Stice recognized nationally among athletic directors

November 5, 2009 — CFISD associate director of athletics and coordinator for secondary physical education Sheri Stice will be recognized with a National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Citation during the 40th annual National Athletic Directors Conference on Dec. 14 in Dallas.

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. Only seven other athletic directors will be honored alongside Stice.

“I am so humbled by this honor because it is an honor bestowed by my peers. The NFHS has led the development of education based interscholastic sports that helps students succeed in their lives,” Stice said. “I learned early in my career that this organization would be the ‘rock’ by which the future of participation experience, establishment of consistent standards and helping those who oversee high school sports would come.”

An athletic administrator for the past 13 years, Stice received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Sam Houston State University before becoming a health and physical education teacher and a head coach of four different sports at Houston St. Pius X High School.

She joined CFISD in 1978, beginning with six years as a middle school teacher and coach, then followed by 11 years as assistant principal of two middle schools.

Nine years ago, Stice started a district Soccer Start program for at-risk middle school students that ties attendance, behavior and academic achievement with soccer. In its first year, the program had 250 students who participated; now Stice's project has ballooned to nearly 850 participants. Stice has also been the coordinator of the school district’s Special Olympics program for three years, and started a sportsmanship initiative entitled “Victory with Honor,” which outlines accountability and procedures that all schools in the district use.

Stice has been the Texas state liaison to the NIAAA for three years, Texas state delegate for two years and certified CAA Test Administrator for four years. She has been vice chair of the NIAAA Certification Committee for two years and will become chair in December. In 2002, Stice was a workshop presenter at the national conference on “The Attrition of Female Coaches.” She also was asked by the Texas High School Athletic Directors Association to defend athletic graduation requirements in high schools to the State Board of Education.

“I am fortunate to have been able to work alongside many other athletic administrators throughout the U.S. that view the success of students as a primary goal,” she said. “Although people value the sport experience for different reasons, we must never lose sight of the common denominator—sport is primarily for the benefit of the participants.”