dive. The fandom here is so entertaining and nothing comes close to it.” 

Her recent enjoyment for the overwhelming entity that is Hawai’i high school football has not stopped her from coverage of anything and everything having to relate with the islands. Pilotin continues to expand her portfolio with coverage of the NFL Draft for players with Hawai’i-ties, the Olympics, the Super Bowl, University of Hawai’i athletics and nearly every high school sport there is. 

Pilotin on-site for coverage of Super Bowl LVIII between the Chiefs and 49ers. | Photo Credit: Cienna Pilotin

As one of only a handful of women in the industry in the local market, Pilotin says she has had nothing but kindness shown to her by most of her male colleagues, but that doesn’t stop her from wanting to see the continued influx of young female talent into a field that has long been dominated by men. 

“You would like to see more females working in this industry,” she said. “I think that’s kind of what we are headed towards, but it’s hard to get your foot in the door and stay there. It takes a lot of sacrifice.” 

It takes weekend, holidays, late nights and lots of work, but Pilotin is happy to do it. She also is more than happy to be a resource for any young women hoping to follow in the path and pursue their sport media dreams – or whatever it may be. 

“I just always want young women – or anybody listening – to feel like they have a voice and if they ever have any questions or are trying to break through into anything, they can reach out to me and I would be happy to help in any way,” Pilotin said. 

At the end of the day, she’s simply happy to be where she is – and is excited to see what the future may bring. No matter what, she’ll be there and will be happy to see anyone else along for the ride.