No Place Like Home for Cedar Springs' AD
July 16, 2013
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
As half of the Superdome in New Orleans went dark early in the third quarter of Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3, Autumn Mattson had this thought go through her mind: things can happen even during events of that magnitude.
“I thought, ‘I guess some burnt popcorn setting off the smoke alarm at a basketball game isn’t the worst thing that can happen,’” said the seventh-year athletic director at Cedar Springs High School.
On this day in early February, it’s the OK Conference Competitive Cheer Meet scheduled for that evening which occupies much of her focus, another event in the winter sports season that can make the Red Hawks’ gym feel like her home.
Coordinating events like this one – and attempting to prepare for the unexpected – is one component of her job she previously had not given much thought.
“There were bound to be some oddities of being an athletic director that I never thought about,” said Mattson. “But the amount of work that goes into the actual setup for events is something I didn’t fully realize. From who’s taking tickets, to the cash box, concessions, locker rooms; it’s a lot to prepare for.”
In a position that calls for organizational skills and a high-energy personality, accessibility also helped her become a successful administrator in a short time.
“I’ve learned to become a very good listener. Heading into this job, I didn’t realize how essential it is to listen to people,” Mattson said. “I’ve gained a lot of perspective on the different passions people have and why they do things. And many times it just helps to know their voice will be heard.”
Mattson also can talk, particularly when it comes to her favorite subject: Red Hawks athletics, and the town of Cedar Springs in general. She belongs to the sixth generation of family in Cedar Springs, and says the city and its schools have always had a close-knit relationship.
That much is evident driving through the neighborhood near the high school, where street signs are painted Cedar Springs red. How many other towns across the state have residential street signs painted in school colors (the school long ago adopted the color of its “Red Flannel” heritage)?
“We’ve always been a close-knit community with so many good people looking out for each other, and so many groups pulling for each other here,” Mattson said. “I always dreamed of coming back here; it just happened sooner than I thought. When I got the job, I had to pinch myself.”
A 1997 Cedar Springs grad, Mattson just missed playing in the Red Hawks’ current facilities, as she was part of the last graduating class in the old building, Her prep career led to a basketball scholarship at Lake Superior State University, where she played from 1997-2001. When she returned, she had a new role in a new building, but made herself right at home.
In her initial position as athletic department secretary, Mattson had the good fortune of working for Pete Bush, now principal at Coopersville HS.
“He was a fabulous mentor who showed me the passion and desire it took to be an athletic director,” Mattson said. “He didn’t label me as a secretary, and sought my feedback and advice. Looking back, that was so instrumental; I probably wouldn’t have this job if he hadn’t told the administration to give me a chance.”
Mattson also served as the Red Hawks’ girls basketball coach until four years ago. That role also helped her prepare for administration.
“I sometimes struggled to understand why kids might not have the same passion that I did. I learned that some played for the competition, and some did it just to be part of a team.”
She now gets her fix of student interaction through the school’s Athletic Leadership Council, a group Mattson started in 2010 to unite students, staff and community members. It’s a unique representation of the entire athletic student body, which represents roughly half of the 950 students enrolled when multiple-sport athletes are counted. In many respects, Mattson feels like a coach – or mentor – to all of them.
“These kids all become part of the Red Hawk athletic family, and it’s overwhelming the amount of joy this job brings. I get goose bumps when I see kids have that ‘Aha’ moment when they get that payoff, and I know how much hard work they’ve put in,” she said.
A big factor in the success of any athletic director is having the support of one’s own family. Team Mattson – husband Scott, a former college tennis player and coach, along with sons Drew (9) and Evan (6) – is behind her 100 percent.
“We eat dinner in the office a lot,” said Mattson. “I am truly blessed to have a flexible family. We also try to keep a balance with the boys; we don’t force athletics down their throats. We take them to band concerts, plays and all of the different sports. They’ve grown up around a lot of awesome young adults. The kids are true Red Hawk fans.”
A seventh generation of Mattson’s family appears set for the land of red street signs.
PHOTO: Cedar Springs athletic director Autumn Mattson stands in his school's gymnasium. She returned to her alma mater after a college basketball career at Lake Superior State.
This is the fifth installment of a series, "Career Paths," focusing on the unsung contributions of athletic directors. See below for earlier installments.
