These individuals will be honored December 17 in Anaheim, California, during the banquet at the 44th annual National Athletic Directors Conference conducted jointly by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and the NIAAA.

The Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to individuals from within the NIAAA membership in recognition of their length of service, special accomplishments and contributions to interscholastic athletics at the local, state and national levels. Nominations are submitted by state athletic directors associations, screened by the NIAAA Awards Committee and selected by the NIAAA Board of Directors.

This year’s winners include Roger Brown, CMAA, retired athletic director, Unatego Central School, Otego, New York; Bill Bruno, CMAA, director of athletics, Brick (New Jersey) Memorial High School; Tom Doyle, CAA, retired athletic director, Seattle (Washington) Preparatory School; Larry Goins, CMAA, athletic director, Desert Oasis High School, Las Vegas, Nevada; Mike Jackson, CMAA, athletic administrator, Hanover (New Hampshire) High School; Mark Kryka, CAA, activities director, Verona (Wisconsin) Area School District; Paul Moses, CMAA, athletic director, Strongsville (Ohio) City Schools; Todd Olson, CMAA, director of student activities, Fargo (North Dakota) Public Schools; and John Van Fleet, CMAA, retired athletic director, Woodstock (Illinois) High School.

Roger Brown, CMAA, Otego, New York

As a lifetime educator, Roger Brown, CMAA, spent his entire 33-year career working at the Unatego Central School in Otego, New York.

Brown’s career began in 1974 after graduating from State University of New York at Cortland when he took a physical education teaching position. When he retired in 2007, Brown was Unatego’s assistant principal, director of physical education and athletic director. Beyond his commitment in the classroom, he served as an assistant football coach for 22 years, the varsity baseball coach for 20 years and the assistant wrestling coach for 15 years.

Under Brown’s guidance, in 2006 Unatego Central was one of three schools honored by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) for programs promoting good sportsmanship. Brown was inducted into the NYSPHSAA Section IV Hall of Fame in 2009 and his commitment to sports and service as the baseball coach led to the dedication of “Roger Brown Field” –Unatego Central’s baseball field – that same year.

At the state level, Brown served as the New York State Athletic Administrators Association (NYSAAA) President in 2003-04 as well as the NYSAAA Resolutions Committee Chair from 1995 to 2001. In 1999, Brown was named the NYSAAA Chapter 4 Athletic Administrator of the Year. He was also the recipient of the NYSAAA Apple Appreciation Award in 2001. Brown is also currently serving as the association’s secretary.

Nationally, Brown is an NIAAA Leadership Training Institute instructor for three courses, and has been a moderator and presenter at the National Athletic Directors Conference. He remained involved in athletics following his retirement in 2007, serving on the NIAAA Certification Committee for six years. He was also awarded the NIAAA State Award of Merit in 2008. He earned his Certified Athletic Administrator (CAA) designation in 1999 and his Certified Master Athletic Administrator (CMAA) in 2004.

Bill Bruno, CMAA, Brick, New Jersey

The students of seven New Jersey high schools, including Brick (New Jersey) Memorial High School where he is currently the director of athletics, have been positively impacted by the instruction of Bill Bruno, CMAA.

Bruno’s career started in the classroom in 1978 as a social studies teacher at Manalapan High School, where he also was head track and field coach and assistant football coach. After five years at Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, New Jersey, and three years at Asbury Park High, Bruno concluded his teaching and coaching career with 11 years at Pinelands Regional High School in Tuckerton, New Jersey. He was head track coach throughout his tenure at Pinelands.

Bruno took his first athletic administration position in 2000 at Marlboro High School. In 2002, he moved to Howell High School for a year before coming to Brick Memorial in 2003.

Bruno has been the Shore Conference spring track and field meet director for 27 years and the Shore Conference winter track and field meet director for 25 years. He has also been the Shore Track Officials Association “Cadet Instructor” for 25 years. He has served as a member of the Shore Conference Executive Board for 12 years and has previously served as president.

Bruno was named the Shore Conference Coach of the Year in football once and Coach of the Year in spring track twice. He also was the Track Official of the Year for the Shore Conference Chapter in 2005.

