Twenty-one high school coaches from across the country have been selected 2010 National Coaches of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association.
The NFHS, which has been recognizing coaches through an awards program since 1982, honors coaches in the top 10 girls sports and top 10 boys sports (by participation numbers), and in one “other” category that is not included in these 20 categories. Winners of NFHS awards must be active coaches during the year in which they receive their award. This year’s awards recognize coaches for the 2009-10 school year.
Recipients of the 2010 NFHS national awards for girls sports are:
Steve Ingram, basketball, Olathe (Kansas ) South High School; Larry Royce, track and field, Bellevue (Washington) Christian High School; Ann Schilling, volleyball, Daphne (Alabama) Bayside Academy; Rhonda Blevins, softball, Richlands (Virginia) High School; Diane Davey, soccer, Plano (Texas) Senior High School; Jeffrey Holman, tennis, Haddonfield (New Jersey) Memorial High School; Joe Volk, cross country, Medford (Oregon) St. Mary’s School; Rex Watkins, swimming and diving, Albany (Oregon) Crescent Valley High School; Terri Simonetti-Frost, field hockey, Columbus (Ohio) Thomas Worthington High School; and Greg Guinn, golf, West Liberty (Iowa) High School.
Recipients of this year’s national awards for boys sports are:
Thomas Stone, football, Packwood (Iowa) Pekin High School; Tony Mauldin, basketball, Garland (Texas) Lakeview Centennial High School; John McInnis, track and field, Brandon (Mississippi) High School; Mac Whitaker, baseball, Cynthiana (Kentucky) Harrison County High School; Terry Michler, soccer, St. Louis (Missouri) CBC High School;Bobby Jefferson, wrestling, Muskogee (Oklahoma) High School; Christopher Young, cross country, Ionia (Michigan) High School; Lawrence Ries, golf, Flemington (New Jersey) Hunterdon Central High School; Jeff Wood, tennis, Portland (Oregon) Jesuit High School; and Mark Onstott, swimming and diving, Winnetka (Illinois) New Trier High School.
The recipient of the National Coach of the Year Award for other sports is Joanne Thaw, girls gymnastics, Newton (Kansas) High School.
In addition to the 21 National Coaches of the Year, the NFHS Coaches Association has selected William (Mickey) Corcoran of Dumont, New Jersey, as the recipient of the National Coach Contributor Award. This award is presented to an individual who has gone above and beyond and who exemplifies the highest standards of sportsmanship, ethical conduct and moral character, and who carries the endorsement of his or her respective state high school association.
Corcoran, best known as “the mentor” in New Jersey interscholastic athletics, started his career of teaching and coaching basketball at Horace Mann School for Boys in New York City in 1948. He also coached girls basketball before retiring in 1985. He is a longtime golf coach, and has been involved with officiating and timekeeping duties for football, basketball, wrestling and lacrosse, which he continues in retirement.
The NFHS has a contact person in each state who is responsible for selecting deserving coach award recipients. This contact person often works with the state coaches’ associations in their respective states. He or she contacts the potential state award recipients to complete a coach profile form that requests information regarding the coach’s record, membership in and affiliation with coaching and other professional organizations, involvement with other school and community activities and programs, and coaching philosophy. To be approved as an award recipient and considered for sectional and national coach of the year consideration, this profile form must be completed by the coach or designee and then approved by the executive director (or designee) of the state athletic/activities association.
The next award level after state coach of the year is sectional coach of the year. The NFHS is divided into eight geographical sections. They are as follows: Section 1 – Northeast (CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT); Section 2 – Mideast (DE, DC, KY, MD, OH, PA, VA, WV); Section 3 – South (AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN); Section 4 – Central (IL, IN, IA, MI, WI); Section 5 – Midwest (KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD); Section 6 – Southwest (AR, CO, NM, OK, TX); Section 7 – West (AZ, CA, HI, NV, UT); and Section 8 – Northwest (AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY).
The NFHS Coaches Association has an advisory board, composed of a chair and eight sectional representatives, which considers the state award recipients from the states in their respective sections and selects the best candidates for the sectional award in each sport category. The advisory board forwards those recommendations to the NFHS national office in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The NFHS Coaches Association advisory committee considers the sectional candidates in each sport, ranks them according to a point system, and determines a national winner for each of the 20 sport categories, plus one “other” category.
A total of 360 coaches will be recognized this year with state, sectional and national awards.