Uyl to Serve as MHSAA's Next Executive Director
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 8, 2018
Mark Uyl's impact on educational athletics has stretched from his hometown across this state and our country as a teacher, coach, administrator and one of the nation's most respected voices in sport officiating.
The Caledonia native and assistant director for the Michigan High School Athletic Association over the last 14 years is now charged with leading the Association as it continues in the work he has championed for two decades.
Uyl, 44, has been selected as the next executive director of the MHSAA by its Representative Council. He will succeed retiring Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts in August. Roberts, who has served as executive director since the fall of 1986, announced his retirement April 24.
Uyl joined the MHSAA staff in January 2004 and coordinates the Association’s nearly 10,000 officials in addition to serving as director of baseball and administrator of the MHSAA’s catastrophic and concussion care insurance plans. He also has served as director of cross country and wrestling during his tenure.
As assistant director, Uyl was instrumental as the MHSAA became the first state high school athletics association to offer concussion care insurance, which provides gap coverage to assist in covering costs for athletes who are injured while participating in MHSAA-sponsored sports. As an official himself, Uyl has worked to build a stronger relationship with those working high school events that has included an increase in training and support. As a sport director, Uyl has sought to create the best experiences for Michigan high school teams, including with the move of the MHSAA Baseball and Softball Finals to Michigan State University in 2014.
“The foundation built here by Jack Roberts over the last 32 years is the strongest in the country, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to lead our staff in building on that foundation,” Uyl said. “There will be many ways we’ll continue to protect the same values of educational athletics, while also looking for new ways and new opportunities to best serve the students and our member schools in Michigan.”
In addition to his full-time MHSAA duties, Uyl has officiated collegiate baseball since 1997 and is regarded as one of the best at that level. In addition to umpiring major conference baseball all over the United States, Uyl was part of the crews for the 2014 and 2017 College World Series. He also officiated college football for 12 years with several NCAA postseason assignments, and did serve as coordinator of officials for the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. He was registered with the MHSAA for at least three sports beginning in 1992 and worked the Baseball Finals in 1999.
Additionally, Uyl served on the board of directors of the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) from 2012-15 and as its chairperson during his final year. Currently, he serves as the high school representative on the Officiating Development Alliance (ODA), which consists of the supervisors of officials for the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, CFL, MLS and NCAA Division I sports.
The Council made its decision at the conclusion of its annual Spring Meeting on May 7 in Gaylord. Uyl will become only the fifth full-time executive in the MHSAA’s 94-year history, following Charles E. Forsythe (1931-42, 1945-68), Allen W. Bush (1968-78), Vern L. Norris (1978-86) and Roberts.
“Mark has spent the past 14 years as a highly effective assistant director for the MHSAA,” said Representative Council President Scott Grimes, who serves as Assistant Superintendent of Human Services for Grand Haven Area Public Schools. “He is a proven leader in the organization committed to providing outstanding service to both internal and external constituents. The positive relationships he has fostered with school administrators will help make this a very smooth transition.”
Prior to his time at the MHSAA, Uyl first taught and coached and then served as athletic director and assistant principal at Middleville-Thornapple Kellogg High School, the latter from 2001-03. Before becoming an administrator there, Uyl served as athletic director at Caledonia High School in 2000-01.
During his tenure as an assistant director at the MHSAA, Uyl also served a four-year term on the Baseball Committee for the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
“Mark was the obvious choice to become the next executive director of the MHSAA,” Roberts said. “Mark has the proper student-focused perspective of educational athletics, excellent person-to-person communications skills and a deep practical understanding of what is happening day to day in school sports in our state and nationally.”
Uyl graduated from Caledonia High School in 1992, and from Calvin College in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in history and physical education. He later received a master’s in educational leadership from Grand Valley State University. At Calvin, Uyl was a four-year starter on the baseball team, earning all-conference honors twice and serving as team captain.
Uyl resides in DeWitt with his wife Marcy, an accomplished educator and coach who has served as a high school varsity basketball coach since 1994. They have three children: Jackson (17), Grant (15) and Madison (11).
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 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.
PHOTOS: (Top) MHSAA Assistant Director Mark Uyl provides pointers to football officials during a summer clinic in 2011. (Middle) Uyl speaks at the NASO officiating summit in 2013 in Grand Rapids.
East Kentwood’s Brumels, Gull Lake’s Furlong, East Lansing’s Norris Selected for Bush Awards
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 23, 2025
East Kentwood athletic director Blaine Brumels, Richland Gull Lake athletic director Karyn Furlong and East Lansing athletic director Nikki Norris are widely regarded as exemplary event hosts after decades of managing countless Michigan High School Athletic Association tournament competitions at their respective schools – and also thriving in leadership positions at the Finals championship level.
Their expertise in fulfilling this essential role in MHSAA postseason play is among several reasons Brumels, Furlong and Norris have been honored as the 2025 recipients of the MHSAA’s Allen W. Bush Award.
