Gilkey among eight to receive national high school A.D. award

| December 2, 2014 8:00 PM

INDIANAPOLIS - Coeur d'Alene High athletic director Todd Gilkey is one of eight high school athletic directors nationwide who will be honored by the National Federation of State High School Associations later this month.

NFHS Citations will be awarded to the eight high school athletic directors Dec. 15 in National Harbor, Md., during luncheon festivities at the 45th annual National Athletic Directors Conference sponsored jointly by the NFHS and the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA).

According to a news release, 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.

Gilkey, in his 15th year as a high school athletic administrator, has served as the assistant principal and activities director at Coeur d'Alene High since 2007. He began his education career as a teacher at St. Maries High in 1992 and assumed the athletic director's duties in 1999.

Gilkey, who earned his bachelor's degree in 1992 and master's in 2002 from the University of Idaho, has hosted numerous Idaho High School Activities Association state tournaments at Coeur d'Alene, including four volleyball tournaments, five soccer championships and more than 30 regional tournaments. Since 2011, Gilkey has been a member of the IHSAA executive board.

At the local level, Gilkey was president of the Intermountain League from 2004-07 and president of the Inland Empire League from 2009-10. He currently is awards chairman for the Inland Empire League.

Gilkey has had extensive involvement with the Idaho Athletic Administrators Association (IAAA), including 10 years as president-elect, president and past president. He also has spearheaded the IAAA's involvement with the NIAAA Leadership Training Institute and is an instructor for Leadership Training Class 501.

At the national level, Gilkey has attended all National Athletic Directors Conferences since 2007 and has served as the Idaho voting delegate on each occasion. He has been a member of the NIAAA Endowment Committee since 2008 and currently is second vice-chair, and he has been the NIAAA liaison for Idaho since 2011. Earlier this year, Gilkey was selected to serve on the fourth NIAAA Strategic Planning Committee. In addition, he has completed 22 NIAAA Leadership Training courses.

Among his previous honors, Gilkey was selected Idaho 3A Athletic Director of the Year in 2005 and Idaho 5A Athletic Director of the Year in 2010 and 2013.