Presently, Bruno is on the Strategic Planning Committee, Track Committee and Program Review Committee for the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). The Directors of Athletics Association of New Jersey (DAANJ) has honored Bruno twice – the first in 2008 with the DAANJ Sectional Award of Merit and in 2012 with the Robert Hopek Professional Development Award.

Bruno is heavily involved in the NIAAA Leadership Training Institute and is a member of its National Faculty. He has helped revise Leadership Training Course (LTC) 724 twice and was part of the site assessment team for LTC 799. He has taken 30 of the 36 LTCs thus far.

Currently, Bruno is a member of the NIAAA Awards Committee and has attended the past 11 National Athletic Directors Conferences and been a conference presenter twice. Bruno has had two articles published in High School Today – the national magazine published by the NFHS.

Tom Doyle, CAA, Bellevue, Washington

Tom Doyle, CAA, retired in 2003 after an outstanding 27-year career at Seattle (Washington) Preparatory School. He was a teacher and a coach at Seattle Prep for 15 years, and served as the school’s athletic director for 21 years.

Doyle started his education career in New York after graduating from Colgate (New York) University. In 1973, Doyle took his first teaching job at Seattle (Washington) O’Dea High School and stayed there for three years before joining the Seattle Prep staff in 1976.

Doyle was a member of the Sea King District II Board for six years including two years as board president. He also served as president of the Washington Secondary School Athletic Administrators Association (WSSAAA) before spending nine years as the WSSAAA Treasurer. In 2005, Doyle was inducted into the WSSAAA Hall of Fame.

Some of Doyle’s other accomplishments include WSSAAA State Athletic Director of the Year,  presenter at the WSSAAA State Conference 10 times and author of two books, True Coaching and The Sport Parent’s Manual, as well as numerous articles for WSSAAA News andInterscholastic Athletic Administration.

In 2010, Doyle was inducted into the Seattle Prep Hall of Fame. He also was named the Metro League Athletic Director of the Year twice.

From 1992 to 2003, Doyle served as the Washington state liaison to the NIAAA. He was also a NIAAA National Emergency Network member for eight years. In 2000, the NIAAA awarded Doyle the State Award of Merit.

Since his retirement, Doyle has worked with three other athletic directors as managing partner of Personal Perceptions Northwest (PPNW), which works with athletes, parents and coaches to enhance the athletic experience for student-athletes.

Larry Goins, CMAA, Las Vegas, Nevada

Since starting his career in South Dakota in 1975, Larry Goins, CMAA, has been an educator in three states and coached four sports – football for 14 years, wrestling for a year, golf for 13 years and track for eight years. He has also had a 27-year career as an athletic director and currently is a teacher and coach at Desert Oasis High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he has served since 2008.

After graduating from Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota, Goins started his teaching and coaching career at Leola (South Dakota) High School. He remained in South Dakota until 1981 when he relocated to Montana to work on his master’s degree at Montana State University.

In 1985, Goins became the athletic director at Pahrump Valley (Nevada) High School, a position he held for 16 years. In 2001, he left Pahrump Valley for Sierra Vista High School, where he not only served as athletic director, but also as a teacher and coach. Additionally, since 2011 he has also been executive director of the Nevada Athletic Directors Association (NADA).

As an athletic director, Goins has directed almost 100 tournaments for the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) in the sports of wrestling, golf, basketball, tennis, football and baseball. He is executive director and founder of the Southern Nevada Golf Coaches Association.

Prior to accepting the NADA executive director position, Goins was NADA president in 2004-05. Since 2012, Goins has been the NADA liaison to the NIAA Board of Control.

Goins was the recipient of the NADA “AA” Athletic Director of the Year award in 1992 – seven years into his first position as an athletic administrator. He also received the Sunset Region Men’s Golf Coach of the Year and NADA Award of Merit in 2006.

Goins joined the NIAAA in 1991 and became a Leadership Training instructor in 2000. He earned his CAA in 1992 and CMAA in 2004.

Mike Jackson, CMAA, Hanover, New Hampshire

For more than 40 years, Mike Jackson, CMAA, has worked in public education in Massachusetts and New Hampshire as a physical education teacher, coach and as an athletic administrator. Currently, he is in his 26th year as athletic administrator and physical education coordinator at Hanover (New Hampshire) High School.

