Coaches, administrators earn AHSAA ‘Making a Difference Award’

The Alabama High School Athletic Association and Alabama High School Athletic Directors & Coaches Association have selected seven coaches and administrators as recipients of the 2022 Making a Difference Award.

One winner was named for each of the AHSAA’s seven classes from approximately 40 nominees received from schools, support organizations or individuals.

The recipients for 2022:

Class 1A: Pat Thompson, Sweet Water High School athletic director and head football coach.

Class 2A: John Hadder, Vincent High School athletic director, boys basketball and boys and girls cross country coach.

Class 3A: Steve Reaves, Winfield High School boys and girls indoor and outdoor track and boys and girls cross country coach.

Class 4A: Jazmin Mitchell, Sumter Central High School athletic director and boys basketball coach.

Class 5A: Van Phillips, Center Point High School recently retired principal and retiring AHSAA Central Board of Control president.

Class 6A: Linda Moore, Athens High School and Athens Middle School athletic director.

Class 7A: Debra Broome, Vestavia Hills girls bowling, girls golf and assistant girls basketball coach.

Each honoree will be recognized at the 2022 AHSAA Summer Conference Championship Coaches’ Awards Banquet on July 22 at the Montgomery Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center at 6 p.m.

The Making a Difference Award was established in 2011 by the AHSAA and AHSADCA to recognize individuals who go beyond their normal duties as a coach, teacher or administrator to make a positive impact in their schools and communities.

“The recipients in this 2022 Making a Difference class are prime examples of men and women who take their positions as role models for their students, faculty and community very seriously and have shown exceptional leadership and determination in the challenges each has faced,” AHSAA executive director Alvin Briggs said. “Each of these individuals has had spent their entire teaching, coaching and administrative careers making a major positive impact in their communities and schools across the state and are excellent examples for what this award stands for.”

Briggs called the award the “most important honor a professional educator in our state can receive.

Thompson has been the head football coach and athletic director at Sweet Water High School since 2014. As the head football coach, he has led his team to playoff appearances every year and has won two state titles – in in 2017 and 2021.

His nominator said Thompson has provided steady guidance for all students in his role as AD and “led this community with the same kind of strength, character and kindness of those great coaches who served this community before him.”

Vincent’s Hadder has spent more than 25 years teaching and coaching in high school. He moved to Vincent in Shelby County in 2006 as boys varsity basketball coach and assistant football coach/defensive coordinator. He became head boys basketball coach in 2009 and has since compiled a 275-122 record with one state runner-up, two Final Four appearances, 10 regional tournament appearances and 11 straight area titles. He added to athletic director to his duties in 2011.

He works with all middle and high school sports programs, mentors the coaches and has set a standard of excellence on and off the field for the students and coaches that the entire coaching staff has embraced. “Coach Hadder really cares about the kids and coaches,” his nominator said. “And he is always willing to go the extra mile. He sets the example for all of us by his own actions. He holds himself to a high standard and holds his coaches to the same high standard.”

Described by His fellow teachers described Reaves as “very humble man who always puts the students first.” Reaves has served Winfield High School as a teacher and coach for the past 42 years – his only teaching job.

Serving in various capacities for the last four decades, he has made his mark in Alabama and nationally as the Pirates indoor and outdoor boys and girls track and field coach, cross country coach and as defensive coordinator for the Winfield football team.

His track program is one of the largest small-school programs in the state and has won numerous state titles. His students have set a number of state track and field records and one runner, Trey Cunningham, set the national indoor 55 (and 60)-meter hurdles and dash records. Cunningham has gone on to set one world record, won national championships in the NCAA as a track standout at Florida State University and was an Olympic Team alternate in 2021.

Cunningham sums up his coach best. In a letter published by Alabama Runners website and shared in the AHSAA March Executive Director Newsletter, the All-America hurdler wrote what his coach has meant to him. “The first time I realized you truly believed in me was freshman year, when I placed third in the 60-meter hurdles at the AHSAA state meet. … I saw the look on your face … That race was the catalyst for the rest of my high school career. It led to state championships, state records, national records and a world record. But I took for granted how supportive you were.

“You helped the small town boy, who desperately wanted the big city, get recruited by a majority of the universities in the country. Now, in this next phase of becoming a professional, I still feel the love and support I had as a freshman trying to prove myself. For that, I am thankful and lucky to have you in my life.”