Al Bush served as executive director of the MHSAA for 10 years. The award honors individuals for past and continuing service to school athletics as a coach, administrator, official, trainer, doctor or member of the media. The award was developed to bring recognition to people who are giving and serving locally, regionally or statewide without a lot of attention. This is the 34th year of the award.
For 20 years, Brumels has directed the athletic department for what is currently the largest (by enrollment) school in the MHSAA high school membership with nearly 3,000 students and 30 varsity athletic teams. This is his 34th year total with Kentwood schools and 40th in education.
Brumels came to his longtime district after six years at Fremont, where he taught and coached track & field, football and junior varsity basketball. He spent his first year in Kentwood at the middle school level before moving to the high school as a teacher, and he later assisted in managing athletic events before eventually becoming the athletic director.
Under Brumels’ leadership, East Kentwood has hosted several MHSAA postseason events including Track & Field and Soccer Finals; this season’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Track & Field Finals will be competed there on May 31. Brumels also has served on several MHSAA committees over his tenure, assisting with selection of basketball and volleyball sites, competitive cheer judges and annual awards. He was named the Regional 4 Athletic Director of the Year in 2016 by the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA).
Brumels has filled several more roles at East Kentwood, including as department chair and MEAP coordinator for mathematics, curriculum council representative, intramural and KIDS program director and senior class advisor, and he has also served on the board for Byron Center Christian School. Brumels earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics with an emphasis on education from Hope College in 1985 and his master’s in educational leadership from Grand Valley State University in 1992.
“Blaine Brumels is a consummate professional who embraces the philosophy of educational athletics as well as any athletic director in the state – that sports can provide lifelong lessons whether students are state champions or role players on a team,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “Blaine has been a significant part of passing on those lessons not just through athletics but in several roles as a champion of Kentwood Public Schools and loyal member of the Kentwood community for more than three decades.”
Furlong has served as athletic director at Richland Gull Lake High School for 11 years and has contributed to her district for nearly three decades, as she also served as varsity volleyball coach for 19 seasons before stepping down after the 2014 season.
As athletic director, Furlong has served on several MHSAA committees including those for officials and site selection for various sports, and she’s part of the administrative teams at the Girls Volleyball and Team Wrestling Finals. She’s currently serving as the MIAAA Region 5 representative, and she’s served as Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference (SMAC) chairperson for volleyball, competitive cheer, golf, wrestling and basketball. Furlong was named Michigan Wrestling Coaches Athletic Director of the Year in 2023 and Region 5 Athletic Director of the Year by the MIAAA in 2024.
As a coach, Furlong was named Wolverine Conference Coach of the Year multiple seasons and twice Regional Coach of the Year by the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association (MIVCA). She also has been a registered official the last two school years, currently in volleyball, cross country and track & field.
Prior to taking over at Gull Lake, Furlong served as director of volleyball for nearly 12 years at Courthouse Athletic Center in Kalamazoo and was an event coordinator for the Gull Lake athletic department for two years. She has helped coordinate youth wrestling and basketball programs in the Gull Lake community and worked with the Gull Lake Area Rotary on several events. She earned her bachelor’s degree in finance and business law in 1997 and master’s in sport and fitness administration management in 2003, both from Western Michigan University.
“Karyn Furlong genuinely cares about enriching her community and the kids growing up in Gull Lake. Whether it’s in the building of facilities or managing of programs or hiring of personnel, she always has the end goal of helping students in her school become better people,” Uyl said. “She’s also become a go-to voice in the athletic director community, especially in southwestern Michigan, on how to host events and provide great hospitality to visiting teams and their spectators. It’s that dedication and care that has made her an admired leader locally and across the state.”
Norris is completing her seventh year as athletic director at East Lansing High School after eight in that position for Corunna Public Schools. She previously taught for six years at Carson City-Crystal and then 11 at Corunna before taking over the Cavaliers’ athletic department during the summer of 2010. She also coached volleyball at multiple levels over more than 15 years including Corunna’s varsity for seven seasons over two tenures, and coached high school basketball for a combined eight years during her time at the two schools where she taught. Additionally, she has served as an MHSAA registered volleyball official for a total of 15 years.
Her schools have hosted various MHSAA Tournament events in multiple sports, and she’s served on every type of MHSAA Committee, providing input on a variety of sports and selection of tournament sites, officials and Scholar-Athlete Award honorees. She also annually contributes as a tournament administrator at the Girls Volleyball and Softball/Baseball/Girls Soccer Finals.
Norris served as MIAAA president in 2021 and 2022 and was named Region 7 Athletic Director of the Year in 2016. She has received “Certified Athletic Administrator” designation from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) and was honored with the MHSAA Women In Sports Leadership Award in 2020.
A 1987 graduate of Ithaca High School, Norris received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Alma College and then earned master’s degrees in biological sciences from Michigan State University and educational leadership from American College of Education.
“Nikki Norris is the ultimate utility player in athletic administration. She knows the ins and outs of every sporting event and understands which problems are unique to high school athletics and how to solve them,” Uyl said. “She’s a school-first, sports-second type of athletic director who prioritizes the development of the whole student, and that philosophy and knowledge have made her very well-respected in her field.”
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 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.