CHAPEL HILL—A new award has been established for student-athletes at North Carolina High School Athletic Association member schools.

The Jerry McGee Endowed Scholarship has been created in honor of Jerry McGee for more than 22 years of service as executive director of the North Carolina Athletic Directors’ Association (NCADA). McGee is a long-time athletic administrator who is a member of the NCHSAA Hall of Fame and the National High School Sports Hall of Fame. A resident of Elizabeth City, he has been a high school and college football coach and athletic administrator.

Jerry has a passion for making dreams a reality, thus the NCADA Board of Directors felt that offering a scholarship to two senior year high school student-athletes from NCHSAA member schools each year would be a fitting way to honor his legacy. This award is unique because it honors both male and female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves by overcoming adversity and returned to excel beyond expectations in their sport(s).

The NCADA Awards Committee will select recipients with approval by the NCADA Executive Board.

“Jerry McGee personifies all the wonderful attributes which high school athletics emphasize,” said NCHSAA commissioner Davis Whitfield. “He has served a lifetime building, shaping and molding young men and women, first as a coach and then in his work as an athletic director and with the North Carolina Athletic Directors Association. He is a Hall of Famer who continues to serve this state and make others strive to be better. This scholarship is one more way to pay tribute to his legacy that is and always be.”

The Jerry McGee Endowed Student Scholarships will be presented during the NCADA Breakfast in July during the North Carolina Coaches Association clinic in Greensboro. Each recipient will receive a $1,000 scholarship award and a commemorative plaque.

The recipients of the scholarship will be eligible to apply for the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Scholarship (NIAAA), provided the recipients meet the criteria set forth by the NIAAA. Recipients meeting NIAAA scholarship criteria will need to submit a NIAAA scholarship application.

The NCADA is asking athletic directors, coaches and athletic trainers to nominate one male and one female student-athlete who satisfies the criteria set forth in the form on the NCHSAA web site.

Applications must be received by the NCHSAA by April 15.