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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-January 15, 2002
Contact: John Johnson or Randy Allen
517.332.5046 or www.mhsaa.com

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Jan. 15 - John Fundukian of Milford, who has made major contributions to the interscholastic athletic community as a coach, administrator and game official, has been selected to receive the 2002 Charles E. Forsythe Award by the Michigan High School Athletic Association.

This annual award is in its 25th year of existence and is named after former MHSAA Executive Director Charles E. Forsythe. One or two recipients are selected each year by the MHSAA Representative Council, based on an individual's outstanding contribution to the interscholastic athletics community. Fundukian will be presented the award on March 23 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing at halftime of the Boys Basketball Class A Final Game.

Fundukian retired from his employment at Novi Community Schools at the conclusion of the 2000-01 school year, ending a 37-year career of service to educational athletics. He started as a teacher and coach and athletic director at Highland Park from 1964-1971; which was followed by a stint at Walled Lake Community Schools from 1971-88, where he served as a teacher, a coach in two sports, and eventually as district-wide athletic director his last four years. From 1988 until his retirement, he was the athletic director at Novi.

As the citywide athletic director at Novi Community Schools, Fundukian presided over a period of unprecedented growth in the school district. The athletic program at Novi grew to a total of 54 teams at the varsity and subvarsity level in the high school, and 19 teams at the middle school level, as Fundukian oversaw a program which had over 1,700 participants annually.

Fundukian also directed the upgrading of the athletic venue at Novi, which included the construction of a field house for basketball and track, soccer/lacrosse stadiums, and renovations of many other facilities. Novi hosted over 250 MHSAA tournament events in Fundukian's tenure at the school.

On the statewide level, Fundukian has been a speaker at numerous sportsmanship conferences; was on the original committee to develop the MHSAA's Program of Athletic Coaches Education (PACE), where he has also served as a speaker; and made numerous presentations at Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association conferences. While working with MIAAA, he served on the committee to develop the publication, "Effective Elements of Athletic Administration;" and chaired a committee on the topic of Educational Athletics for that group. The MIAAA honored Fundukian as a Regional Athletic Director of the Year, and he has also received a State Award of Merit from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. He is also a past president of the Oakland County Athletic Directors Association. As a track coach, Fundukian was honored by The Detroit News as its Coach of the Year in 1970.

Fundukian's contributions to interscholastic athletics also include 25 years as a registered official. He is primarily a basketball, track and volleyball official; but he has also officiated cross country and swimming and diving meets in his career; and has worked MHSAA Finals in cross country and track.

In his community, Fundukian has been active with the Novi Lions Club, and Novi Athletic Boosters, participated in the Novi Youth Assistance program, and has served on several local scholarship committees.

The MHSAA previously honored Fundukian with its Allen W. Bush Award in 2000. The Bush Award, named for the former MHSAA Executive Director, is presented annually to administrators, coaches, officials, trainers, doctors or members of the media with at least 15 years of service to Michigan Interscholastic Athletics with unusually frequent and significant contributions to MHSAA programs. Fundukian becomes the seventh Bush Award recipient to later be honored with the Forsythe Award.

A 1964 graduate of Adrian College, where he made the Dean's List while earning his bachelor's degree in Physical Education and English, Fundukian was also an Honors Student in receiving his master's degree in Educational Psychology in 1969 from Wayne State University.

John's family includes his wife, Jean; daughters Lori and Julie; and son John, who has been a registered MHSAA official and a cross country coach.

"There's a term in sports called 'the total package,' used to describe one so versatile and so strong in so many different areas. John Fundukian is the total package," said MHSAA Executive Director John E. "Jack" Roberts. "He has successfully served high school sports in so many different ways, providing young people with quality experiences from his visible and behind the scenes work. John Fundukian is an excellent selection for the MHSAA's highest honor, the Forsythe Award."

Other recipients of the Charles E. Forsythe Award have been:

1978 - Brick Fowler, Port Huron; Paul Smarks, Warren
1979 - Earl Messner, Reed City; Howard Beatty, Saginaw
1980 - Max Carey, Freesoil
1981 - Steven Sluka, Grand Haven; Samuel Madden, Detroit
1982 - Ernest Buckholz, Mt. Clemens; T. Arthur Treloar, Petoskey
1983 - Leroy Dues, Detroit; Richard Maher, Sturgis
1984 - William Hart, Marquette; Donald Stamats, Caro
1985 - John Cotton, Farmington; Robert James, Warren
1986 - William Robinson, Detroit; Irving Soderland, Norway
1987 - Jack Streidl, Plainwell; Wayne Hellenga, Decatur
1988 - Jack Johnson, Dearborn; Alan Williams, North Adams
1989 - Walter Bazylewicz, Berkley; Dennis Kiley, Jackson
1990 - Webster Morrison, Pickford; Herbert Quade, Benton Harbor
1991 - Clifford Buckmaster, Petoskey; Donald Domke, Northville
1992 - William Maskill, Kalamazoo; Thomas G. McShannock, Muskegon
1993 - Roy A. Allen Jr., Detroit; John Duncan, Cedarville
1994 - Kermit Ambrose, Royal Oak
1995 - Bob Perry, Lowell
1996 - Charles H. Jones, Royal Oak
1997 - Michael A. Foster, Richland; Robert G. Grimes, Battle Creek
1998 - Lofton C. Greene, River Rouge; Joseph J. Todey, Essexviille
1999 - Bernie Larson, Battle Creek
2000 - Jerry Cvengros, Escanaba; Blake Hagman, Kalamazoo
2001 - Norm Johnson, Bangor; George Lovich, Canton

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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