50 Years Later, 'Charlie' Remains Legendary
By
Ron Pesch
MHSAA historian
September 30, 2018
By Ron Pesch
Special for Second Half
There is no official record of the proceedings, only a short newspaper recap of the event that was hosted 50 years ago at Michigan State’s Kellogg Center. In attendance was a who’s who of high school sports administrators. They were there to honor the man, affectionately known to his friends as “Charlie.”
A parade of guests presented gifts and citations, then sang his praises.
Dr. Clifford Fagan, Executive Secretary of the National Federation of High School Athletics, attended. State Directors of Athletics from Indiana and Ohio were on hand for the Monday, October 7, 1968, celebration.
Dr. Ira Polly, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, called him “noble, honest and courageous.” John F. Toepp, a state senator and radio sports broadcaster from the Cadillac area, “hailed him as ‘Mr. High School Athletics.’”
Sportswriter Bob Gross, six years into his career at the Lansing State Journal, wrote that Charles E. Forsythe, seated next to his wife Josephine, “only grinned with each word of gratitude.”
More than 350 friends attended the testimonial dinner, honoring the second director of the Michigan High School Athletic Association upon his retirement. For 39 years, Forsythe had served the MHSAA, dedicated to bettering the world of high school sports in Michigan and beyond. His years of service would formulate the mold for those who would follow in his footsteps.
“For five minutes they applauded,” wrote Gross, capturing the moment. Forsythe was humbled by the appreciation. When it was his turn to speak, he thanked the assembled crowd.
“This is a great night. It’s just wonderful so many of you came to my party. I’m deeply honored,” Forsythe said. “I can’t stand here and accept all the thanks. It was teamwork that made our organization go. And, may I ask of all of you to please help make it grow bigger and better than it is.”
The MHSAA had announced Forsythe’s retirement in late May.
With the exception of a 39-month tour as a Navy Commander, assisting former heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney in directing Navy physical fitness activities during World War II, Forsythe had been with the Association since July of 1929, originally as an assistant to Alden W. Thompson, the first director of the MHSAA. (Forsythe remains considered the Association’s first fulltime executive director.)
A graduate and prominent athlete at Milan High School, Forsythe earned his undergraduate degree from Michigan State Normal College (today’s Eastern Michigan University) in 1920 and his Master of Arts degree from the University of Michigan in 1926. He coached basketball and baseball at Milan High School during 1922-23 and taught science. He moved to Lansing Central High School the following year, where he taught history. In the fall of 1926, Forsythe was named director of athletics. According to news reports, he was also “one (of) the leading high school football and basketball officials in the state, working in the district and regional basketball tournaments …”
In his introduction of Forsythe as his new assistant, Thompson said “his presence in this office will make it possible to extend the service rendered by the State Association for the ultimate good of the athletic program throughout the state. The growth of the basketball tournaments, the addition of regional track meets as well as tournaments in tennis and golf, and state association participation in swimming and cross country have all added to the details of business handled through the office of the state director …”
In his book, “Athletics in Michigan High Schools: The First Hundred Years” published in 1950, Lewis L. Forsythe noted that additional help definitely was needed. The elder Forsythe, who was Charles’ uncle, was principal of Ann Arbor High School from 1917 until his retirement in 1946. He twice had served as president of the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Association, the predecessor to the MHSAA. Elected president of the MHSAA Representative Council in 1924, Lewis Forsythe continued serving in that role until 1942. He had seen, first-hand, Thompson’s need for help.
“Ever since the new association was organized, it had been the wonder of every informed person that Mr. Thompson could stand up under the strain of the work he felt compelled (or impelled) to do. We knew the strain was terrible and unwise,” Lewis Forsythe wrote.
“(Charles’) appointment not only relieved Mr. Thompson of a great deal of detail, but enabled the association to enlarge and improve its services to the schools.”
