National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association

Indianapolis, IN (November 21, 2016) – Paul R. Powers, CAA, Aurora City Schools, Aurora, Ohio received the 2016 NIAAA State Award of Merit during the Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (OIAAA) state conference on November 14. This annual award is provided by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA), for recognition of meritorious dedication to High School and Middle School Athletics.

Paul is a Certified Athletic Administrator (CAA), and received his degree from Ohio Northern University.  He is in his 24th year as an athletic administrator, with the most recent 9 of those at Aurora City Schools.  Powers has served as a delegate representing Ohio for the NIAAA Delegate Assembly and is a past president and secretary of the OIAAA. Currently, and since 2009, he has served the Executive Committee of OIAAA.

About the NIAAA: Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, the NIAAA is the professional organization for interscholastic athletic administrators. The NIAAA consists of athletic director associations in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, and the membership includes approximately 10,000 athletic administrators from the U.S., as well as internationally.  NIAAA membership provides opportunity for professional development, education, certification, benefits of services, products, recognition, exchange of ideas and promotion of the profession.  

NIAAA champions the profession of athletic administration through education opportunities, advocating ethics, developing leaders and fostering community.

Fifteen Ohio interscholastic athletic administrators recently passed the national exam for the Certified Athletic Administrator (CAA) designation from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA).  The exam was taken as part of the recently completed Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (OIAAA) Annual State Conference, held in Columbus from November 13-15, 2016

The CAA designation recognizes and incorporates the professional development opportunities provided through the NIAAA’s Leadership Training Institute.  Courses within the Leadership Training Institute have been reviewed and certified by AdvancED, which oversees such accreditation organizations as North Central Accreditation and similar education certification providers.  AdvancEd has validated that the NIAAA courses and certification process demonstrates the ability to meet and exceed national and international standards of excellence. Accreditation is an affirmation of and gives credibility to all programs administered by the association. 

Jon Payne (Reading HS), the OIAAA’s state Certification Chair, commented, “The completion of the CAA process by these athletic directors is a reflection of each recipient’s high professional standards and their commitment to the profession.  Ultimately, it is a strong indicator of the type of dedication each recipient has to assure their respective school district and students that education-based athletics is the focus of their efforts.”

OIAAA Executive Director, Bruce Brown added, “There has been a significant increase in the number of Ohio athletic administrators who have sought this advanced designation over the past three years.  As such, we continue to seek opportunities to support this professional development by offering more course training sessions and outreach sites to our membership.  We are excited about this current generation of Ohio athletic directors who are certainly some of the best and brightest in the country.”

The fifteen Ohio athletic administrators who recently passed their CAA exam were:

Steve Ellison: Cincinnati Woodward HS

Jeff Good: Pickerington North HS

Andrew Hange: Columbus Walnut Ridge HS

Chip Hare: Piqua HS

Harold Howell: Toledo Rogers HS

Bill Hughett: Whitehall HS

Charles Jaco: Perrysburg HS

Phil Kosier: Dayton Northridge HS

Gary Spinell: Strasburg HS

Gavin Spitler: Newton HS

Andrew Stillman: Vermilion HS

Tyler Stillman: Firelands HS

Ryan Walker: Dublin Jerome HS

Nate Weibrauch: Findlay HS

Cobin Wilhelm: Mechanicsburg HS

This recent group of CAA recipients increases the list of Ohio CAA designees to well over 200.  For a complete list of Ohio CAA designees, go to http://www.oiaaa.org/ohio-cmaas-and-caas/#caa .