
Congratulations to CSADA’s own Jean Ashen for being named the 2016 NIAAA Award of Merit Recipient! Congratulations Jean!!
Jean Ashen of California to Receive NIAAA Award of Merit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mike Blackburn, NIAAA
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (November 15, 2016) — Jean Ashen, CMAA, boys and girls athletic director at North Salinas High School in Salinas, California, is the 2016 recipient of the Award of Merit presented by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA).
Ashen will receive her award December 13 in Nashville, Tennessee, during banquet festivities at the 47th annual National Athletic Directors Conference conducted jointly by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and the NIAAA.
The Award of Merit is the most prestigious award presented by the NIAAA to an individual who has shown outstanding leadership in interscholastic athletics or related areas.
Ashen, athletic director at North Salinas – her alma mater – for the past 20 years, has given a lifetime of service to interscholastic athletics at the local and state levels in California and nationally with the NIAAA.
A former high school volleyball and basketball coach and assistant women’s basketball coach at the University of California, Irvine, for seven years, Ashen played basketball at California State University, Fullerton, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Since 1996, Ashen has directed the athletic programs at North Salinas and was Salinas Union High School District (SUHSD) athletic coordinator from 2006 to 2015. Locally, Ashen has been a member of the SUHSD Sportsmanship Task Force, served as a volunteer sports columnist for the Salinas Californian and has been involved with the National Girls and Women in Sports Luncheon since 1994.
Ashen has given countless hours of service to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) and the CIF Central Coast Section. She was CIF assistant director for state basketball (2006-14), CIF state volleyball tournament director (2006-07) and CIF state basketball sportsmanship presenter (2003-14). In addition, she served as CIF-Central Coast Section Title IX coordinator.
In addition to her work with the CIF, Ashen has been a member of the California State Athletic Directors Association (CSADA) since 1997 and has been CSADA liaison to the NIAAA for 10 years.
Ashen has devoted many hours to coach education at the interscholastic level. She is a Certified Interscholastic Coach (CIC) and Accredited Interscholastic Coach (AIC) through the NFHS and has been an NFHS-certified coaching education instructor since 2007. She served on the NFHS Coaches Education Committee for four years and was a member of the CIF State Coaching Education Faculty.
In addition to her tremendous workload at the local and state levels, Ashen has been a key contributor to the NIAAA since joining the organization in 1997. She served on the NIAAA Board of Directors from 2012 to 2014 and was a member of the NIAAA Task Force in 2013-14.
Nationally, Ashen earned her Certified Athletic Administrator (CAA) status in 1999 and became a Certified Master Athletic Administrator (CMAA) in 2006. She has completed 35 Leadership Training Courses and served as an NIAAA Blue Ribbon panelist for the Interscholastic Athletic Administration magazine in 2006.
Among her awards, Ashen was selected Central Coast Section Athletic Director of the Year in 2003, and she received the NIAAA State Award of Merit in 2004 and the CSADA Jim Echols Award in 2006.
See article directly at:
http://www.csadaonline.education/