INDIANAPOLIS— The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) will award NFHS Citations to eight high school athletic directors, including one from North Carolina,  today (December 14) in Orlando, Florida.

       The ceremony will occur during luncheon festivities at the 46th annual National Athletic Directors Conference sponsored jointly by the NFHS and the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA).

       NFHS Citations are presented annually to outstanding athletic directors in recognition of contributions to interscholastic athletics at the local, state and national levels. State associations nominate athletic directors for NFHS Citations, and the NFHS Board of Directors approves recipients.

       This year’s award winners are Bruce Brown, CMAA, executive director, Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, Strasburg, Ohio; Lane Green, CMAA, director of school administration and athletics and activities, Blue Valley School District, Overland Park, Kansas; Bobby Hill, CMAA, former athletic director at Hillside High School in Durham; Paul Neidig, CAA, district athletic director/chief of staff, Evansville (Indiana) Vanderburgh School Corporation; Ted Petersen, CAA, athletic director, Weber High School, Pleasant View, Utah; Robert Rossi, CMAA, supervisor of athletics, Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Flemington, New Jersey; Craig Rothenberger, CAA, athletic director, Junction City (Oregon) High School; and Ed Warken, athletic director, Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District, Cypress, Texas. 

       Hill has spent his entire career of more than 20 years teaching, coaching and serving as an athletic director in Durham Public Schools in North Carolina.

       Hill attended North Carolina Central University and, after graduating, began coaching as a volunteer under Hall of Fame coach Russell B. Blunt at Hillside High School while teaching at the middle school and elementary levels. He was also a head wrestling coach. In 1995, he moved to Hillside to be the athletic director and physical education teacher.

       Throughout his time at Hillside, Hill continued to coach until 2012, working as an assistant football coach, head track and field coach, head junior varsity basketball coach and head varsity volleyball coach. As athletic director, he has transitioned a budget surplus into the next school year for three years in a row and implemented a coaches’ manual for his staff.

       Hill has served on the North Carolina Athletic Directors Association (NCADA) Board of Directors since 2010 and was the organization’s president in 2014. Hill has also been a member of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s Education Committee since last year.

       On the national level, Hill is a lifetime member of the NIAAA and has served on the Credentials Committee since last year. With more than 15 years of experience as an NIAAA and NFHS instructor, Hill was the first Certified Athletic Administrator (CAA) in the Durham School System in 2006. He then earned his Certified Master Athletic Administrator (CMAA) certification in 2009. He has also been a member of the NCADA Leadership Teaching Faculty since 2008.

       While coaching, Hill was the Five County Conference Coach of the Year eight times and was a four-time track and field coach of the year. In 2010, he was awarded the NIAAA State Award of Merit and the following year, he won the North Carolina Alliance for Athletic Education High School Athletic Director of the Year.