Grand Forks Public Schools AD Mark Rerick to receive NIAAA Distinguished Service Award

NDHSAA Media Reports

INDIANAPOLIS – Ten individuals, including Mark Rerick, CMAA, director of athletics, Grand Forks (North Dakota) Public Schools, who have made outstanding contributions to interscholastic athletics have been named recipients of the 2019 Bruce D. Whitehead Distinguished Service Awards given by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA).

These individuals will be honored December 17 in National Harbor, Maryland, during the banquet at the 50th annual National Athletic Directors Conference conducted jointly by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and the NIAAA.

The Bruce D. Whitehead Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to individuals from within the NIAAA membership in recognition of their length of service, special accomplishments and contributions to interscholastic athletics at the local, state and national levels. Nominations are submitted by state athletic directors associations, screened by the NIAAA Awards Committee and selected by the NIAAA Board of Directors.

Mark Rerick, CMAA, has worked as a teacher, coach, assistant principal and activities director in North Dakota for almost 20 years, and has spent seven of those years in his current role as the director of athletics for Grand Forks (North Dakota) Public Schools.

After earning his bachelor's degree in education from Valley City State University in 2001, Rerick's first position came at Hillsboro High School, where he started as a teacher and head football coach. He moved into athletic administration in 2006 and has been affiliated with the NIAAA ever since.

Rerick has been a member of the NIAAA Publications and Strategic Plan committees since 2016. He has also been a Leadership Training national faculty member since 2015 and has served as a workshop moderator and the North Dakota state delegate at the National Conferences. He has completed 41 Leadership Training courses.

An accomplished writer, Rerick has had several articles published in Athletic Management, Interscholastic Athletic Administration and on the NFHS website. His blog, "Youth Sports Stuff" has more than two million reads in just over five years of existence.

At the state level, Rerick has been a significant part of the North Dakota High School Activities Association (NDHSAA) and the North Dakota Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NDIAAA). He is a current member of the NDHSAA Board of Directors, and has been involved with the Tournament Committee and the Athletic Review Committee since 2012 and 2015, respectively. He has also been a tournament manager for more than 60 district, regional and state tournaments. For the NDIAAA, Rerick is the Strategic Plan chair and a seven-year Leadership Training faculty member.

Locally, Rerick is a member of the Advisory for Safe Kids of Grand Forks, Advisory for Global Friends Coalition - a committee to help the integration of immigrants into the Grand Forks community - and the Advisory for Safer Tomorrows - a committee designed to improve the quality of life for the city's children. Additionally, he has instituted two well-received mentorship programs - Coaching Boys into Men and Athletes as Leaders - that are designed to teach athletes how to respect their friends, community and significant others.

Other award winners 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; 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.

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