Greenhills named a model athletic program by Michigan’s ADs

At Greenhills, it’s not just the students who bring home the hardware. The school itself was honored March 19 with the Exemplary Program Award by the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. 

The award, presented to Greenhills Athletic Director Meg Seng at the annual MIAAA Mid-Winter Conference in Traverse City, recognizes the efforts of the school’s coaches and athletic administrators in creating an athletic program organized around the idea of balance – in athletics, academics, and life.

“We really believe that our kids should be trying a lot of different things,” Seng said. “We want them to have the opportunity to excel on the field and in the classroom, and in other extracurricular activities, too.”

The Exemplary Athletic Award Program honors schools that model equity, excellence and a commitment to all student-athletes, MIAAA officials said.

Greenhills offers 20 varsity sports at the upper school level and has claimed 23 MHSAA state championships, in addition to 23 state runner-up finishes, in its history. But beyond the winning performances on the field, the school’s administration and coaches encourage dedication to sportsmanship and fair play, development of individual and team skills, the exertion of best effort, personal responsibility, accountability to the team, the will to win, and conduct that brings credit to the school, MIAAA officials said.

It’s a relationship-based approach emphasizing strong coaching that yields dividends for student-athletes long after they’ve graduated, Seng said.

“We wouldn’t have the successes we’ve had without our phenomenal coaching staff, our dedicated athletes, and our strongly committed parent base,” Seng said.

The MIAAA is Michigan’s professional organization for school athletic directors. It worked in partnership with the Michigan High School Athletic Association to conduct an extensive review of Greenhills’ program this fall. The school went through a rigorous self-review and screening process, and also hosted an on-site visit by an MIAAA evaluation team made up of veteran athletic administrators.

In the end, the effort paid off.

“The hard work and dedication of a whole team of people here at the school is what makes our program work,” Seng said. “We’re really pleased that MIAAA is recognizing their efforts.”