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11/05/20 – KHSAA Coach of the Year Honorees Announced for 2019-20 Season

November 5, 2020 2020-2021 News Releases

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 5, 2020

As part of its annual awards program, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association recognizes Coach of the Year honorees from each state. Those named Coach of the Year at the state level then advance for consideration for Sectional Coach of the Year honors. Winners are chosen through a combination of their coaching accomplishments as well as their contributions outside of competition to help grow their respective sport.

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 complete list of honorees from Kentucky is available below:

Sports

Boys

Girls

Archery

Travis Young, Warren East

Betty White, Tates Creek

Baseball

Sherm Blaszczyk, Pleasure Ridge Park

 

Basketball

Jason Mays, Ashland Blazer

Donna Moir, Sacred Heart

Bass Fishing

David Christopher, Boyle County

 

Bowling

Alan Jones, Ballard

Josh Hitt, Campbell County

Cross Country

Tyler Harris, Corbin

Kirk Thomas, Oldham County

Dance

 

Kristie Adanick, DuPont Manual

Esports

Scott Siemen, Shelby County

 

Field Hockey

 

Megan Rogers, North Oldham

Football

Eddie Eviston, Covington Catholic

 

Golf

Keith Bell, Marshall County

B. Frye, Lexington Christian

Soccer

Jason Behler, Henry Clay

Zac Lechler, Greenwood

Softball

 

Tracy Spickard, Franklin County

Spirit

 

Michelle Schuster, Boone County

Swimming & Diving

Robert Wilkins, Bowling Green

Jeff Floyd, Ryle

Tennis

Anthony Branch, Male

Karen Henson, Elizabethtown

Track & Field

Steven Spadafino, McCracken County

Mark Kachler, Mason County

Volleyball

 

Kayla Gamsky, North Oldham

Wrestling

Robert Burnham, Christian County

 

 

– 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 284 member schools both public and non-public. The KHSAA awards 215 state championships to 51 teams and 164 individuals in 13 sports and 6 sport-activities, funds catastrophic insurance coverage for its more than 106,000 rostered member school student-athletes, provides coaching education and sports safety programs for more than 12,000 coaches, and licenses and facilitates the distribution of training material for over 4,000 contest officials.

 

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