Voice of Athletes Heard, Recognized
March 17, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
For more than 40 years, Escanaba’s Dan Flynn has served in just about every role possible in educational athletics. He’s lent his expertise to every group involved with sports at the high school level.
But above all, he’s made sure to advocate for those at the center of our games – the student-athletes taking part.
Flynn has coached, officiated and served as an athletic director, and also was a longtime member of the MHSAA Representative Council. In recognition of his contributions – and the voice he so often provided for those playing sports – Flynn has been named the 2014 recipient of the MHSAA's Charles E. Forsythe Award.
"My focus has been taking care of kids and helping kids have success. It's the essence of education, the essence of coaching," Flynn said. "The coaches help, the schools help, the parents help provide the programs. But the reason is the kids.”
The annual award is in its 37th year and is named after former MHSAA Executive Director Charles E. Forsythe, the Association's first full-time and longest-serving chief executive. Forsythe Award recipients are selected each year by the MHSAA Representative Council, based on an individual's outstanding contribution to the interscholastic athletics community. Flynn will receive his honor during the break after the first quarter of the MHSAA Class A Boys Basketball Final on March 22 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.
Flynn, 67, joined the staff at Escanaba High School as a teacher and coach in 1971 and eventually served as the varsity wrestling coach from 1973-84, varsity football coach from 1985-2011 and varsity boys track and field coach from 1992-2002. He also served as athletic director from 1983-96 and an assistant principal for five years.
Flynn also represented the Upper Peninsula as an elected member of the MHSAA Representative Council from 1988-2010 and worked on the Council’s Executive Committee.
“He’s a coach at heart. He was very student-athlete oriented in his thinking about MHSAA policies and programs and was a dependable voice to bring up the student perspective,” MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts said. “While he spent his career in the Upper Peninsula, he was capable of thinking about the good for the state as a whole. We’re proud to honor Dan Flynn with the Forsythe Award.”
Before beginning at Escanaba, Flynn taught and coached at Ishpeming High School, including leading the wrestling program from 1967-71. He coached Ishpeming to an MHSAA Upper Peninsula wrestling championship in 1971 and then Escanaba’s wrestling team to six MHSAA U.P. titles in nine seasons. As an assistant football coach for the Eskymos he helped lead the team to the MHSAA Class A title in 1981 and a runner-up finish in 1979.
He also served as a track and field official for 42 seasons, and this fall returned to coaching as a football assistant at Marquette High School.
Flynn received an MHSAA Allen W. Bush Award in 2000 for his contributions to the association. He was inducted into the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2001, the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.
“It was awfully important to me that the kids across the state had a voice in the Representative Council,” Flynn said. “I thought I had something to say. And I was taught by some really good people, Jack Roberts, (associate directors) Jerry Cvengros and Tom Rashid, that I needed to listen to take care of people.”
His contributions to his community reach outside athletics as well. Flynn has participated in the Youth Assistance Program and American Heart Association in Delta County and as a CPR instructor for the Superior Upper Peninsula chapter of the American Red Cross.
Flynn grew up in Chicago and received his bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Northern Michigan University in 1969 and a master’s from NMU in 1993, and played football for the Wildcats as an undergrad. He also studied at Utah State University and the University of Oregon.
Past recipients of the Charles E. Forsythe Award
1978 - Brick Fowler, Port Huron; Paul Smarks, Warren
1979 - Earl Messner, Reed City; Howard Beatty, Saginaw
1980 - Max Carey, Freesoil
1981 - Steven Sluka, Grand Haven; Samuel Madden, Detroit
1982 - Ernest Buckholz, Mt. Clemens; T. Arthur Treloar, Petoskey
1983 - Leroy Dues, Detroit; Richard Maher, Sturgis
1984 - William Hart, Marquette; Donald Stamats, Caro
1985 - John Cotton, Farmington; Robert James, Warren
1986 - William Robinson, Detroit; Irving Soderland, Norway
1987 - Jack Streidl, Plainwell; Wayne Hellenga, Decatur
1988 - Jack Johnson, Dearborn; Alan Williams, North Adams
1989 - Walter Bazylewicz, Berkley; Dennis Kiley, Jackson
1990 - Webster Morrison, Pickford; Herbert Quade, Benton Harbor
1991 - Clifford Buckmaster, Petoskey; Donald Domke, Northville
1992 - William Maskill, Kalamazoo; Thomas G. McShannock, Muskegon
1993 - Roy A. Allen Jr., Detroit; John Duncan, Cedarville
1994 - Kermit Ambrose, Royal Oak
1995 - Bob Perry, Lowell
1996 - Charles H. Jones, Royal Oak
1997 - Michael A. Foster, Richland; Robert G. Grimes, Battle Creek
1998 - Lofton C. Greene, River Rouge; Joseph J. Todey, Essexville
1999 - Bernie Larson, Battle Creek
2000 - Blake Hagman, Kalamazoo; Jerry Cvengros, Escanaba
2001 - Norm Johnson, Bangor; George Lovich, Canton
2002 - John Fundukian, Novi
2003 - Ken Semelsberger, Port Huron
2004 – Marco Marcet, Frankenmuth
2005 – Jim Feldkamp, Troy
2006 – Dan McShannock, Midland; Dail Prucka, Monroe
2007 – Keith Eldred, Williamston; Tom Hickman, Spring Lake
2008 – Jamie Gent, Haslett; William Newkirk, Sanford-Meridian
2009 – Paul Ellinger, Cheboygan
2010 – Rudy Godefroidt, Hemlock; Mike Boyd, Waterford
2011 – Eric C. Federico, Trenton
2012 – Bill Mick, Midland
2013 – Jim Gilmore, Tecumseh; Dave Hutton, Grandville
PHOTO: Dan Flynn coaches his football team at Escanaba before stepping down from that post after the 2011 season. (Photo courtesy of the Escanaba Daily Press.)
