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EAST LANSING, Mich. – March 12 – A pair of athletic administrators who are giants in their respective sports are the 2010 recipients of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Charles E. Forsythe Award. Rudy Godefroidt, superintendent of Hemlock Public Schools, and Mike Boyd, athletic director and coach at Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes, share the prestigious honor.
The annual award is in its 33rd year of existence and is 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 contribution to the interscholastic athletics community. Boyd will receive his honor at halftime of the MHSAA Class B Boys Basketball Championship game at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing on March 27, while Godefroidt will receive his award in the fall at the MHSAA’s annual Update Meeting in Frankenmuth on October 13.
“This year’s Forsythe Award winners represent the best in school sports leaders with two men who excel at ‘teaching’ in the athletic forum,” said MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts. “The number of students – both boys and girls – influenced by Rudy and Mike during their exemplary careers is staggering. The success they’ve enjoyed, whether as coach, official, teacher or administrator, is a testimony to their dedication to student-athletes spanning decades. They are most deserving recipients of this year’s Forsythe Award.”
Godefroidt, elected to the MHSAA Representative Council in 2008, is in his fourth year as superintendent at Hemlock. His lifelong service to the sports of cross country and track & field is where he’s made his most pronounced contributions.
Now is his 34th year as a MHSAA registered official in those sports, Godefroidt also coached the sports for more than a decade at Breckenridge Community Schools, and had a two-year stint as head cross country coach at his alma mater, Alma College, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1973. A 1969 graduate of Detroit Finney High School, Godefroidt would later earn his master’s degree from Central Michigan University in 1978 as his career began to blossom.
Godefroidt, a member of the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association since 1975, earned MITCA’s Cross Country Coach of the Year honors once and was nominated two other times.
In officiating circles, few have given back to their sports as Godefroidt has in his three-plus decades of service. He has earned numerous service awards from the Association of Track Officials of Michigan, including ATOM’s most coveted honor, the Bob Bloomer Award. A two-time past president of ATOM, he also received the President’s Leadership Award from the association, which he joined in 1988 and is still active today.
Administratively, Godefroidt has earned the North Central Accreditation Award, and has been a member of the Michigan and National Association of School Administrators since 2005. Prior to his current status as Hemlock’s superintendent, he was the high school principal for eight years, preceded by three years in that position at Breckenridge High School.
Boyd’s name is synonymous with Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes, a school to which he’s given 43 years of service as athletic director, parish manager and coach. The Saginaw SS Peter and Paul (now Saginaw Nouvel) product launched his legendary football coaching career in 1965 and shows no signs of slowing down.
His 339 career wins rank just ahead of his cousin, Leo “Smokey” Boyd (308) for third place on the MHSAA’s all-time football coaching list. A 9-3 record in 2009 brings Mike Boyd’s career mark to 339-102-1, a winning percentage of .767. Boyd’s Lakers won the 2002 MHSAA Division 8 football championship, and finished runner-up twice in Class DD, while making the playoffs 21 times.
In today’s era of specialization, Boyd is a throwback whose coaching techniques continue to yield success not only in multiple sports, but with both genders. As the school’s softball coach since 1982, Boyd’s teams have compiled nearly 800 wins. The Lakers won back-to-back MHSAA Division 4 softball titles in 2003-04, the most recent of eight championships with Boyd at the helm.
Boyd is a member of the Detroit Catholic League, Michigan Football, Basketball and Softball halls of fame, as well as the Michigan Coaches Hall of Fame. His success netted numerous Coach of the Year honors throughout his career, including national and regional softball accolades.
A longtime member of the National Football Coaches Association and National Softball Coaches Association, Boyd received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Michigan State University and served as a teacher and principal at WOLL prior to his current positions. Boyd served terms on the board of directors for the Michigan Football Coaches Association and is a past vice president for the Michigan Softball Coaches Association. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and Clarkston Chamber of Commerce.
Past recipients of the Charles E. Forsythe Award are:
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 - 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
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,600 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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