Jackson, who graduated from Springfield (Massachusetts) College where he participated in the college’s football and baseball programs, left Massachusetts to take an athletic administrator position at Dover (New Hampshire) High School where he introduced his physical education students to a new curriculum of Project Adventure, a unique outdoor adventure program.

He also introduced adventure education in 1989 to the Hanover (New Hampshire) High School’s physical education curriculum, where it continues to this day. Jackson still coaches baseball at Hanover High and was selected as the Class I Baseball Coach of the Year in 2005.

During his early years in New Hampshire, Jackson worked with the New Hampshire Athletic Directors Association (NHADA) and introduced new concepts, such as assignor systems for officials, school and state sportsmanship recognition and awards programs. He won the NHADA State Award of Recognition in 1996 and was selected as Class I Athletic Director of the Year in 2004.

Jackson has served as a member of the sportsmanship, sports officiating, boys lacrosse, coaches education and baseball committees for the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association (NHIAA). He is currently the chair of the coaches’ education and baseball committees. He is also serving in his third term on the NHIAA Executive Council.

At the national level, Jackson has served as the state’s NIAAA Certification Program Coordinator and is co-coordinator for the NIAAA LTI program. He served on the NFHS Coaches’ Education Committee while it worked on the first edition of the Fundamentals of Coaching course and he is currently serving on the NIAAA Certification Committee.

While attending 16 National Athletic Director Conferences, Jackson has taken 26 LTI courses. He has also received the New Hampshire NIAAA Distinguished Service Award three times and the NIAAA State Award of Merit. He was a member of the Blue Ribbon Panel at the 2003 National Athletic Directors Conference.

Mark Kryka, CAA, Verona, Wisconsin

Before beginning his career in secondary education, Mark Kryka, CAA, spent four years as a professional baseball player in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins organizations.

After his playing career ended in 1980, Kryka returned to school and graduated from the University of Wisconsin – LaCrosse in 1983. He joined the staff of the Verona (Wisconsin) Area School District as an elementary physical education teacher, as well as the head baseball coach, assistant wrestling coach and assistant football coach at the high school. He also taught physical education at the middle school and high school levels.

Kryka’s current position is as high school activities director, a position he took in 1989 when it was combined with the middle school position. When he took the position of middle school/high school activities director, he joined the Wisconsin Athletic Directors Association (WADA) and was a member of its board for 11 years. Kryka served two terms as WADA President.

In 2002, Kryka was named District 5 Athletic Director of the Year and helped create the WADA Hall of Fame in 2012. His other achievements include establishing an intramural program for students who were not in competitive sport programs and increasing opportunities in boys and girls hockey, girls soccer, girls golf, gymnastics, and boys and girls lacrosse. He also helped raise $70,000 in seven days to complete a stadium project. In 2011, he was the recipient of the WADA Andy Anderson Award.

Other accomplishments during his years at Verona include authoring a coaches handbook and code of conduct, establishing an activity feed, authoring activities curriculum for new students, establishing an Athletic Advisory Committee and starting an athletic foundation.

Kryka is a lifetime member of the NIAAA. He was also on the NIAAA Awards Committee from 2006 to 2011 and in 2008 he received the NIAAA State Award of Merit.

Paul Moses, CMAA, Strongsville, Ohio

After graduating from Concordia (Illinois) College with dual teaching certifications in business education and physical education, Paul Moses, CMAA, began an influential career in education.

Combined with teaching and coaching football and wrestling, Moses began his role as an athletic director 27 years ago, culminating with his current position as athletic director of Strongsville (Ohio) City Schools, where he oversees 55 athletic teams.

Moses is a member of the Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (OIAAA) and the Northeast Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NEOIAAA), and has served as a representative and member of the executive committees for both groups. Moses is past president of the NEOIAAA and he has also been a member of the Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators’ State Athletic Advisory Council.

Moses has served on the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s (OHSAA) Blue Ribbon “Length of Seasons” Committee as well as the State Soccer Advisory Committee. He has also been host to a number of OHSAA sub-state tournaments, including basketball, wrestling and track. Currently, he is a tournament manager in Northeast Ohio for volleyball and baseball.

In 2011, Moses was selected NEOIAAA Athletic Director of the Year, and he has been honored with the OIAAA/NEOIAAA Distinguished Service Award (2010) and Award of Merit (2005).