2017 Community Service Awards Honor 6
May 11, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Students representing six Michigan high schools have been selected as winners of the inaugural Community Service Awards sponsored by the Michigan High School Athletic Association and Lake Trust Credit Union for their efforts to improve the lives of others in their communities.
Brighton senior Bailey Brown, Newaygo senior Justice Ottinger, Ann Arbor Huron junior Katie Sesi, Utica Ford senior Nikki Sorgi, Colon High School’s “Yard Squad” and Rochester Hills Stoney Creek’s Cougar Athletic Leadership Council have earned $1,000 awards to be applied to individual college scholarships, credited to their schools’ athletic departments or gifted to the groups helped by the honorees. In addition to the $1,000 award, the Lake Trust Foundation is awarding an additional $500 to each honoree, to be donated to a non-profit, 501 (c)(3) organization of the awardee’s choice.
The MHSAA and Lake Trust received 70 applications for the first-time awards from schools and students serving communities in both peninsulas and every region of the state. Individual athletes, teams, and other school groups with athletic ties at MHSAA member high schools were eligible for the awards. Nominations were accepted from students, coaches and school administrators.
“We hear all the time about the wonderful contributions athletes are making in their communities by sharing their talents off the field, and it was great to see so many examples of this work all in one place as we selected this first class of honorees,” said MHSAA assistant director Andy Frushour, who oversees brand management and student services for the Association. “We’re glad for the opportunity with Lake Trust to be able to highlight some of this great work being done all over our state.”
One honoree will be profiled daily beginning May 21 on Second Half.
Below are brief summaries of the community services provided by this year’s award winners:
Bailey Brown, Brighton: Diagnosed as a freshman with amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome, causing nerve pain that eventually resulted in multiple surgeries, Brown dedicated her effort to children hospitalized while undergoing cancer treatment. American Girl offers dolls that do not have hair; Brown endeavored at first to buy two dolls for children whose hair had fallen out during chemotherapy, and instead raised more than $5,000 to purchase 48 dolls and other toys.
Justice Ottinger, Newaygo: Ottinger was the recipient of a donated kidney in June, 2016, and organized the “Ball is Life, Organs Are Too” event to honor his donor, Mark Linsley, and raise awareness of the need for organ donors. Hosting the event during a basketball game, Linsley signed individuals up for organ donation and sold T-shirts he had designed; more than $4,000 was raised for Gift of Life Michigan and 13 donors signed up.
Katie Sesi, Ann Arbor Huron: Earning donations by playing violin at the Ann Arbor Art Fair since she was 6, and collecting more than 300,000 cans and bottles beginning when she was 9, Sesi has raised $40,000 for C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan to benefit children with cancer. She has donated $10,000 every two years since 2010, contributing to multiple efforts including the creation of an indoor playground.
Nikki Sorgi, Utica Ford: After first organizing a toy drive for hospitalized children in 2013, Sorgi and her older sister Alex for the last three years have directed a blanket drive designed to provide homemade fleece blankets for patients of any age. Sorgi has helped in providing more than 400 homemade blankets including through Kids Kicking Cancer in Southfield and the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.
“Yard Squad,” Colon: Sophomores Andrew Smolarz, Isaiah Fellers and Andy Stoll, and freshmen Phillip Alva and Austin Stoll – members of the track & field team – answered a request for students to help clean up an elderly person’s yard. They’ve since cleaned three yards during weekends and while all five are playing multiple sports during the spring – and with more calls for help coming in as the Squad’s reputation grows.
Cougar Athletic Leadership Council, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek: The Council, a group of student-athletes created to serve the community, produced a Suicide Prevention Awareness event in coordination with a Stoney Creek basketball game Feb. 28. The co-chairpersons of the Council’s Special Events Committee – Isabella Ubaydi, Nate Davis and Kevin Price – planned the event and spoke during halftime on how suicide and mental illness have impacted them and their school community. Funds from T-shirts sold, concessions and additional donations allowed CALC to donate more than $4,700 to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
“Lake Trust Credit Union is proud to partner with MHSAA to recognize and support these hardworking, dedicated community members,” said Lake Trust Credit Union Vice President of Culture + Engagement, Brandalynn Winchester-Middlebrook. “These students exemplify commitment to their teams and neighbors, while making remarkable impacts in our communities.”
Lake Trust Credit Union lives up to their name, with branches that stretch from Lake Michigan to Lake Huron. With over 175,000 members and $1.7 billion in assets, they’re the sixth largest credit union in Michigan. By participating in and supporting over 100 local events, they reach across the state to create stronger communities. Membership is open to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in their 35 county service area. Visit www.laketrust.org.
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.