MHSAA's Next Director Welcomes New ADs
July 26, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
EAST LANSING – The first new administrators to take part in the MHSAA's New Athletic Director Orientation Program for 2018-19 on Thursday received what's become an annual greeting by Executive Director John E. "Jack" Roberts – who then handed off for an introduction by Assistant Director Mark Uyl, who will take over for Roberts next month.
The AD orientation program is required for first-year athletic directors and athletic directors at new MHSAA member high schools, and more than 30 were in attendance for this first of three sessions at the MHSAA Office in East Lansing. MHSAA staff will provide this training, primarily on rules and regulations, to an expected 150 new athletic directors this fall, with sessions also Aug. 7 and then Sept. 11 for late hires.
Uyl has served as an Assistant Director at the MHSAA for nearly 15 years and previously was athletic director at Caledonia and Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg high schools. Roberts is retiring in August after serving as Executive Director for 32 years.
PHOTO: MHSAA Assistant Director Mark Uyl points out some of the tools new athletic directors will keep close at hand as they begin their work this school year.
3 Receive National Honors from NHSACA, Coaching Pair Named to Hall of Fame
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
July 11, 2024
One of the longest-serving members of the MHSAA Representative Council and two longtime Michigan high school coaches have received highest honors this summer from the National High School Athletic Coaches Association.
Brighton athletic director John Thompson was named Athletic Director of the Year during the NHSACA’s annual conference June 26 in Bismarck, N.D. He has supervised the Bulldogs’ highly-accomplished athletic program for two decades and served on the Representative Council the last 14 years, including currently as vice president.
Thompson also this year received the Thomas Rashid Athletic Director of the Year Award from the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA). Brighton was selected as an MIAAA exemplary athletic program in 2015 and as an ESPN unified champion school in 2018, the latter recognizing its statewide leadership in cultivating unified sport opportunities.
Additionally, Farmington Hills Mercy girls golf coach Vicky Kowalski and Livonia Stevenson girls swimming & diving coach Greg Phil were named NHSACA National Coach of the Year in their respective sports.
Kowalski completed her 46th season coaching Mercy last fall by leading the program to its second-straight Lower Peninsula Division 2 championship and fourth MHSAA Finals title overall. She also in January was named the 2022-23 National Coach of the Year in her sport by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association. She was inducted into the Michigan High School Coaches Association (MHSCA) Hall of Fame this year for both golf and bowling.
Phil has coached girls swimming & diving since 1976, including at Stevenson since 1985. After winning the Kensington Lakes Activities Association East title, the most recent of several league championships under his leadership, Stevenson finished 16th at last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals and previously had placed Finals runner-up twice. Phil was named to the MHSCA Hall of Fame in 2012.
All three honorees were nominated for the national recognition by the MHSCA. Beal City baseball coach Brad Antcliff, now-retired Leland volleyball coach Laurie Glass, Ann Arbor Greenhills boys tennis coach Eric Gajar and Lowell wrestling coach R.J. Boudro also were National Coach of the Year finalists.
Additionally, longtime softball coaches Kay Johnson of Morenci and Kris Hubbard from Ottawa Lake Whiteford were inducted into the NHSACA Hall of Fame. Johnson went over 1,000 career wins this spring and has led her program since 1993, including to Class C championships in 1985 and 1986. Hubbard retired after the 2019 season with an 865-380-3 record since taking over in 1974, with Class D titles in 1984, 1985 and 1987.