02/14/18 – NFHS Announces KHSAA Coach of the Year Honorees for 2016-17

February 14, 2018

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 14, 2018

As part of its annual recognition program, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association recently announced its award winners for the 2016-17 seasons. Twenty-five coaches from Kentucky were honored as Coaches of the Year for their respective sports at the state level, while Johnson Central head football coach James Matney was named the NFHS Sectional Coach of the Year.

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 two “other” sports – one for boys and one for girls – that are not included in the top 10 listings. The NFHS also recognizes a spirit coach as a separate award category. Winners of NFHS awards must be active coaches during the year for which they receive their award.

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 committee composed of a chair and eight sectional representatives. The sectional committee representatives evaluate the state award recipients from the states in their respective sections and select the best candidates for the sectional award in each sport category. The NFHS Coaches Association Advisory Committee then 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, the spirit category and two “other” categories.

A total of 667 coaches will be recognized this year with state, sectional and national awards. A complete list of honorees from Kentucky is available below:

 

NFHS Sectional Coach of the Year
Football	James Matney	Johnson Central
NFHS Kentucky Coaches of the Year
Archery	Jesse Peters	Lafayette
Baseball	Bill Miller	Pleasure Ridge Park
Basketball – Boys	Tim Sullivan	Cooper
Basketball – Girls	Chris Souder	Mercer County
Bass Fishing	Duane Cress	Madison Southern
Bowling – Boys	Zach Cooley	Boyle County
Bowling – Girls	Jeff Crady	Central Hardin
Cross Country – Boys	Chuck Medley	St. Xavier
Cross Country – Girls	Lowery Stallings	Christian Academy-Lou.
Field Hockey	Stanley Phulpagar	Christian Academy-Lou.
Football	James Matney	Johnson Central
Golf – Boys	Michael Brumfield	Trinity
Golf – Girls	Thomas Brummett	Scott County
Soccer – Boys	Doug Sandifer	Daviess County
Soccer – Girls	Kevin Wright	West Jessamine
Softball	Derek Calhoun	East Carter
Spirit	Kandice Branham	Pikeville
Swimming & Diving – Boys	Dave Little	Lexington Catholic
Swimming & Diving – Girls	Courtney Sorrell	Notre Dame
Tennis – Boys	Eddie Sizemore	Ashland Blazer
Tennis – Girls	Larra Ferguson	Russell
Track & Field – Boys	James Bleecker	Fort Knox
Track & Field – Girls	Leland Warsaw	John Hardin
Volleyball	Brett Versen	Sacred Heart
Wrestling	Jim Kraeszig	St. Xavier

 

-KHSAA-

About the Kentucky High School Athletic Association
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association was organized in 1917 and is the agency designated by the Kentucky Department of Education to manage high school athletics in the Commonwealth. The Association is a voluntary nonprofit 501(c)3 organization made up of 279 member schools both public and private. The KHSAA sanctions 44 state championships in 13 sports and 5 sport-activities, licenses and trains over 4,000 officials, provides catastrophic insurance for its more than 70,000 member school student-athletes, as well as overseeing coaching education and sports safety programs.

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