Seng Leads, Coaches Others to do Same
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 25, 2018
Meg Seng misses coaching – in her words, “those relationships really are what it’s all about … stronger than just about anything other than family.”
But the coach in Seng continues to show the way in her work every day.
Seng will be honored next month with the MHSAA’s 31st Women in Sports Leadership Award for her work at Ann Arbor Huron and Greenhills over more than 30 years in educational athletics.
The award also will recognize Seng’s teaching, training and empowering of the next generation of coaches and especially women aspiring to follow her into leadership positions in a field where they remain underrepresented.
“I’ve always loved sport, and early on found I had a knack and an interest in coaching. So to be able to share with other young women what I think is a really noble profession makes it a passion for me,” Seng said. “I think it’s a great endeavor, and I’d love for more women to have the opportunity and the confidence to seek out some of those positions.”
Seng will receive this year’s award during the WISL Banquet at the Crowne Plaza Lansing West.
Each year, the Representative Council considers the achievements of women coaches, officials and athletic administrators affiliated with the MHSAA who show exemplary leadership capabilities and positive contributions to athletics.
Seng is in her 28th year at Greenhills School, serving as the athletic director the last 15 after 13 teaching physical education and health. Previously a scholarship athlete playing both volleyball and softball at Indiana University – and winning a pair of Big Ten championships on the diamond – Seng coached both sports at Ann Arbor-area high schools over nearly two decades and has continued as a role model for emerging coaches.
“I’m pretty sure I’ve been to every single (WISL) conference, and so for years, I’ve certainly been in the audience watching these great women be recognized,” Seng said. “To have followed for that long and now be on stage, it’s a tremendous honor for me – that group of women and their value to sport in Michigan is not lost on me at all. I truly respect that group, and I’m really proud to be part of it.”
A 1977 graduate of Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Ill., Seng began coaching at the college level after her playing days with the Hoosiers were done. She served first as a graduate assistant softball coach at Louisiana Tech University in 1983-84 while studying for her master’s degree, and then as a softball assistant at Illinois State University for 1984-85.
Seng took over the Ann Arbor Huron volleyball program in 1985, and over 12 seasons stretching two tenures led her team to five league titles and a District championship in 1993. She also served as Huron's co-head varsity softball coach from 1986-90.
She completed her teacher certification at Eastern Michigan University in 1990 and began teaching at Greenhills that year, later coaching that school’s varsity volleyball team from 1993-2000 and leading the Gryphons to a District title in 1997.
In 2001, Seng co-founded The Academy of Sports Leadership (TASL), a non-profit organization that provides education and training for women interested in becoming coaches and hosts a five-day residential camp for high school girls with that aspiration. In 2003, Seng became Greenhills’ athletic director and began her work as well contributing to the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA) and National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA), serving on committees for both including as part of the MIAAA’s Leadership Academy faculty since 2011 and the NIAAA’s certification committee since 2014. She served as the MIAAA’s Executive Board president in 2013-14.
At Greenhills, Seng has hosted more than 20 MHSAA tournament events in various sports at the District, Regional and Quarterfinal levels, and she’s served on a variety of MHSAA committees as well as currently the Multi-Sport Participation Task Force. She also is an instructor for the MHSAA Coaches Advancement Program.
“Meg Seng has been a leader at every level of educational athletics – as an accomplished coach, respected athletic director and someone who empowers women interested in following her lead and filling the need we have in school sports for more women in all forms of leadership positions,” MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts said. “She personifies the Women In Sports Leadership Award, and we’re delighted to present her with this honor.”
Seng received the MIAAA Jack Johnson Distinguished Service Award in 2012 and her region’s Athletic Director of the Year Award in 2008. She also received the Pathfinder Award in 2004 from the National Association for Girls and Women in Sports (NAGWS), and under her leadership Greenhills received the Exemplary Athletic Program Award from the MIAAA in 2017. She also received the Girl Scouts’ Leaders and Best Award in 2005.
In addition to her work with The Academy of Sports Leadership, she’s served since 2009 on the board as a founding member of the Michigan Softball Academy, which annually raises money for the American Cancer Society. She is published for her work in coaching education and recruitment and has spoken on various occasions on ways to provide opportunities for young women in coaching. She will present on recruiting and retaining female leaders at the annual statewide MIAAA conference this March.
“Meg sees a need and takes initiative to put a committee, group or process in place to solve and satisfy this need,” Holly athletic director Deb VanKuiken said in her letter recommending Seng for the WISL Award. “I truly respect and admire her. She has a great mind and a great heart for athletes and coaches alike. She leads, and she serves.”
Part of filling that need is helping athletic directors find candidates and helping candidates feel confident.
Seng monitors coaching at the high school and college levels, and has watched the percentage of female coaches at the college level fall drastically since Title XI. She also hears a few things – from women finishing college athletic careers who don’t feel qualified to coach, and also from athletic directors who would love to hire women coaches but aren’t finding candidates.
“Our Academy is a grassroots organization just trying to get young girls to follow that dream and show them the possibilities,” Seng said. “It’s a primer on coaching; we show them all the things coaches do and hope it sticks, that they say, ‘I can do that.’
