Ann Arbor Greenhills' Seng to Receive NFHS Citation
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 6, 2021
Ann Arbor Greenhills’ Meg Seng is one of eight high school athletic directors who have been selected to receive a 2021 Citation from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) on Dec. 13, as part of the 52nd National Athletic Directors Conference in Denver sponsored by the NFHS and National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA).
The Citation is one of the NFHS’ highest honors and recognizes recipients for their contributions to educational athletics at the local, state and national levels. State associations nominate candidates, who are then approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.
Seng is in her 37th year of service to schools and athletes, and has served as Greenhills athletic director since 2003 after previously teaching and/or coaching there and Ann Arbor Huron. She has received the MHSAA’s Women In Sports Leadership Award and Allen W. Bush Award, as well as the Jack Johnson Dedicated Service Award from the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA). She was named state Athletic Director of the Year by the Michigan High School Coaches Association (MHSCA) last month and will receive the same recognition from the MIAAA in March.
Seng has served on 12 MHSAA committees focused on various topics including specific sports, classification and athletic equity. She also has served on committees as part of the MIAAA’s Leadership Academy faculty and NIAAA’s certification committee, and served as the MIAAA’s Executive Board president in 2013-14. In 2001, Seng co-founded The Academy of Sports Leadership, a non-profit organization that provides education and training for women interested in becoming coaches.
A 1977 graduate of Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Ill., Seng was a scholarship athlete at Indiana University playing both volleyball and softball. She began coaching at the college level after her playing days with the Hoosiers were done, serving first as a graduate assistant softball coach at Louisiana Tech University in 1983-84 while studying for her master’s degree, and then as a softball assistant at Illinois State University for 1984-85.
Seng took over the Ann Arbor Huron volleyball program in 1985, and over 12 seasons stretching two tenures led her team to five league titles and a District championship in 1993. She also served as Huron's co-head varsity softball coach from 1986-90. She completed her teacher certification at Eastern Michigan University in 1990 and began teaching at Greenhills that year, later coaching that school’s volleyball varsity team from 1993-2000 and leading the Gryphons to a District title in 1997.
Century of School Sports: Athletic Directors Indispensable to Mission of School Sports
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 25, 2025
The Michigan High School Athletic Association began its first Bulletin of the 1943-44 school year by reviewing the previous year’s accomplishments as World War II raged on multiple fronts. Eugene B. Elliott, the state’s superintendent of public instruction, addressed “Those in Charge of Athletics in Michigan High Schools” with a challenge and a promise that “… your efforts to provide opportunities for physical development will enable thousands of high school students to take their places in a needy world.”
Students of history know athletics were seen at that time primarily as a way to provide increased physical education and prepare students for a next step into the military. But read again today, with a little different context, Elliott’s words seemingly still apply.
At the high school level alone, the MHSAA counts more than 700 athletic administrators guiding more than 170,000 student-athletes as they learn lessons from their athletic experiences that will help them contribute to the world in any variety of ways once their time in school sports is done.
A century ago, athletic administration still was handled primarily by district superintendents or high school principals. By the 1940s, “athletic director” was a role mentioned much more frequently – superintendents and principals found themselves taking on several other responsibilities, and school sports grew so quickly in participation and popularity that another administrator to lead those extracurriculars became increasingly necessary.
In 1958, the Michigan Association of Physical Education and Athletics was formed, and in 1982 renamed the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. A close working relationship between the MHSAA and the state’s athletic directors has long been integral to the success of school sports in Michigan, and the MIAAA and MHSAA continue to strive hand-in-hand. The MHSAA has celebrated its 100th anniversary throughout the 2024-25 school year, and a century after its start, the major focus of the organization is providing support – and appreciation – for the work done by administrators at the local level.
Expectations for school sports programs have never been higher, and athletic directors have never been valued more. Current MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl writes in this winter’s benchmarks, “I am again reminded of how fortunate we are in Michigan to have so many athletic leaders across our diverse state who truly care about preserving and enhancing school sports for our young men and women.”
And an expectation from the 1977 edition of the textbook “Administration of High School Athletics” – co-written by first fulltime MHSAA executive director Charles E. Forsythe – continues to ring true as well: “Many challenges will confront (the athletic administrator) because of uncertainties that exist today. Meeting these challenges will make (the administrator’s) position in the school an even more important one.”
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
March 18: 2025 Finals Begin Next Half-Century of Girls Hoops Championships - Read
March 11: Boys Basketball's Best 1st to Earn MHSAA Finals Titles - Read
March 5: Everything We Do Begins with Participation - Read
Feb. 25: Slogans & Logos Remain Unforgettable Parts of MHSAA History - Read
Feb. 19: MHSAA Tickets Continue to Provide Fan-Friendly Value - Read
Feb. 11: We Recognize Those Who Make Our Games Go - Read
Feb. 4: WISL Conference Continues to Inspire Aspiring Leaders - Read
Jan. 28: Michigan's National Impact Begins at NFHS' Start - Read
Jan. 21: Awards Celebrate Well-Rounded Educational Experience - Read
Jan. 14: Predecessors Laid Foundation for MHSAA's Formation - Read
Jan. 9: MHSAA Blazes Trail Into Cyberspace - Read
Dec. 31: State's Storytellers Share Winter Memories - Read
Dec. 17: MHSAA Over Time - Read
Dec. 10: On This Day, December 13, We Will Celebrate - Read
Dec. 3: MHSAA Work Guided by Representative Council - Read
Nov. 26: Finals Provide Future Pros Early Ford Field Glory - Read
Nov. 19: Connection at Heart of Coaches Advancement Program - Read
Nov. 12: Good Sports are Winners Then, Now & Always - Read
Nov. 5: MHSAA's Home Sweet Home - Read
Oct. 29: MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship - Read
Oct. 23: Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA's Longest Running - Read
Oct. 15: State's Storytellers Share Fall Memories - Read
Oct. 8: Guided by 4 S's of Educational Athletics - Read
Oct. 1: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame - Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read
PHOTO Athletic administrators and coaches attend a session during the MIAAA's annual conference earlier this month.