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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-February 3, 2004
Contact: John Johnson, Randy Allen or Andy Frushour
517.332.5046 or www.mhsaa.com

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Feb. 3 – It's not often anymore that someone devotes nearly of lifetime of service to a single high school, let alone be on the ground floor when that school started sponsoring interscholastic athletics. For Marco Marcet, the recipient of the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Charles E. Forsythe Award for 2004, it was a labor of love starting 50 years ago that goes on to this very day.

This annual award is in its 27th 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. One or two recipients are selected each year by the MHSAA Representative Council, based on an individual's outstanding contribution to the interscholastic athletics community. Marcet will be presented the award on March 27 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing at halftime of the Boys Basketball Class A Final.

Frankenmuth High School had only been in operation a couple of years when Marcet arrived there in the fall of 1954 after brief teaching stints in Kingsley and Manton. But from that school year until the spring of 1988, as the school's first athletic director, he built a program based on a credo of being there for the kids.
Marcet was also Frankenmuth's first boys basketball and baseball coach, guiding the latter team to a 100-49 record over a 16-year period, a time when schools played only a fraction of the games each season compared to today, and the first MHSAA post-season tournament had yet to be played.

The building of athletic facilities, the establishment of an athletic program for girls, the organization of an athletic booster club and serving as the host of numerous MHSAA post-season tournaments all took place on Marcet's watch. That was at the same time as he was serving as the chair of Business Department at Frankenmuth High School for 36 years and as a driver's education instructor for 20 years.

After 40 years as a full-time teacher, Marcet reduced his schedule, but only a bit. He still serves as a substitute teacher on a regular basis at Frankenmuth, and is a regular fixture in game management at home athletic events.

Marcet's reach extended beyond Frankenmuth. He helped form the Thumb B Athletic Association and the Tri-Valley Conference. In the community, he was a member of various service organizations, was the town's first recreation director. As a tribute to his contributions to the area, the Bavarian Inn Lodge in Frankmuth has dedicated its Marcet Room in his honor.

In high school, Marcet captained the baseball and basketball squads for three seasons at what was then called Flint Tech (now Flint Southwestern Academy ). It is said that he was the first high school basketball player in the Flint area to use the one-handed set shot. He graduated from Flint Tech in 1943, but stayed active in the area in sports beyond his high school days as a fast-pitch softball player, and was recently enshrined with his 1946 Weller's Service team in the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame which won a state championship.

Like many others of his generation, college was delayed for Marcet by World War II. He served his country proudly as a member of the U.S. Air Force's 500 th Bomb Squadron � the Rough Raiders -- which fought in the Pacific Theater from 1943 to 1945. Upon his return from service duty, Marcet attended Central Michigan College (later Central Michigan University ), where he graduated in 1950. He did additional studies in CMU, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University between 1950 and 1977.

�The Tom Brokaw book, The Greatest Generation, is filled with success stories, and a chapter about Marco Marcet would have fit well into that publication,� said MHSAA Executive Director John E. "Jack" Roberts. �The true leaders of that generation knew the meaning of hard work, team work and community service. These true leaders helped build a post-World War II American from the ground up and Marco Marcet did just that in his lifetime of dedicated service to the community of Frankenmuth and Frankenmuth High School . A man who gave his life to a school that was just starting up when he arrived, and who still gives with equal vigor on a regular basis 50 years later. We're pleased to honor Marco Marcet with the Charles E. Forsythe Award.�

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

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,200 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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