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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 4, 2002
Contact: John Johnson or Randy Allen
517.332.5046 or www.mhsaa.com

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Feb. 4 - Susan Barthold, a long-time contributor to educational athletics as a teacher, coach, official and administrator, was presented with the 2002 Women In Sports Leadership Award today by the Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association.

She is shown at right receiving the award from Representative Council President Paul Ellinger.

Each year the Representative Council considers the achievements of women coaches, officials and athletic administrators affiliated with the MHSAA who show exemplary leadership capabilities and positive contributions to athletics. The award was presented during a luncheon at the 2002 Women In Sports Leadership Conference in Lansing.

Barthold, a Kentwood resident, has spent her entire career in teaching and coaching at East Kentwood High School, where she is in her 33rd year of service. As a basketball coach, her teams won nine consecutive conference championships from 1977 to 1985. She is still the softball coach at the school, and has posted over 400 career victories in leading her teams to five conference and seven MHSAA District titles She has been inducted into the Michigan High School Coaches and Michigan High School Softball Coaches Halls of Fame in the past five years.

Barthold's contributions to educational athletics also extend beyond coaching. As an official, she has been registered for 16 years; worked eight MHSAA Girls Swimming and Diving Finals; and also worked volleyball. She has also served as a minor official for numerous other events, having been a scorer for MHSAA Finals in Girls Basketball, Girls Competitive Cheer, Girls Gymnastics, Softball, Girls Volleyball and Wrestling.

Other school activities Barthold has been involved in include serving on the East Kentwood Coaches Advisory Committee; the Kentwood Public Schools Gender Equity Committee; as a stage director for school musicals; and as a senior class and student council advisory.

In the administration area, Barthold has served on MHSAA Committees for its Scholar-Athlete Award, its Ad Hoc Committee on the Three-Player Rule, and sports committees in baseball/softball and swimming. She has also been president of the Michigan High School Coaches and Michigan High School Softball Coaches Associations.

Barthold's community involvement includes serving on the board of directors for the Friends of Special Kids, a group honoring physically challenged youngsters, in Grand Rapids; and Camp Newaygo. She has also served on the steering committee for a local Senior PGA Golf Tournament; as an instructor for a golf program for inner-city youth; and as a volunteer umpire and clinician for the Kentwood Baseball League.

A 1965 graduate of Kalamazoo Loy Norrix High School, Barthold received her B.A. Degree in History, Sociology and Geography from Michigan State University in 1969; and an M.A. Degree in Sociology from MSU in 1973. She was nominated for the award by the Michigan High School Coaches and Michigan High School Softball Coaches Associations.

"The word 'ubiquitous' would sum up Susan Barthold," said John E. "Jack" Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA. "She is simply everywhere in serving school sports, her community, and the young people in both. No greater contributor exists than one who can be on the front lines in teaching and coaching, and also behind the scenes, unnoticed, in so many different ways. As a role model for today's student-athletes, Susan Barthold shows us the many different ways one can lead and serve. She is truly a most worthy recipient of the Women In Sports Leadership Award."

Barthold is the 13th recipient of the Women In Sports Leadership Award. Past recipients are:

1990 - Carol Seavoy, L'Anse
1991 - Diane Laffey, Harper Woods
1992 - Patricia Ashby, Scotts
1993 - Jo Lake, Grosse Pointe
1994 - Brenda Gatlin, Detroit
1995 - Jane Bennett, Ann Arbor
1996 - Cheryl Amos-Helmicki, Huntington Woods
1997 - Delores L. Elswick, Detroit
1998 - Karen S. Leinaar, Delton
1999 - Kathy McGee, Flint
2000 - Pat Richardson, Grass Lake
2001 - Suzanne Martin, East Lansing

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,300 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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