Individuals and schools presented A.F. Bridges Awards at TSSAA Regional Meetings

November 11, 2019

Schools and individuals from all parts of Middle Tennessee were recognized at the TSSAA Regional Meeting at Hillwood High School on Thursday, November 7 as part of the 20th Annual A.F. Bridges Awards program.

The A.F. Bridges Awards are given in honor of the TSSAA’s first executive secretary. He served as executive secretary from 1946 until his retirement in 1972. Under his leadership, athletics in the state of Tennessee reached a level of excellence and competence that earned the respect of all people. Mr. Bridges was a person of high principles who displayed firmness and fairness, as well as the high ideals of ethics and integrity as he and many other school people established the foundations of TSSAA.

The A.F. Bridges Awards program includes Divisional Awards for schools that have shown exemplary sportsmanship and awards for individuals in the categories of School System Administrator of the Year, Principal of the Year, Athletic Director of the Year, Female Coach of the Year, Male Coach of the Year, Official of the Year, and Contributor of the Year. In total, the awards recognize 63 individuals and as many as 27 schools from all parts of the state that represent what’s best in high school athletics.

Nominations were made by a Citizenship/Sportsmanship Committee and member schools in each athletic district and the final selection was made by a State Selection Committee.

Below is a full list of this year's Middle Tennessee honorees.

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Athletic District 4

School System Administrator of the Year

Dr. Donna Wright, Wilson County Schools

Principal of the Year

Dr. Leisa Justus, Blackman High School

Athletic Director of the Year

Joe Sims, Clay County

Female Coach of the Year

Jenna Morris, Tullahoma High School

Male Coach of the Year

Phil Young, Siegel High School

Official of the Year

David Laws

Contributor of the Year

Mike Hollingshead, Smyrna Ready Mix

Athletic District 5

School System Administrator of the Year

Dr. Del Phillips III, Sumner County Schools

Principal of the Year

Bryan Feldman, Clarksville High School

Athletic Director of the Year

Nicole Burgess, Hume Fogg Academic Magnet

Female Coach of the Year

Molly Yarbrough, Station Camp High School

Male Coach of the Year

Jeff Price, Rossview High School

Official of the Year

David Davenport

Contributor of the Year

David Braun, Springfield High School

Athletic District 6

School System Administrator of the Year

Dr. Cathy Beck, Cheatham County School District

Principal of the Year

Kevin Eady, Hickman County

Athletic Director of the Year

Eric Crabtree, Cornersville High School

Female Coach of the Year

Anna Arnold, Summertown High School

Male Coach of the Year

Gerard Randolph, Cornersville High School

Official of the Year

Eric Bradford

Contributor of the Year

Charles Pulliam, Williamson Herald

A.F. Bridges Divisional Awards

The A.F. Bridges Divisional Awards are given to schools that have had no reported unsportsmanlike conduct incidents during the previous school year and have displayed an overall positive effort to teach, expect, and demand a positive atmosphere of sportsmanship at their particular contests.

The schools that received this prestigious award were nominated by local officials associations and other member schools.

CLASS A

Houston County High School

Middle Tennessee Christian

Santa Fe High School

CLASS AA

East Hickman High School

Harpeth Hall School

Waverly Central High School

CLASS AAA

Beech Senior High School

Cane Ridge High School

Lincoln County High School

Of the 26 divisional recipients, one school in each class will receive Tennessee’s top award for overall outstanding effort, the A.F. Bridges State Award of Excellence. This is the highest award that can be bestowed upon a school to honor its overall efforts to promote citizenship and sportsmanship at school, and at athletic contests. The winner of that award will be announced at a later date.