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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 7, 2001
Contact: John Johnson or Andy Frushour-- 517.332.5046

EAST LANSING, Mich. - June 7 - The five recipients of the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Allen W. Bush Award for 2001 include four athletic administrators, and an individual who annually coordinates more MHSAA post-season tournament games in one sport than any other site manager.

Bush served as executive director of the MHSAA for 10 years. The award honors individuals for past and continuing service to prep athletics as a coach, administrator, official, trainer, doctor or member of the media. The award was developed to bring recognition to men and women who are giving and serving without a lot of attention. This is the 10th year of the award, with the selections being made by the MHSAA's Representative Council.

This year's recipients are: Dave Durkin, faculty member at Lapeer East High School; Don Edens, athletic director of Kingsford High School; Bob Gershman, athletic director of Berkley High School; Thomas Rashid, director of physical education, athletics, health and safety for the Archdiocese of Detroit; and John Sonnemann, citywide athletic director of Traverse City Public Schools.

The recipients of this year's awards will be recognized at ceremonies in their communities this fall.

Here are brief biographical sketches of the 2001 Bush Award recipients:

Dave Durkin - In his 29 years as a teacher-coach-administrator, 24 of them in the Lapeer School District, Dave Durkin has been involved in six sports, but perhaps has made his biggest contributions to the interscholastic athletics community in ice hockey. Durkin's resume in high school ice hockey includes 12 years as a head coach at three Flint area schools -- Flint Powers Catholic, Lapeer West and Goodrich; and a larger contribution to his area as long-time commissioner of the Genesee County High School Hockey League. On the statewide level, Durkin has served as the tournament manager for the Regional, Quarterfinals and Finals of the MHSAA Ice Hockey Tournament for 14 years, a labor of love where Durkin coordinates a volunteer group to run four separate Regional tournaments involving 27 teams playing 23 games in a one-week period, followed by hosting three Quarterfinal contests, six Semifinal and three Final games the following week. Few tournament managers coordinate 35 post-season games in a year, let alone that number in a two-week period. Durkin has also served on the MHSAA and National Federation of State High School Association's Ice Hockey Rules Committees, has been a rules meeting presentor for the MHSAA, and a program director for USA Hockey. In the Lapeer School District, he has coached ice hockey and softball at West High School, has served on the district's North Central Accreditation Committee, and is still a faculty member at East High School. He was presented the Dick Powers Memorial Award by the Michigan Hockey League in 1996, was named Michigan Hockey Magazine's Person of the Year for 1994-95, and has received a five-year award from USA Hockey. A recipient of a Bachelor's degree from the University of Detroit, and Master's Degrees from the University of Michigan and Central Michigan University, Durkin was nominated for the Bush Award by Steve Winn of the Greater Flint Hockey Referees Association.

Don Edens -- An all-state football player at Kingsford High School who returned to give his school district 32 years of service, Don Edens has helped direct a recent renaissance of athletic facilities as Kingsford's athletic director. Edens was a four-sport performer at Kingsford, where he graduated in 1963. He went on to receive both his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from Northern Michigan University. He returned to Kingsford to teach business and math, and serve as a head coach in football, basketball and track. He moved into administration, first as a middle school assistant principal from 1975 to 1979, and since 1987, has served as the school district's athletic director, where he helped established cooperative programs between Kingsford and neighboring schools to provide additional competition opportunities for youngsters; served as tournament manager for numerous MHSAA post-season events; developed an at-risk program for student-athletes in his county who violate school athletic codes of conduct; and in the development of an upgrade of athletic facilities when Kingsford recently built a new high school. He has also been involved on the statwide basis as a member of the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Athletic Committee, serving on different MHSAA sports committees, and with the MIAAA, where he has been honored as a regional and a two-time Upper Peninsula Athletic Director of the Year. Locally, Edens volunteers his time to work summertime Gus Macker tournaments; is a lay reader at the American Martyrs Church; a blood donor for the Red Cross; and an organizer for a local cancer Walk-A-Thon, the Camp Sanford Work Bee, and the Great Eight Winter Games. He was nominated for the award by Robert Usitalo, principal at Kingsford High School.

Bob Gershman - For the past 16 years, Bob Gershman has served as director of health, physical education and athletics for the Berkley School District, where he has been a role model at the local, regional and statewide levels. The owner of Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from Wayne State University, Gershman has been a tournament manager for numerous MHSAA events, served on several MHSAA sports committees, been very active with the Oakland County Athletic Directors Association and the Oakland Activities Association. He has also served as a host and presented for the Program of Athletic Coaches Education, sponsored by the MHSAA and the Youth Sports Institute at Michigan State University since its inception in the late 1980's, and is active with the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association as a regional representative, and has earned a Certified Master Athletic Administrator title from NIAAA. In physical education, Gershman has directed a program in his school district, which had been named an Exemplary Physical Education program by the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness, and he is a member of the Michigan and American Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. In his community, Gershman has served as a recreation advisory board member and Fourth of July committee member for the City of Oak Park; and as a board member and youth commission chairman of Temple Emanu-El. He was nominated for the award by Dewayne Jones, district athletic director for West Bloomfield Schools.

Tom Rashid - Devoted to the value of interscholastic athletics and the mission of Catholic education, Tom Rashid has served as an administrator for 23 years with the Archdiocese of Detroit, the last 14 as its director of physical education and athletics. During that time, the Detroit Catholic League has added additional sports championships, saw the development of having its championships televised locally on a cable channel operated by the archdiocese, and increased its efforts to educate its coaches, athletic administrators and officials. He has emerged as a leader on the statewide level of athletic administration, serving as president of the MIAAA, and being honored with a state Award of Merit from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. He co-authored a publication, Elements of Effective Athletic Administration for the MIAAA. He has also served the private and parochial schools of the state, being elected to represent them on the MHSAA Representative Council, a position he has served in for the past 14 years. Rashid also currently serves as secretary-treasurer of the MHSAA, and a standing member of its Executive Committee, which meets monthly during the school year to review requests for waiver of eligibility rules. A graduate of of Eastern Michigan University, where he earned his Bachelor's Degree, and the University of Michigan, where he earned his Master's, Rashid was nominated for the Bush Award by Dan McShannock, athletic director at Midland Dow High School.

John Sonnemann - After serving as wrestling coach at Traverse City High School for 20 years, John Sonnemann moved into the athletic director's position at the school, overseeing a transformation where the
district established two high schools, built a new facility at one and improved the athletic physical plant at the other school, and currently serves as athletic director at Central High School. His many hats worn in the district range from providing supervision of the booster clubs at both schools, to serving for over 30 years as the voice of Central athletics as a public address announcer for events from the high school to the elementary
level of competition. His impact in sports reaches beyond the Traverse City community through involvement in the MIAAA, where he is a regional representative and a co-host for the organization's annual winter meeting in Traverse City; a tournament manager for various MHSAA tournaments; a member of different MHSAA committees; and as a primary force in the recent creation of the Big North Conference. His school district work has also included being a department chair for Social Studies, a pep club advisor, president of the Traverse City Education Association, the United Way chairperson for old Traverse City High School, president of the local chapter of the Michigan board of directors American Heart Association, an involvement with his church as a speaker and as a member of its administrative council. A graduate of Michigan State University, where he earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees, Sonnemann was nominated for the Bush Award by the MHSAA Staff.

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,300 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract approximately 1.6 million spectators each year.

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