As assistant director, Charlie traveled Michigan, supervising state officials and conducting MHSAA tournaments. While he was in the office, he improved Association communication with member schools by preparing and expanding the State Association Bulletin. When Thompson was appointed to State Director of Health and Physical Education in Michigan in 1931, it opened the door for Forsythe to become director of the MHSAA.
“Thompson had the job of building the Michigan High School Athletic Association ‘from scratch’ and he built very well,” said Charles several years later. “He was thorough in his application of rules and in seeing that they all were interpreted alike both to large and small schools, so no favoritism or any difference were shown.” If there has been any success in the (years I) served, much of it can be credited to the background and good training I received during the period that I served under Thompson …”
In 1939, Forsythe released the first of four editions of his book, “The Administration of High School Athletics.” It quickly found a home as a textbook at various colleges and universities around the country. For 19 summers, he travelled as a visiting lecturer or staff member of the Universities of Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Southern California, West Virginia, Indiana, Oregon and elsewhere.
In 1941, George Maskin of the Detroit Times wrote about Charlie’s impact after 12 years in the position.
“This Forsythe fellow is a short, stocky gent of 41. There’s a touch of gray circling around the edge of his head, probably caused by the nights he’s stayed awake worrying whether one of his new ventures would turn out successfully,” Maskin wrote.
“There have been some mighty changes, as well as improvements, since Forsythe was hired to boss the preps. But when he talks, Forsythe speaks in terms of ‘we.’ There’s nothing egotistical about Forsythe’s way of doing things. “
Maskin noted some of the achievements that had occurred under the Forsythe regime. During those dozen years, the number of schools competing in Michigan prep sports jumped from 600 to 750. Six-man football had spread to 100 of Michigan’s smaller schools, which formerly passed over the fall sport. Under Forsythe’s leadership, local and regional tournaments in basketball play increased, “thus reducing the amount of traveling and time lost from school during the state championships.” A team competing in state tournament basketball games would play no more than one game per day – against two in other states adjoining Michigan. Minor sports – tennis, golf, cross country, swimming – had come into their own. Forsythe recognized their value in drawing additional students into athletics and increasing athletic participation. He would take that knowledge with him when he entered the Navy (and would return from the service with an even broader view of their value).
Yet, perhaps his greatest achievement was his emphasis on safety in sports.
In 1937, at the 13th annual MHSAA football rules meeting, “leaders drafted a program to address and demonstrate “techniques intended to make football a safer game for high school boys.” A mandatory rule to require “a three minute warm-up on the practice field before the start of the second half of each game” was put in place. The association had recognized that more serious injuries in football occurred at the start of the second half, because players had rested between periods and weren’t stretching out before resuming play. The creation of an accident benefit plan administered by the MHSAA for the state’s athletes had been discussed for six years, but had failed to engage because of a lack of participation. In December of 1939, it was finally ratified. The plan went into effect with the 1940-41 school year and required schools participating in the program to report all injuries. That led to more accurate data, and, in turn, an increased focus on safety and attention to equipment.
“There has been a decided improvement in the type of equipment worn, especially in football” said Forsythe to Maskin in 1954. “Rules have been written much more with the idea of protecting participants than formerly used to be the case.”
In 1961, Forsythe noted that face guards helped reduce the number of eye injuries and fractured noses. In the fall of 1962 a compulsory mouth guard rule went into effect in football, resulting in a 58-percent reduction in claims filed against the plan for dental injuries.
But at the time of his retirement, it was still apparent that the state basketball tournament was Forsythe’s pride and joy, and the event that allowed the MHSAA to function financially. Attendance at all District, Regional and Final games in 1930 was 126,000. At the time of his retirement in 1968, postseason attendance topped 775,000.
“I remember the time when we used to have to advertise to try to get people to come to our Finals,” said Forsythe to an Associated Press reporter shortly before his final day. “Now they all are automatic sellouts before the games are played,”
Tighter regulation reduced the use of illegal players, as seen in the earliest years of the tournament.