Affectionately known as “Coach Jaz,” Jazmine Mitchell is a native of Sumter County, graduating from the Sumter County High School in 1998 where he was an outstanding student-athlete. He helped Sumter County win the Class 4A state basketball championship as a senior, was named first-team Class 4A All-State and the 1998 Class 4A Player of the Year by the Alabama Sportswriters Association.

After college he returned to Sumter County where he has served in various positions including coaching boys basketball for the past 18 years. He is noted as one of the most outstanding coaches in West Alabama and he is revered for his leadership and mentoring to other coaches, according to his nominator. Most recently, Mitchell was awarded the United Service Award at the 2021-2022 West Alabama Young Leaders Awards Banquet.

Elected a York city councilman, he organized the first Sumter County softball program and leads a local basketball camp each summer to ensure that all children in the community are active and excited about learning new skills.

“Education needs more leaders willing to roll up their sleeves like Mr. Mitchell has done for the past 18 years for his school and community,” wrote his nominator. Mitchell has spent his adult life giving back to his community and advocating for the young and the elderly. He is the creator of a non-profit group called “Mitchell Blessing Others.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mitchell led the movement to bring vaccination sites to the Community of York.

“His compassion for his people is continuously visible as he works in the community, the school and in surrounding areas. Over the last year alone, Mitchell has written grants, evaluated road and park conditions, met with politicians, visited elderly, secured scholarships, sponsored college tours, established tutoring programs, organized health fairs and blood drives, all while teaching, and serving the city. For such a young man, Coach Mitchell is building a legacy by example for everyone he touches.”

Van Phillips has grown up in the AHSAA and has spent his entire adult life helping others grow up as well. Recognized as the Alabama Principal of the Year in 2017, he served Center Point (Erwin) High School from 2005 until his recent retirement. He has also been a primary sounding board and mentor for other principals in Jefferson County and across the state.

Name principal at Minor in 1998, for a brief period in 2004 and 2005, the ordained minister served as principal at both schools at the same time. His leadership abilities led him to the Fifth District Legislative Council and to the AHSAA Central Board of Control – where he served as president the past two years.

Under Phillips’ leadership, Erwin’s graduation rate rose quickly from 49 percent to 87 percent, its dropout rate lowered from 25 percent to 6 percent, senior scholarship awards rose from $380,000 to over $4 million and enrollment increased from 880 to 1,300 students. Additionally, it was along this journey that Erwin High School became Center Point High School.

His nominator wrote, “At Center Point, Mr. Phillips created the atmosphere that everybody is somebody.” Phillips the minister has spent his entire adult life drilling the importance of education and making the right decisions into the minds of thousands of students. He still serves in a mentoring capacity for teachers, coaches and administrators in Jefferson County and across the state.

Athens High’s Linda Moore has served in various capacities throughout her career in education. And from those who have benefited from her leadership, they point out that she has always been humble and kind.

Before her tenure in the Athens City Schools, she worked at Dallas County High School and Bibb County Junior High School where she served as a classroom teacher, Graduation Coach, Dropout Prevention Specialist, Assistant Athletic Director, Athletic Director, basketball and volleyball coach.

She says she is most proud to serve as the  Athens City Schools Athletic Director. Working with students has been her lifelong dream. “Seeing students excel academically, athletically and in life, brings great joy,” she said. “I believe all students can learn in their own capacity, and that it takes a community to ensure success for students.”

A nominator said, “I have been coaching and teaching for over 25 years. I can honestly say Mrs. Linda Moore is one of the most compassionate and humble people I have ever worked with or worked for. One of her best qualities is how she counsels our student-athletes. She is a great listener and is patient in making as decision or giving advice. She treats each individual as if they are family.”

Debra Broome has served as a physical education teacher and coach for 35 years – with all but one year in the Vestavia Hills City School System. A graduate of Grand Canyon University in Phoenix Ariz., she has spent most of her teaching time in elementary or middle school physical education. In her year working in the Jefferson County School system she also assisted the special education teacher in her daily duties.

She has been a coach Vestavia Hills High School could turn to no matter the sport. She has coached recreational softball and basketball, middle school basketball and volleyball, high school volleyball, basketball, softball, golf, bowling and girls flag football. She currently serves VHHS as girls golf coach, girls bowling coach and girls flag football coach. She served as assistant basketball coach for former Rebels head coach Fran Braasch for many years.

“Coach Broome fits the description of what a difference maker should be,” her nominator said. “On a daily basis she makes sure that all her players are taken care of, and she has the day-to-day logistics organized to a ‘T.’ She is a true team player and blessing to us at Vestavia Hills High School. Her loving and caring disposition around everyone is why she makes a difference every day. She brings the best out in us all.”