The 50th National Athletic Directors Conference (NADC) will be held Friday through Tuesday (December 13-17) at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. The conference will attract more than 2,400 athletic administrators, spouses, guests and exhibitors from across the United States, as well as 68 registered attendees from other countries.
The country’s largest meeting of high school athletic directors is co-sponsored by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) of Indianapolis. The Conference Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. EST on December 16 and the Conference Banquet at 6:00 p.m. EST on December 17 will be streamed live on the NFHS Network at no cost. Following are the links for each event:
Luncheon –
Banquet –
The NADC’s semi-centennial installment begins Friday, with several NIAAA committee meetings, as well as early registration at 5:00 p.m. Full conference festivities begin Saturday with registration at 8:30 a.m. in the Convention Center Pre-Function area, and the Opening General Session will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday in Potomac A-B.
The keynote speaker for this year’s opening session will be Dr. Adolph Brown III, an urban and rural school educator, author, research-scientist, businessman and public speaker. Known as “The World’s Greatest Edu-tainer,” Brown uses a simple and direct speaking style to educate audiences on unconscious bias, equity, diversity and inclusion at nearly 100 events per year. A credentialed Master-Teacher, Brown is in the top one percent of world-class teachers based on peer-reviews, nominations, teaching performance awards, published evaluations and ratings from America’s best schools, colleges and universities. He has also authored books on international mental wellness, business skills and education that have reached best-seller status. Brown is president of the Business & Education Leadership Authority – a global consultation firm that specializes in motivating and inspiring teams to perform at their fullest potential in the workplace – and is a former president of the Virginia Association of Black Psychologists and the Virginia Head Start Association.
The Closing General Session at 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday, December 17, features keynote speaker Kevin Laue. In 2009, Laue became the first individual with a missing limb to play Division I college basketball. Despite his physical limitations, a challenging home life and countless naysayers, Laue’s perseverance made him a sought-after high school basketball recruit in California and an eventual scholarship player at Manhattan College. His extraordinary life journey made him the subject of the documentary “Long Shot: The Kevin Laue Story,” which was nominated for an Oscar in 2013. Now a motivational speaker, Laue profiles his story to audiences around the world to provide new and inspirational perspectives on adversity and attitude.
The first NADC workshop session gets underway at 8:45 a.m. on Sunday, December 15. There are 40 scheduled workshops that cover topics including athletics budgeting, multi-sport participation, new revenue sources, implementing esports programs, character-based team culture, positive parent culture, signs of hazing and signs of student-athlete stress/anxiety.
In addition to networking opportunities, NIAAA Leadership Training Institute (LTI) courses will provide professional development opportunities for attendees. The first session of LTI classes begins at 6:00 p.m. Friday evening and the final session takes place at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
At the Conference Luncheon on Monday, eight athletic directors will be recognized with NFHS Citations for their contributions to interscholastic athletics at the local, state and national levels.
Those receiving NFHS Citations will be Ted D’Alessio, CMAA, retired athletic director, Millburn (New Jersey) Township Public School District; Johnny Johnson,CMAA, athletic administrator, Russellville (Arkansas) School District; Joe Keller, CAA, former assistant principal and athletic director, Fife (Washington) High School and currently executive director of West Central District III for the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association; Mike McGurk, CMAA, activities director, Lee’s Summit (Missouri) North High School; Robert Northridge, CMAA, Southern Nevada coordinator, Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association; Paul Powers, CAA, athletic director, Aurora (Ohio) City Schools; Lanness Robinson, CMAA, director of athletics, Hillsborough County Public Schools, Tampa, Florida; and Fred Smith, CMAA, retired director of athletics, Stevensville, Michigan.
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Ten athletic administrators have earned NIAAA Distinguished Service Awards, which will be presented during the Conference Banquet on Tuesday, December 17. This year’s recipients include John Frizzell, CMAA, athletic director, Wisconsin Rapids (Wisconsin) Lincoln High School; Todd Gilkey, CAA, athletic director, St. Maries (Idaho) High School; Jeff Morris, CMAA, director of athletics and head of school, Gray Stone Day School, Misenheimer, North Carolina; Mike Mossbrucker, CAA, Mooresville (Indiana) High School; Tom Nerl, CMAA, athletic director, Mariemont High School, Cincinnati, Ohio; Robert Palazzo, CMAA, director of athletics, Classical High School, Providence, Rhode Island; Mark Rerick, CMAA, director of athletics, Grand Forks (North Dakota) Public Schools; Annette Scogin, CMAA, former assistant director of athletics, Dallas (Texas) Independent School District; Dory Smith, CMAA, former director of athletics, Villa Duchesne and The Principia Schools, St. Louis, Missouri; and Jim Wright, Ed.D., CMAA, supervisor of health, physical education and athletics, South Huntington (New York) Union Free School District.
Three other individuals will receive NIAAA awards during Tuesday’s banquet. Richard Barton, CMAA, athletic director and assistant principal at Richfield High School in Richfield, Utah, is the recipient of the NIAAA Frank Kovaleski Professional Development Award; Carol Dozibrin, CAA, former athletic director and current executive director of the New Hampshire Athletic Directors Association, will receive the NIAAA Thomas E. Frederick Award of Excellence; and Darryl Nance, CMAA, district director of athletics for Greenville County Schools in Greenville, South Carolina, is the recipient of the NIAAA Award of Merit.
The induction of seven athletic directors into the NIAAA Hall of Fame will conclude the banquet and conference. Those being recognized this year include Holly Farnese, CMAA, retired athletic administrator in the Upper Darby School District in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, and currently executive director of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Directors Association; James Gagen, CMAA, retired athletic administrator, Rockwood School District, St. Louis, Missouri; Richard Kemper, CMAA, retired director of athletics, St. Christopher’s School, Richmond, Virginia; Scott Lindgren, CMAA, retired director of athletics, Kenosha (Wisconsin) Unified School District; Doug Smith, retired director of athletics, Naperville (Illinois) North High School; Sheri Stice, CMAA, retired associate athletic director and coordinator for secondary physical education and Special Olympics for the Cypress (Texas) Fairbanks Independent School District and currently NIAAA Certification Program Coordinator; and Faye Thornton, CMAA, retired athletic administrator, Cynthiana, Kentucky.