“Some of the coaches used to go out recruiting,” continued Forsythe. “… In the old days, we were more of a police agency. The coaches would try anything they thought they could get by with. Now they generally ask us first or turn themselves in if they discover they are playing a boy who is ineligible.”
“At 69, he still looks fit enough to play running instead of standing guard in any basketball game. He credits this mostly to a strict diet and sensible exercise, such as working in his garden. Forsythe also plans some traveling. “I might take in next year’s basketball finals,” he added with a grin, “If I can get a ticket.”
But a return trip to Michigan State University’s Jenison Field House, home to the MHSAA Basketball Finals since 1940, wasn’t in the cards. The September 1968 issue of the MHSAA Bulletin featured Forsythe on the cover, celebrating his career. In December, he passed away unexpectedly at his Lansing home. The February 1969 Bulletin presented a memoriam, praising his service and “his keen appraisal of athletics, their place in our society and their administration.”
With the August retirement of John E. “Jack” Roberts after 32 years of service, and the appointment of Mark Uyl as executive director, there have been only seven executive directors since the MHSAA was formed in 1924. Beside Thompson and Forsythe, Julian Smith handled the organization between 1943 and 1944 during Forsythe’s military service. Allen W. Bush (1968-78), who served as an MHSAA assistant for eight years to Forsythe, was followed by Vern Norris (1978-86).
Ron Pesch has taken an active role in researching the history of MHSAA events since 1985 and began writing for MHSAA Finals programs in 1986, adding additional features and "flashbacks" in 1992. He inherited the title of MHSAA historian from the late Dick Kishpaugh following the 1993-94 school year, and resides in Muskegon. Contact him at [email protected] with ideas for historical articles.
PHOTOS: (Top) Charlie Forsythe, standing far right, served at Lansing Central at the time of this photo in 1927. (Top middle) Forsythe in 1938. (Middle) MHSAA Executive Director Alden Thompson. (Below) Forsythe. (Photos gathered by Ron Pesch.)
Forsythe Honorees Give All to Educational Athletics
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
April 6, 2021
At one time during his four tenures as a Michigan high school athletic director, Leroy Hackley Jr. hosted MHSAA Finals in tennis and track & field and Districts in baseball, softball and soccer – all on the same day.
Another time, a neighboring athletic director hosting a Regional basketball game called because a dunk had just broken a backboard. An hour after Hackley took the call, the entire game had been moved to his school and play resumed.
Patti Tibaldi moved to Traverse City in 1995 already a high school and college basketball coaching legend and with district-wide administrative duties her next mission after also having served as a college assistant athletic director.
But with West High School set to open for the 1997-98 school year, and the most experienced applicant for the girls basketball varsity job having no more than seventh-grade experience, she stepped in again to build another program and make sure that generation of students received a great experience as well.
For nearly the entirety of their careers, and in multiple roles, Hackley and Tibaldi have been immersed in improving educational athletics. To celebrate their continued dedication and contributions over the years, they have been named honorees for the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Charles E. Forsythe Award for 2021.
The annual award is in its 44th year and named after former MHSAA Executive Director Charles E. Forsythe, the Association's first full-time and longest-serving chief executive. Forsythe Award recipients are selected each year by the MHSAA Representative Council, based on an individual's outstanding contributions to the interscholastic athletics community.
Tibaldi spent 40 years in educational athletics at Comstock Park, Grand Rapids West Catholic and Traverse City West and also Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, serving as a coach, athletic director and physical education specialist. Hackley has spent the last 22 years of more than 40 in sports as an athletic director at Byron Center, Jenison, Grant and currently Muskegon Orchard View, as well as serving as an MHSAA-registered game official for 37 years. Both are recognized statewide among the best in their various fields.