Providing Opportunities, Molding Leaders Most Rewarding for Hampton Honoree Thompson
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 7, 2025
A leader on the basketball court as a high school and college standout, and then a leader in the classroom and at every level of educational administration over a 33-year career, Arnetta Thompson has been a staunch advocate for underrepresented groups in sports.
To recognize her work in creating opportunities for those groups, and all students, the Wyoming Godfrey-Lee Public Schools superintendent has been selected as the recipient of this year’s Nate Hampton Champion of Progress in Athletics Award by the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
The Hampton Award was created by the MHSAA’s Representative Council to honor Nate Hampton, who retired in 2021 after serving in education and educational athletics for 50 years, including the last 32 as an MHSAA assistant director. Honorees have championed the promotion and advancement of opportunities for women, minorities and other underrepresented groups within interscholastic athletics, while serving as an administrator, coach, official, educator or school sports leader in Michigan.
Thompson is the second recipient of the award, as Novi principal Nicole Carter received the inaugural honor last year. Thompson will receive the Hampton Award during the MHSAA Boys Basketball Division 1 Final on March 15 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.
“I just feel honored that I’m allowed to be in these spaces, to be selected as a principal or a superintendent, that people believe in me enough to believe I can help their students become better people and reach their goals,” Thompson said. “The rewarding part is seeing those students that you reconnect with or those you stay connected with and see what their paths in life become as a result of crossing paths with me.
“I’m passionate about students – especially students that are not always the top of the class, not the typical student – and helping guide them with the resources and with people that look like them and then opportunities to do some things they hadn’t done and didn’t even think they could do.”
Thompson is in her second school year as superintendent of Godfrey-Lee schools. She previously served 20 years in Grand Rapids Public Schools – as a teacher for six, then as an athletic director, assistant principal, instructional assistant principal and K-8 principal – and also served as an elementary curriculum specialist for Muskegon Public Schools and in multiple roles in the Muskegon Heights Public School Academy System including as superintendent during the 2021-22 school year. She began her professional career as a teacher in Memphis City, Tenn., schools after graduating from Tennessee Tech University.
She is a two-time appointee to the MHSAA Representative Council – previously serving from 2009-13 and currently a two-year term.
“Arnetta Thompson’s work to empower her students and those who have worked for her and with her is simply inspiring,” said MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl. “She has brought compassion and vision to every district with which she’s served. The Hampton Award recognizes promotion and advancement of underrepresented groups within interscholastic athletics, and Arnetta has continuously provided leadership in that area including now during a second tenure on the MHSAA Representative Council.”
Thompson earned her bachelor's degree in secondary education biology from Tennessee Tech in 1990, and her master’s in education with a concentration in educational leadership from Western Michigan University in 2001. She went on to also earn an educational specialist degree from Grand Valley State University in 2011 and her doctorate in philosophy from Eastern Michigan University in 2017.
During six years teaching at Memphis City, Thompson also served as varsity head coach of the girls basketball, volleyball and track & field teams. Coming to Grand Rapids Public Schools in 1997, she served as a lead teacher at Grand Rapids Union’s alternative high school, then as athletic director and assistant principal at Grand Rapids Creston. She also served as an assistant girls basketball coach at Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills for one season and coached the Grand Rapids Central varsity for four.
Thompson entered college on a pre-medical track. A professor noticed how she provided assistance to another student during a lab and suggested she consider education.
“My grandmother told me one time she thought I had a gift, and she wanted me to use that gift to fight for those who could not fight for themselves. Going into college with the mindset to go into medicine, and then my professor saying that, and talking with some of my colleagues at that time, I was moving in the direction of becoming an educator, and I thought that was the place for me,” Thompson said. (Education) has been even more than I anticipated. … Just the feeling of being an educator, just to give people opportunities, to mold our younger kids into great community leaders.”
Thompson earned eight varsity letters across three sports for Ottawa Hills before graduating in 1985, garnering all-state recognition in basketball and all-city in volleyball and also competing in track & field. She then played four seasons of basketball at Tennessee Tech, starting on the team that reached the NCAA Tournament in 1988-89.
Thompson has been married to her husband Willie for more than 30 years. They have two daughters, Daenetta Joseph and Arnell Thompson.
PHOTO Arnetta Thompson, third from left, claps during Godfrey-Lee's 100th anniversary celebration in 2023. (Photo courtesy of the Kent ISD/School News Network.)