Verona High School Athletic Director Mark Kryka is one of nine individuals who have made outstanding contributions to interscholastic athletics that have been named recipients of the 2013 Distinguished Service Awards given by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
Kryka will be honored Dec. 17 in Anaheim, Calif., during the banquet at the 44th annual National Athletic Directors Conference conducted jointly by the National Federation of State High School Associations and the NIAAA.
Kryka became Verona’s activities director in 1989, when it was combined with the middle school position. He joined the Wisconsin Athletic Directors Association that same year and was a member of its board for 11 years. Kryka served two terms as WADA President.
In 2002, he was named District 5 Athletic Director of the Year and helped create the WADA Hall of Fame in 2012. His other achievements include establishing an intramural program for students who were not in competitive sport programs and increasing opportunities in boys and girls hockey, girls soccer, girls golf, gymnastics, and boys and girls lacrosse. He also helped raise $70,000 in seven days to complete a stadium project. In 2011, he was the recipient of the WADA Andy Anderson Award.
Other accomplishments during his years at Verona include authoring a coaches handbook and code of conduct, establishing an activity feed, authoring activities curriculum for new students, establishing an Athletic Advisory Committee and starting an athletic foundation. A career member of the NIAAA, he also served on the NIAAA Awards Committee from 2006 to 2011 and received the NIAAA State Award of Merit in 2008.
Before beginning his career in secondary education, Kryka, CAA, spent four years as a professional baseball player in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins organizations. After his playing career ended in 1980, Kryka returned to school and graduated from the UW-La Crosse in 1983. He joined the staff at Verona as an elementary physical education teacher, as well as the head baseball coach, assistant wrestling coach and assistant football coach at the high school. He also taught physical education at the middle school and high school levels.
The Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to individuals from within the NIAAA membership in recognition of their length of service, special accomplishments and contributions to interscholastic athletics at the local, state and national levels. Nominations are submitted by state athletic directors associations, screened by the NIAAA Awards Committee and selected by the NIAAA Board of Directors.
This year’s other winners are Roger Brown, Unatego Central School, Otego, New York; Bill Bruno, Brick (New Jersey) Memorial High School; Tom Doyle, Seattle (Washington) Preparatory School; Larry Goins, Desert Oasis High School, Las Vegas, Nevada; Mike Jackson, Hanover (New Hampshire) High School; Paul Moses, Strongsville (Ohio) City Schools; Todd Olson, Fargo (North Dakota) Public Schools; and John Van Fleet, Woodstock (Illinois) High School.
Release prepared by Megan Filipowski, NFHS Intern