MHSAA: Longtime Administrator & Coach Garvey Named Charles E. Forsythe Award Winner

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Through tenures at four Michigan high schools, serving as a teacher, coach and administrator, and continuing today in various roles at the local and statewide levels, Lawton’s Michael Garvey has given nearly 40 years of service to educational athletics. To celebrate his devotion and many contributions, Garvey has been named the 2020 recipient of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Charles E. Forsythe Award.

The annual award is in its 43rd year and named after former MHSAA Executive Director Charles E. Forsythe, the Association’s first full-time and longest-serving chief executive. Forsythe Award recipients are selected each year by the MHSAA Representative Council, based on an individual’s outstanding contributions to the interscholastic athletics community.

Garvey, who grew up mostly in Detroit, began his educational career in 1980 teaching at Marian Central Catholic in Woodstock, Ill., before returning to Michigan in 1985 to teach at Lawton High School. While at Lawton, he helped the Blue Devils’ wrestling program continue a dominating run as an assistant coach on Lower Peninsula Class D championship teams in 1986 and 1987 and runner-up teams in 1988 and 1989, and then as head coach of the 1990 Class D title winner. He also served as athletic director at Lawton from 1994-99 before leaving for the same position at Delton Kellogg, where he served from 1999-2006. Garvey then was athletic director at Otsego from 2006-10, and he then served as athletic director at Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep from 2010-18.

He earned a number of accolades during his time as a coach and administrator, including the MHSAA’s Allen W. Bush Award in 2015 for his many contributions to educational athletics that often went unsung despite their great importance. Garvey also has been a registered MHSAA official for 35 years, in softball for all 35 and for a mix of seasons in baseball, basketball, volleyball, wrestling and track & field. He continues to instruct as part of the MHSAA’s Coaches Advancement Program (CAP) and has served as tournament manager for the MHSAA Team Wrestling Finals since their 2018 move to Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo.

“I never looked at my jobs as jobs. I always looked at it as I had a mission and was trying to complete a mission,” Garvey said. “I think I can still help people, so maybe my mission isn’t complete.

“It’s a blast. I just feel like it’s a chance to give. Schools and athletics and everything have given so much to me. Plus the human interaction – working with kids and coaches and officials, it just fits me and I enjoy it.”

Among accolades at the state and national levels, Garvey received the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) 2016 Distinguished Service Award and the George Lovich State Award of Merit in 2009 from the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA).

Garvey remains an active member of both the MIAAA and NIAAA and the Michigan Wrestling Coaches Association. He remains on the faculty for the NIAAA’s Leadership Training Institute and has served as Michigan’s coordinator for the program. He’s been a long-serving member of the MHSAA’s Wrestling Committee and hosted more than 75 tournament events while an athletic director. He served as co-commissioner of the former Kalamazoo Valley Association and currently is the executive secretary of the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference.

He’s also rejoined the coaching ranks, taking over as head coach of Vicksburg High School’s girls and boys golf teams this school year.

“Even in ‘retirement,’ Mike Garvey continues to serve students, coaches and administrators with enthusiasm,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said. “He continues to pass on to our current coaches the best practices he’s learned over decades, and he has played a sizable role in making the Team Wrestling Finals a record-setting event for attendance the last few seasons. His brings a genuine enjoyment to these activities, and we’re fortunate to have him continuing to take leading roles.”

Garvey began classes at Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice as a high school freshman, but after less than a month moved overseas as the family followed his father’s job with Chrysler. Garvey matriculated in Geneva, Switzerland, and then completed high school at The American School in London, England. Once back in the United States, Garvey earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Western Michigan University. He remains active in community service through his church and lake association.

1978 – Brick Fowler, Port Huron; Paul Smarks, Warren

1979 – Earl Messner, Reed City; Howard Beatty, Saginaw

1980 – Max Carey, Freesoil

1981 – Steven Sluka, Grand Haven; Samuel Madden, Detroit

1982 – Ernest Buckholz, Mt. Clemens; T. Arthur Treloar, Petoskey

1983 – Leroy Dues, Detroit; Richard Maher, Sturgis

1984 – William Hart, Marquette; Donald Stamats, Caro

1985 – John Cotton, Farmington; Robert James, Warren

1986 – William Robinson, Detroit; Irving Soderland, Norway

1987 – Jack Streidl, Plainwell; Wayne Hellenga, Decatur

1988 – Jack Johnson, Dearborn; Alan Williams, North Adams

1989 – Walter Bazylewicz, Berkley; Dennis Kiley, Jackson

1990 – Webster Morrison, Pickford; Herbert Quade, Benton Harbor

1991 – Clifford Buckmaster, Petoskey; Donald Domke, Northville

1992 – William Maskill, Kalamazoo; Thomas G. McShannock, Muskegon

1993 – Roy A. Allen Jr., Detroit; John Duncan, Cedarville

1994 – Kermit Ambrose, Royal Oak

1995 – Bob Perry, Lowell

1996 – Charles H. Jones, Royal Oak

1997 – Michael A. Foster, Richland; Robert G. Grimes, Battle Creek

1998 – Lofton C. Greene, River Rouge; Joseph J. Todey, Essexville

1999 – Bernie Larson, Battle Creek

2000 – Blake Hagman, Kalamazoo; Jerry Cvengros, Escanaba

2001 – Norm Johnson, Bangor; George Lovich, Canton

2002 – John Fundukian, Novi

2003 – Ken Semelsberger, Port Huron

2004 – Marco Marcet, Frankenmuth

2005 – Jim Feldkamp, Troy

2006 – Dan McShannock, Midland; Dail Prucka, Monroe

2007 – Keith Eldred, Williamston; Tom Hickman, Spring Lake

2008 – Jamie Gent, Haslett; William Newkirk, Sanford Meridian

2009 – Paul Ellinger, Cheboygan

2010 – Rudy Godefroidt, Hemlock; Mike Boyd, Waterford

2011 – Eric C. Federico, Trenton

2012 – Bill Mick, Midland

2013 – Jim Gilmore, Tecumseh; Dave Hutton, Grandville

2014 – Dan Flynn, Escanaba

2015 – Hugh Matson, Saginaw

2016 – Gary Hice, Petoskey; Gina Mazzolini, Lansing

2017 – Chuck Nurek, Rochester Hills

2018 – Gary Ellis, Allegan

2019 – Jim Derocher, Negaunee; Fredrick J. Smith, Stevensville

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.