“Patti Tibaldi has given more to athletics in our state at the small college and high school levels than perhaps anyone over the last 40 years,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “She was a pioneer in small-school college basketball at Aquinas College, and my wife Marcy played against her there, and 30 years ago you could see that passion for women's sports that was unmatched. During her time at Traverse City West, her passion for kids was unchanged, and most of her students had no idea she had been that pioneer. She was a trailblazer for women in leadership positions in coaching and administration.
“Leroy and I were first-year athletic directors together in the same conference in 1999, and it's been a pleasure to watch him grow into one of the most respected voices over the last 22 years,” Uyl said. “At its core, athletics is a people business, and Leroy is all about those relationships. He's a guy who genuinely enjoys going to work every day.
Hackley has served as an athletic director first at Byron Center for five years, then Jenison for seven, Grant for three and Muskegon Orchard View for the last seven. Before those stops he served as director of health, recreation & wellness at Grand Valley State University for 14 years after serving as assistant director of recreation/intramurals for four years at Eastern Michigan University. His first administrative experience came while as a graduate assistant at the University of Iowa serving as supervisor of officials for the recreational services department. He’s also served as an adjunct professor in physical education at GVSU, Aquinas College and Muskegon Community College.
As well as hosting numerous postseason events, Hackley has served on eight MHSAA committees over the years and four years on its Representative Council. He’s been a registered MHSAA official in boys and girls basketball, softball, baseball, swimming & diving, volleyball, cross country and track & field over 37 years and has officiated every collegiate level of women’s basketball including Division I in the Mid-American Conference. He has officiated three MHSAA Basketball Finals and NCAA Division III and NAIA national championship games.
Just this week he changed his spring break plans to step in and host a Boys Basketball Quarterfinal and serve as a manager at MHSAA Semifinals on Wednesday and Thursday at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.
“I’ve always wanted to step in because I know what it’s like when you need help. I’m one of those guys who doesn’t like to say no. I try to find a way to lend a hand wherever I can,” Hackley said. “I’ve always enjoyed sports; all my free times has been spent watching sports or playing sports, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have a wife who enjoys watching sports. Pretty much my whole live has been centered around recreation and athletics. Coming from a big family (as one of 13 children), that’s one of the things we always did.”
Tibaldi spent 40 years in education and athletics at the high school and college levels, beginning first at Comstock Park from 1973-75 before spending the next six years at Grand Rapids West Catholic where she led the girls basketball team to the Class B championship in 1979 and the softball team to four league titles.
Simultaneously for the final three years at West Catholic, Tibaldi also served as women’s basketball coach, then also softball coach at Aquinas College, where she also became assistant athletic director in 1981. While at Aquinas she led the Saints to a 340-136 record on the court and the National Catholic Basketball Championship in 1984.
Tibaldi then moved to Traverse City Area Public Schools, first as the district’s K-12 physical education coordinator but eventually in multiple physical education specialist roles. She also was named the first varsity girls basketball coach at the new Traverse City West High School from 1997-2011 and served as West’s athletic director from 2004 until retiring in December 2014. As coach, she led the Titans to multiple league and District championships and the final few hundred wins of more than 800 total on high school and college basketball courts.
She’s also played a prevalent role in helping make MHSAA policy over her decades. She’s served on a variety of MHSAA committees, including the Basketball Committee, and served in multiple roles with the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan including as president. She also served at the collegiate level on the NAIA Executive Committee, the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Executive Council and as part of NAIA Women in Sports Leadership program and the Michigan Women’s Foundation Tribute to Women Athletes Committee.
Tibaldi has received various honors for her coaching and administrative contributions, including the MHSAA’s Women In Sports Leadership Award in 2011. She was The Associated Press’ Class B Coach of the Year in 1981 and twice earned special mention, and she’s a member of the BCAM Hall of Fame. She also was named state Coach of the Year for basketball by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) in 2004, and named Regional Athletic Director of the Year by the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA) in 2011. She also was named BCAM’s College Coach of the Year in 1988 and is a member of the NAIA’s National Coaches Hall of Fame. She earned multiple NAIA District Coach of the Year awards for both basketball and softball and was the WHAC Coach of the Year four times.
