The A.F. Bridges Awards program was expanded 15 years ago to include awards for School System Administrator of the Year, Principal of the Year, Athletic Director of the Year, Female Coach of the Year, Male Coach of the Year, Official of the Year, and Contributor of the Year. The awards recognize again this year 63 individuals from across our state that represent what’s best in high school athletics. Recognition was made in the above mentioned categories in each of the nine athletic districts in our state.
Nominations were made by a Citizenship/Sportsmanship Committee in each athletic district and the final selection was made by a State Selection Committee.
Bernard Childress, Executive Director of the TSSAA stated, “Being recognized for one of these awards as a school or individual should be seen as one of the highest honors in high school athletics in our state. Those who receive the awards truly reflect what high school athletics should be about, and that’s good sportsmanship and good citizenship.”
All of these awards will be presented at the three Regional Meetings held at the following dates and sites (members of the media are welcome to attend):
Monday, November 3 – Hardin Valley Academy, 1 p.m. ET
Wednesday, November 5 – University School of Jackson, 1 p.m. CT
Thursday, November 6 – Hillwood High School, 10:00 a.m. CT
The award winners in this area are:
ATHLETIC DISTRICT 8
School System Administrator of the Year
Buddy Bibb, Tipton County
ATHLETIC DISTRICT 9
School System Administrator of the Year
Catherine Battle, Shelby Co. Schools
Principal of the Year
Eric Harris, East HS
Athletic Director of the Year
Kevin Starks, Harding Academy
Female Coach of the Year
Barbara Whitaker, Germantown HS
Male Coach of the Year
Duane Stokes, Raleigh-Egypt HS
Official of the Year
Mickey Pitts, Cordova
Contributor of the Year
Diane Terrell, Memphis Grizzlies
A.F. Bridges Divisional Awards and State Award of Excellence
The A.F. Bridges Divisional Awards are given to schools that have had no reported unsportsmanlike conduct incidents during the previous school year and have displayed an overall positive effort to teach, expect, and demand a positive atmosphere of sportsmanship at their particular contests.
The schools that received this prestigious award were nominated by local officials associations, other member schools, and the Tennessee Observers Program for Sports (TOPS).
Of the 27 divisional recipients, one school in each class will receive Tennessee’s top award for overall outstanding effort in its division. One of the three schools in each classification will be presented the A.F. Bridges State Award of Excellence shortly after the divisional awards are handed out. This is the highest award that can be bestowed upon a school to honor its overall efforts to promote citizenship and sportsmanship at school, and at athletic contests.
The A.F. Bridges Award is given in honor of the TSSAA’s first executive secretary. He served as executive secretary from 1946 until his retirement in 1972. Under his leadership, athletics in the state of Tennessee reached a level of excellence and competence that earned the respect of all people. Mr. Bridges was a person of high principles who displayed firmness and fairness, as well as the high ideals of ethics and integrity, as he and many other school people established the foundation of TSSAA across our state.
CLASS A
Westwood
CLASS AA
Fairley High School
St. George’s Independent School
CLASS AAA
Bolton High School
Memphis East High School
Millington Central High School
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