BOBBY GUTHRIE OF WAKE COUNTY EARNS NATIONAL HONOR
Bobby Guthrie of the Wake County schools has received a significant national honor.
Guthrie, who is Wake County's senior administrator for athletics/driver education, has been named the 2010 Coach Educator of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Guthrie is a member of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Board of Directors and has also assisted at a number of NCHSAA state championships.
Tim Flannery, NFHS assistant director, said, "Bobby is most deserving of the award for the work he has done in North Carolina, for representing the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) on the committee and chairing the Ad Hoc Committee recently created. Within a few short years he has demonstrated a leadership style that draws people to the importance of professional development and training."
Guthrie was one of the first athletic directors in the nation to promote the NFHS coach education program. He has taught the fundamentals of coaching course to large numbers of coaches in the state.
North Carolina has 3,590 coaches that have taken the NFHS Fundamentals of Coaching Class, and over 100 have taken the First Aid Class. Coaches who have taken both classes are one online class away from being a Level 1 Accredited Interscholastic Coach, while those who have taken the NFHS Fundamentals of Coaching Class are two online classes away from being a Level 1 Accredited Interscholastic Coach.
North Carolina ranks sixth among the nation's state associations for coaches who have completed Federation coaching courses, even though the courses are not mandatory in North Carolina and are required in several other states.
"The number of coaches in North Carolina that have taken advantage of this training is a tribute to Bobby and his contagious desire for professional development," said Davis Whitfield, the NCHSAA commissioner. "He has seen the value of educating coaches, and that education combined with passion for our young people is a recipe for success. He was a coach, and when he tells coaches that this is something important and beneficial, they listen."