“Part of what we do is try to empower them to take some of those risks.”
In addition to the MIAAA and NIAAA, and NAGWS, Seng is a member of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) and American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD).
The first Women In Sports Leadership Award was presented in 1990
Past recipients
1990 – Carol Seavoy, L’Anse
1991 – Diane Laffey, Harper Woods
1992 – Patricia Ashby, Scotts
1993 – Jo Lake, Grosse Pointe
1994 – Brenda Gatlin, Detroit
1995 – Jane Bennett, Ann Arbor
1996 – Cheryl Amos-Helmicki, Huntington Woods
1997 – Delores L. Elswick, Detroit
1998 – Karen S. Leinaar, Delton
1999 – Kathy McGee, Flint
2000 – Pat Richardson, Grass Lake
2001 – Suzanne Martin, East Lansing
2002 – Susan Barthold, Kentwood
2003 – Nancy Clark, Flint
2004 – Kathy Vruggink Westdorp, Grand Rapids
2005 – Barbara Redding, Capac
2006 – Melanie Miller, Lansing
2007 – Jan Sander, Warren Woods
2008 – Jane Bos, Grand Rapids
2009 – Gail Ganakas, Flint; Deb VanKuiken, Holly
2010 – Gina Mazzolini, Lansing
2011 – Ellen Pugh, West Branch; Patti Tibaldi, Traverse City
2012 – Janet Gillette, Comstock Park
2013 – Barbara Beckett, Traverse City
2014 – Teri Reyburn, DeWitt
2015 – Jean LaClair, Bronson
2016 – Betty Wroubel, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
2017 – Dottie Davis, Ann Arbor Huron
PHOTOS: (Top) Ann Arbor Greenhills athletic director Meg Seng instructs in the classroom; she taught at Greenhills for 13 years and continues teaching as part of CAP and the Academy of Sports Leadership. (Middle) Seng, left, also was a successfull volleyball coach at Ann Arbor Huron and Greenhills. (Photos courtesy of Meg Seng.)
Scholar-Athlete Finalists Announced
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 22, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 2015-16 school year have been announced.
The program, celebrating its 27th anniversary, has recognized student-athletes since the 1989-90 school year and again this winter will honor 32 individuals from MHSAA member schools who participate in at least one sport in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament.
Farm Bureau Insurance underwrites the Scholar-Athlete Awards and will present a $1,000 scholarship to each recipient. Since the beginning of the program, 672 scholarships have been awarded.
Scholarships will be presented proportionately by school classification, with 12 scholarships to be awarded to Class A student-athletes, six female and six male; eight scholarships will be awarded to Class B student-athletes, four female and four male; six scholarships will be awarded to Class C student-athletes, three female and three male; and four scholarships will be awarded to Class D student-athletes, two female and two male. In addition, the final two scholarships will be awarded at-large to minority recipients, regardless of school size.
Every MHSAA member high school could submit as many applications as there are scholarships available in its classification, and could have more than one finalist. East Grand Rapids has five finalists this year, Grosse Ile has four finalists and Birmingham Seaholm and Marquette each have three. Fourteen schools each have two finalists: Ann Arbor Pioneer, Bellaire, Bronson, Dearborn Edsel Ford, Farmington Hills Harrison, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, Grandville, Hudsonville, Laingsburg, Scottville Mason County Central, Onsted, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Portland and White Cloud.
Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.51, while the average of the application pool was 2.14. There are 62 three-plus sport participants in the finalists field, and all but one of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments are represented.
Of 374 schools which submitted applicants, 45 submitted the maximum allowed. This year, 1,425 applications were received. All applicants will be presented with certificates commemorating their achievement. Additional Scholar-Athlete information, including a complete list of scholarship nominees, can be found on the MHSAA Website.
The applications were judged by a 58-member committee of school coaches, counselors, faculty members, administrators and board members from MHSAA member schools. Selection of the 32 scholarship recipients will take place in early February. Class C and D scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 2; Class B scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 9, and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 16. All announcements will be made on the MHSAA Website.
To honor the 32 Scholar-Athlete Award recipients, a ceremony will take place during halftime of the Class C Boys Basketball Final, March 26, at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.
To be eligible for the award, students must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 (on a 4.0 scale), and previously have won a varsity letter in at least one sport in which the MHSAA sponsors a postseason tournament. Students also were asked to respond to a series of short essay questions, submit two letters of recommendation and a 500-word essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.
Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan was founded in 1949 by Michigan farmers who wanted an insurance company that worked as hard as they did. Those values still guide the company today and are a big reason why it is known as Michigan’s Insurance Company, dedicated to protecting the farms, families, and businesses of this great state. Farm Bureau Insurance agents across Michigan provide a full range of insurance services—life, home, auto, farm, business, retirement, Lake Estate®, and more—protecting nearly 500,000 Michigan policyholders.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,400 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.
