Photo courtesy of Craig Hockenberry Poland Athletic Director Brian Banfield poses in Columbus with the banner he received this morning as Poland was named OIAAA Bruce Brown Award recipient.

The Poland Local Schools Athletic Department became the 2024 recipient of the Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrator’s Association’s Bruce Brown Award. The award was accepted Monday in Columbus.

The OIAAA award’s purpose is to celebrate schools that demonstrated intentional and consistent efforts to enhance the culture of school based sports.

“Yesterday (Nov. 10) we were made aware that our athletic department has met all the criteria to be awarded one of the highest awards in the state, the Bruce Brown Award of Excellence,” Poland Superintendent Craig Hockenberry said. “This is a very exciting time and a great credit to Poland’s amazing work in our athletic department. I would like to personally thank athletic director Brian Banfield, athletic dept. secretary Kim Brant and everyone involved in meeting the criteria for this award. The credit goes to all of them.”

Hockenberry said Poland was in the running for the award last year.

The name of the award honor’s the OIAAA’s first executive director, Bruce Brown, who passed in 2020.

To qualify for the award, an athletic department has to meet various criteria in nine different categories including Philosophy of Education-based Athletics, Education Strategies, Risk Management, Access/Equity, Assessment, Technology/Media, Sports Medicine, Innovation/Creativity and Continuous Improvement. According to the OIAAA web page, the award is for schools who “purposefully educate and support the mission of education-based athletics in Ohio.” The site said schools that define success solely on wins and losses, or the number of championship trophies it has, simply misses the mark.

“Each year a small group of school districts receive the award and this year it was Poland’s year,” Hockenberry said. “The Poland athletic department is led by one of the most organized, detailed,and passionate athletic directors, not just in the region, but the entire state. (Brian) Banfield uses our athletic programs to pull our community together to win both in the classroom and on the field. This award is well deserved. It tells the story of a school district filled with school spirit and pride.”

Banfield made the trip to Columbus this morning to accept the banner that will be displayed at Poland Seminary High School.