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EAST LANSING, Mich.  – March 21 –  Eric C. Federico, who recently retired after 39 years of service to educational athletics as a coach, teacher and administrator, is the 2011 recipient of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Charles E. Forsythe Award.

The annual award is in its 34th 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.  Federico 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 Saturday (March 26).

“Eric Federico has served wonderfully as a leader of young people, first as a teacher-coach, and for most of his career as an administrator,” said MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts. “In a lifetime of dedicated service, he has been a person who has given so much of himself to see that kids have the privilege of playing school sports. We’re proud to honor Eric with the Forsythe Award.”

His career in 1970 started as a physical educational instructor and a football and baseball coach at Trenton High School, and he then moved up to become the Director of Athletics and the Department Head of Physical Education for Trenton Public Schools, a role he served in from 1978 to 1996.

Federico then moved to the nearby Gibraltar School District, where he started as an assistant principal and athletic administrator at Carlson High School, and would eventually ascend to the superintendent’s position in the district, where he served for five years from 2004 until his retirement.

He was active on the statewide and national sports scene, serving for 23 years on the MHSAA’s governing body, the Representative Council; as president of the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association; and on the National Federation of State High School Association’s Ice Hockey Rules Committee.

Honors previously afforded to Federico include a regional Principal of the Year award from the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals; Athletic Director of the Year from the MIAAA; a National Federation Citation Award; the Eddie Jeremiah Award on two occasions for dedication and service to ice hockey in Michigan; and he was inducted into the Trenton Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.

A 1970 graduate of the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education, Federico also received master’s degrees in Secondary Athletic Administration and Educational Leadership/Secondary Administration from Eastern Michigan University.

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
2010 – Rudy Godefroidt, Hemlock; Mike Boyd, Waterford

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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