“To me, teaching life lessons is everything,” Tibaldi said. “I had great kids, and it makes me proud to see where they’re at – the things they’re doing are mind-boggling, and it makes me really proud. The thing they all tell me is they learned what hard work was, about teamwork and persistence, and resilience. That to me is what’s valuable.”
Tibaldi also co-authored and was granted a $1 million federal grant as part of the Every Step Counts program to provide the Traverse City community with funds to fight obesity, and wrote and coordinated a USDA-funded Michigan Fitness Foundation grant for promotion of healthy school environments in five high-needs schools. She’s been an active volunteer with the Boys and Girls Club and presented at the annual Girl-Tech Conference to encourage young women to choose non-traditional careers. She continues to do work with the Michigan Fitness Foundation.
Tibaldi is a graduate of the former Redford St. Mary’s High School in Detroit and earned her bachelor’s degrees in English and physical education from Aquinas in 1973. She was named Aquinas’ Outstanding Alumni of the Year in 1995 and is a member of that school’s Hall of Fame as well as Grand Rapids West Catholic’s and the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame.
Hackley is a graduate of Culpeper County High School, located southwest of Washington, D.C. He earned his bachelor’s degree in recreation administration from Bethany College in Kansas and his master’s in recreation education from Iowa.
A member of the West Michigan Officials Association (WMOA) and National Association of Sports Officials (NASO), Hackley was co-founder and has been co-director of the Michigan Intramural and Recreation Sports Association (MIRSA) basketball officials camp and served on six committees as part of the National Intramural and Recreation Sports Association (NIRSA). He also was appointed to the Board of Directors of the West Michigan Sports Commission.
He’s also volunteered with Michigan Special Olympics, Georgetown Little League, National Kidney Foundation and Habitat for Humanity, served three years on the Board of Directors for the Downtown Metro YMCA in Grand Rapids and nine years on the Board of Directors at Bethany College.
Hackley was named WMOA Athletic Director of the Year in 2011 and an MIAAA Regional Athletic Director of the Year in 2018. He also has received MIRSA’s Tom Jones Service Award.
Past recipients of the Charles E. Forsythe Award
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, Essexville
1999 - Bernie Larson, Battle Creek
2000 - Blake Hagman, Kalamazoo; Jerry Cvengros, Escanaba
2001 - Norm Johnson, Bangor; George Lovich, Canton
2002 - John Fundukian, Novi
2003 - Ken Semelsberger, Port Huron
2004 - Marco Marcet, Frankenmuth
2005 - Jim Feldkamp, Troy
2006 - Dan McShannock, Midland; Dail Prucka, Monroe
2007 - Keith Eldred, Williamston; Tom Hickman, Spring Lake
2008 - Jamie Gent, Haslett; William Newkirk, Sanford Meridian
2009 - Paul Ellinger, Cheboygan
2010 - Rudy Godefroidt, Hemlock; Mike Boyd, Waterford
2011 - Eric C. Federico, Trenton
2012 - Bill Mick, Midland
2013 - Jim Gilmore, Tecumseh; Dave Hutton, Grandville
2014 - Dan Flynn, Escanaba
2015 - Hugh Matson, Saginaw
2016 - Gary Hice, Petoskey; Gina Mazzolini, Lansing
2017 - Chuck Nurek, Rochester Hills
2018 - Gary Ellis, Allegan
2019 - Jim Derocher, Negaunee; Fredrick J. Smith, Stevensville
2020 - Michael Garvey, Lawton
PHOTOS: Muskegon Orchard View athletic director Leroy Hackley Jr., left during his time at Jenison High, and retired Traverse City West athletic director and basketball coach Patti Tibaldi are the 2021 Charles E. Forsythe Award honorees. (Hackley photo by Rob Kaminski; Tibaldi photo courtesy of Traverse City Record-Eagle.)