Through the NIAAA, Moses has taught several Leadership Training Institute courses, been a workshop speaker and served as a CAA exam administrator. He is a member of the NIAAA Certification Committee and was recently named as Ohio’s NIAAA State Certification Coordinator. Moses has also been an instructor for the NFHS Fundamentals of Coaching course.

Moses earned his master’s degrees from Cleveland (Ohio) State University and Ashland (Ohio) University. In 1995 and 1997, his school district received national interscholastic athletic recognition with the WAVE grant award.

Todd Olson, CMAA, Fargo, North Dakota

Although he is a relative newcomer, having been an athletic administrator for only eight years, Todd Olson, CMAA, is quickly becoming a leader in the field as the director of student activities for the Fargo (North Dakota) Public Schools.

Olson assumed leadership of Fargo athletics in 2012 after seven years as athletic director of the Grand Forks (North Dakota) Public Schools. At Fargo, Olson is responsible for activity programs in three high schools and three middle schools. He handles a $4.5 million budget serving 11,000 students.

Olson started his education career as a mathematics instructor at Grand Forks Central High School in 1991. He then became the head basketball coach in 1993 and coached the Grand Forks Central Knights to a Class A State Championship in 1996. He was selected Class A Boys Basketball Coach of the Year and the Associated Press Male Sport Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1996. Olson was also named the East Region Coach of the Year in 1995 and 2004.

As athletic director of Grand Forks Public Schools, Olson was responsible for the athletic programs at two high schools and four middle schools. He also oversaw the $2 million renovation of the district’s track and Cushman Field. Under his direction, Grand Forks had 25 teams win state championships and had 86 individual champions.

Olson was named the Class A Athletic Administrator of the Year for 2009-10 and the East Region Athletic Administrator of the Year twice in 2005-06 and 2009-10.

Olson previously served as president of the North Dakota High School Coaches Association and the North Dakota Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NDIAAA), and is currently president of the North Dakota High School Activities Association (NDHSAA) Board of Directors as well as a member of its realignment committee. He is also presently the NDIAAA Spring Conference Chair and a member of the State LTI faculty.

At the national level, Olson has attended the National Athletic Directors Conference every year since 2006 and in 2011 joined the NIAAA Certification Committee. In addition, he has been North Dakota’s representative to the NIAAA Delegate Assembly and has completed 18 LTI courses.

John Van Fleet, CMAA, Crystal Lake, Illinois

During a varied career, not only was John Van Fleet, CMAA, a teacher, coach, trainer and athletic director, he was a licensed official in Iowa and Illinois in softball, baseball, basketball, football and track.

Van Fleet retired in 2006 after a 30-year career as a high school teacher, coach, athletic trainer and athletic director at several schools in Iowa and Illinois. He began his career as a teacher and athletic trainer at Ames (Iowa) High School in 1977. He then served 12 years at Gilbert (Iowa) Community Junior-Senior High School before moving to Illinois, where he was a coach and athletic director at Streator (Illinois) Township High School for eight years, Sterling (Illinois) High School for three years and Woodstock (Illinois) High School for three years.

Van Fleet coached for a total of 24 years, including 14 years as a head football coach, 12 years as a head boys track coach, two years as head baseball coach and one year as head girls softball coach.

Since 2003, Van Fleet has been coordinator of the Illinois Athletic Directors Association’s (IADA) state Leadership Training Institute. He also has produced seven editions of the IADA Leadership Training Institute Professional Development brochure and 11 editions of the Mentoring Program for New Athletic Directors Handbook. Van Fleet also trains and recruits IADA members for the Illinois Leadership Training Faculty. Of the 34 courses that are approved Administrators Academy courses by the Illinois State Board of Education, three of the templates were written by Van Fleet.

Van Fleet was forced to take early retirement in 2006 due to health concerns after being diagnosed with cancer in 2004. Since retiring, he has been the sportsmanship evaluator for the Illinois High School Association in football and dual-team wrestling. He also has assisted in the production of a study guide for the CAA exam for NIAAA members.

Van Fleet earned his bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University and his master’s from Illinois State University. Among his honors, he was named Heart of Iowa Conference Football Co-Coach of the Year in 1988 and was inducted into the IADA Hall of Fame in 2009. He received the NFHS Citation in 2006 and the NIAAA Frank Kovaleski Professional Development Award in 2010.