2015-16 Scholar-Athlete Award Finalists
BOYS CLASS A
Jack Eisentrout, Ann Arbor Pioneer
Nathan Lazor, Birmingham Groves
Zaven Dadian, Birmingham Seaholm
Jason Ren, Canton
Brendan Oosse, East Grand Rapids
Easton Schultz, East Grand Rapids
Jared Char, Farmington Hills Harrison
Charles R. Perkins Jr., Farmington Hills Harrison
Santino J. Guerra, Flint Kearsley
Garrett Farney, Grandville
Noah Andrew Weigle, Grandville
Jeremy Tervo, Hartland
Eric Mettetal, Howell
Riley Costen, Hudsonville
Daniel Karel, Hudsonville
Traver Parlato, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix
Kevin Hansen, Lake Orion
Alexander Oquist, Livonia Stevenson
Benjamin G. Cole, Marquette
Joseph Weber, Marquette
Kobe Burse, Muskegon Mona Shores
Drew Blakely, Richland Gull Lake
Kyle Jones, Swartz Creek
Lars Hornburg, Traverse City Central
GIRLS CLASS A
Clare Brush, Ann Arbor Pioneer
Catherine Markley, Birmingham Seaholm
Lauren McLeod, Birmingham Seaholm
Cameron Peek, Caledonia
Jaime Freas, Dearborn Edsel Ford
Sarah Hartshorn, Dearborn Edsel Ford
Mallak Taleb, Dearborn Heights Crestwood
Mackenzie Cole, East Grand Rapids
Marie Lachance, East Grand Rapids
Anna Laffrey, East Grand Rapids
Allia Marie McDowell, Farmington Hills Mercy
Brianna Costigan, Fenton
Ally Stapleton, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
Catherine Stapleton, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
Meredith Howe, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern
Erin Armbruster, Grosse Pointe North
Kelsey Emmanuel, Lowell
Kayla Dobies, Macomb Dakota
Lindsey Rudden, Marquette
Genevieve Soltesz, Mattawan
Olivia Arends, Mt. Pleasant
Mary Catherine McLaughlin, Northville
Ellen Wegener, Rochester
Jennifer Eaton, St. Johns
BOYS CLASS B
Geoffrey Richard Pisani, Big Rapids
Spencer Keoleian, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Nicolas Arons, Chelsea
Brendan Spangler, Coldwater
Evan Ciancio, Comstock Park
Ryan Mangulabnan, Dearborn Divine Child
Kyle Gavulic, Goodrich
Caleb E. Doane, Grant
Adam Kopp, Grosse Ile
Blake Willison, Grosse Ile
Justin Carlson, Hastings
Josef Philipp, Hillsdale
Austin Davis, Onsted
Austin Robert Thompson, Onsted
David Arnst, Ovid-Elsie
Trevor Trierweiler, Portland
GIRLS CLASS B
Erin Isola, Allegan
Greta Wilker, Belding
Lindsey Carlson, Charlotte
Keri Frahm, Frankenmuth
Kate Tobin, Grosse Ile
Katherine Williams, Grosse Ile
Alexis LaChappa, Harrison
Camryn A. Klein, Ionia
Fallon Gates, Manistee
Abigail Ufkes, Marshall
Paiton Plutchak, Menominee
Erica Lynn Schwegman, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
Elizabeth Swartz, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
Amanda Pohl, Portland
Claudia Raines, Saginaw Swan Valley
Brenna James, Sault Ste. Marie
BOYS CLASS C
Joseph Comstock, Addison
Quentin E. Millette, Ann Arbor Greenhills
Daniel R. McMichael, Bronson
Sawyer Cuthrell, Cass City
Anthony Hoholik, Manistique
Spencer Graham Knizacky, Mason County Central
Cameron Brayman, Montague
Broc Roberts, Petersburg-Summerfield
Trenden Peacock, Sand Creek
Dylan Marshall, St Ignace
Michael Klettner, Traverse City St. Francis
Bowman Seabrook, White Cloud
GIRLS CLASS C
Hannah Steffke, Beal City
Molly Lynch, Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart
Alexa Ratkowski, Bronson
Kelsey Engstrom, Charlevoix
Ellen Doyle, Gobles
Hanna Angst, Laingsburg
Julia Angst, Laingsburg
Bailee Kimbel, Manton
Jordyn Sanders, Mason County Central
Mallory Raven, Morley-Stanwood
Shelby Vincke, New Lothrop
Christiana M. Jones, White Cloud
BOYS CLASS D
Garrett Kraatz, Allen Park Inter-City Baptist
Joshua Robert Riggs, Brethren
Matthew Gratowski, DeTour
Gregory Scott Seppanen, Eben Junction Superior Central
Jayvin Wolfe, Fulton-Middleton
Nathaniel Jones, Muskegon Catholic Central
Daniel Good, Owendale-Gagetown
Benjamin Turner, Sterling Heights Parkway Christian
GIRLS CLASS D
Lindsay Lampman, Bellaire
Chloe Niepoth, Bellaire
Maria Stankewicz, Crystal Falls Forest Park
Abby Sutherland, Lake Linden-Hubbell
Elizabeth Munoz, Leland
Averi Rachelle Munro, Morrice
Natalie Frances Beaulieu, Newberry
Paige Blake, Ontonagon