New NFHS officers, Board Members elected

INDIANAPOLIS — Gary Musselman, executive director of the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA), is the new president of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) for 2016-17. Musselman, the 57th president of the NFHS, began his one-year term July 3 following the NFHS Summer Meeting in Reno, Nevada.    

Jerome Singleton, commissioner of the South Carolina High School League (SCHSL), was elected by the NFHS Board of Directors to the position of president-elect for the upcoming year.

In addition, the following individuals were approved by the NFHS National Council for four-year terms on the NFHS Board of Directors: Jack Roberts, executive director, Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), Section 4; Mark Beckman, executive director, Montana High School Association (MHSA), Section 8; and Pamela Foegen, pupil services director, Regis Catholic Schools in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, at large, Sections 1 and 4.  

Musselman joined the KSHSAA staff in 1988 as assistant executive director, a position he held until being promoted to executive director in 1996. A graduate of Ness City (Kansas) High School, Musselman earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary education (cum laude) from Kansas State University in 1974 and his master’s (with honors) in secondary school administration from Wichita State University in 1987.

Musselman began his teaching and coaching career in 1974 at Independence (Kansas) Junior High School. He then held teaching and coaching positions at Andover (Kansas) Junior-Senior High School, Beloit (Kansas) Junior-Senior High School and Halstead (Kansas) High School. Prior to joining the KSHSAA staff, Musselman was the principal at LaCrosse (Kansas) High School. 

In addition to his current service on the Board of Directors, Musselman has served on numerous NFHS committees, including the Football Rules Committee, the Citizenship/Equity Committee, the Marketing Committee and the Appeal Board. Musselman served three terms as chair of the NFHS TARGET Committee (1992-95), which was involved with drug and alcohol prevention/education programs. He was a member of three different NFHS Strategic Planning Committees and has presented at numerous meetings including coaching education programs conducted at the U.S. Olympic Committee campus in Colorado Springs.

Throughout his career, Musselman has been involved with other national organizations, including the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and United School Administrators of Kansas.

In 2014, Musselman represented the NFHS Board of Directors on the NFHS Concussion Summit, which was appointed to develop recommendations for minimizing risk of concussion in sports and to develop best practices for schools and state high school associations. In June 2015, Musselman completed six years of service on the Board of Directors of the NFHS Foundation. Musselman was elected chairman during the 2014-15 term and led a major reorganization and expansion of the Foundation Board and its governance structure.

Musselman is beginning his 29th year with the KSHSAA and 21st year as executive director, and he is the second Kansan to serve as president of the NFHS.

Singleton has served as SCHSL commissioner since July 2005 after 10 years as the organization’s associate commissioner and one year as assistant commissioner. During his time as associate commissioner, Singleton was responsible for the administration of football, basketball, track and field, and cross country. He formulated and implemented SCHSL policies for boys and girls athletic programs and also supervised the publicity of the SCHSL athletic activities and services.

Singleton has been a member of the several NFHS committees, including the Equity Committee, Citizenship Committee, Coaches Education Committee, Track and Field Rules Committee, and the NFHS Strategic Planning Committee. 

Prior to joining the SCHSL, Singleton was an assistant principal at Irmo (South Carolina) Dutch Fork High School; an assistant athletic director, teacher and coach at Charleston (South Carolina) Burke High School; an assistant principal at Greenwood (South Carolina) Northside Junior High School; and a teacher and coach at Greenwood High School.

Singleton graduated from Newberry (South Carolina) College in 1981 with a degree in physical education, and he earned his master’s degree from Clemson (South Carolina) University in 1987.

Roberts, who has been executive director of the MHSAA since 1986, is the longest-tenured active state association executive director in the NFHS membership. He oversees one of the largest state associations with more than 1,500 senior high schools and junior high/middle schools and is one of the nation’s most articulate advocates for education-based activity programs.

After graduating from P. J. Jacobs High School in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and Dartmouth College and attending graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, Roberts taught English and coached football at high schools in Milwaukee and Denver until 1973, when he joined the staff of the NFHS, which at that time was located in Elgin, Illinois.

From 1973 to 1980, Roberts developed the NFHS’ volleyball, swimming and diving, and ice hockey rules programs, and re-codified the Soccer Rules Book. Later, as assistant director, he was in charge of public, legislative and judicial affairs for the NFHS.

Roberts joined the staff of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) in 1981 and was named executive vice president of the FCA in 1984. He served in that capacity until 1986, when he was named executive director of the MHSAA.

Roberts served a previous term on the NFHS Board of Directors from 1996 to 2000 and has been chairman of the NFHS Network Board of Directors since 2013. He also has served on two previous NFHS Strategic Planning Committees and is past chair of the board of directors of the Michigan Society of Association Executives.

Beckman was named executive director of the MHSA in 2004 after seven years as MHSA assistant director and many years as a high school administrator, instructor, coach and official.

Beckman’s association with educational administration dates to 1983, when he served as chairman of the Butte (Montana) School Board for 2½ years. He was a basketball official and a member of the Montana Officials Association for several years, and he coached boys and girls basketball at Butte Central High School and Anaconda (Montana) High School. He also coached Babe Ruth and American Legion baseball in Butte and Anaconda.

Following his coaching and officiating tenures, Beckman was a member of the MHSA Basketball Rules Committee and was athletic director at Butte Central. Prior to joining the MHSA office, Beckman was a teacher and activities director at Anaconda High School.

Beckman was chair of the Programs Subcommittee for the 2011-2016 Strategic Planning Committee and recently completed terms on the NFHS Network Board of Directors and the NFHS Appeal Board.

Foegen, who is president of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Board of Control for 2016-17, is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and she earned her master’s in educational leadership and policy analysis from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Prior to her current position with Regis Catholic Schools, Foegen taught middle school special education in the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau School District in Galesville, Wisconsin, for four years, and served in a variety of roles with the La Crosse, Wisconsin, School District from 1983 to 2014.

Foegen was a teacher, coordinator and program support teacher in charge of special education programming in La Crosse for 21 years, and was director of special education for the La Crosse School District from 2006 to 2014. She directed a suicide prevention group for several years, and for two years served as state consultant for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders at the Department of Public Instruction.

Foegen was co-director of a program of the National Foundation for Improvement in Education that was targeted to prevent student dropout by starting at the elementary and middle school levels.