INDIANAPOLIS— The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) will award NFHS Citations to eight high school athletic directors December 15 in National Harbor, Maryland, during luncheon festivities at the 45th annual National Athletic Directors Conference sponsored jointly by the NFHS and the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA).

             David Ball of Clyde Erwin High School in Asheville is one of the award winners.

             NFHS Citations are presented annually to outstanding athletic directors in recognition of contributions to interscholastic athletics at the local, state and national levels. State associations nominate athletic directors for NFHS Citations, and the NFHS Board of Directors approves recipients.

             This year’s other winners include Stephanie Blackwell, CAA, athletic director, Bixby (Oklahoma) High School; Bruce Bowen, CMAA, executive director, Virginia Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association; John Dibble, CMAA, athletic director, Rite of Passage Schools, Yerington, Nevada; Alfred “Bunky” Dow, CAA, student activities director, Mt. Desert (Maine) High School; Sandy Freres, CMAA, athletic administrator, The Prairie School, Racine, Wisconsin; Todd Gilkey, CAA, assistant principal/activities director, Coeur d’Alene (Idaho) High School; and  Dory Smith, former athletic director, Villa Duchesne School, St. Louis, Missouri.

              David Ball, CMAA, has spent his entire 35-year professional career as a teacher, coach and athletic director at his alma mater. After graduating from Erwin in 1975, Ball earned his bachelor’s degree from Western Carolina University in 1979 and returned to Erwin that fall as a social studies teacher and baseball coach.

              Ball coached the baseball team for 19 years before becoming the school’s athletic director in 1998. He compiled a 286-160 record as the baseball coach and led his teams to 13 playoff appearances in 19 years, as well as nine conference championships. Ball’s 1988 team was runner-up in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) Class 3A state baseball championship.

              Since moving into athletic administration 16 years ago, Ball has been involved extensively with the North Carolina Athletic Directors Association (NCADA), the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) and the NCHSAA. Ball is a past president of the NCADA and currently serves on the NCADA Awards Committee and Mentoring Committee. Among his contributions to the state association, Ball served four years on the NCHSAA Board of Directors and has hosted regional and sectional events in track and basketball.

              At the national level, Ball has attended seven national Athletic Directors Conferences and was a member of the NIAAA Blue Ribbon Panel at the 2008 conference. He earned his Certified Athletic Administrator (CAA) certification in 2002 and Certified Master Athletic Administrator (CMAA) in 2004.

              In addition to his coaching and administrative tasks, Ball was an NCHSAA baseball official for 13 years and officiated state championship events in 2001 and 2007.

              Ball received the NCHSAA Citation Award in 2007 and the NIAAA State Award of Merit in 2009. This past year, he was named NCHSAA Athletic Director of the Year and an NCHSAA “100 to Remember” Administrator during the Association’s centennial celebration. He also was the Region 8 recipient of the 2013 Charlie Adams Distinguished Service Award.