Three North Dakota high school coaches earn national honors

LINCOLN, Neb. — Three coaches from the state of North Dakota received national recognition at the National High School Athletic Coaches Association convention last week in Lincoln, Neb.

Kindred boys golf coach Perry Piatz was named Golf National Coach of the Year while Fargo North assistant cross country and track coach Rod Hardie earned Assistant Coach of the Year honors.

Griggs County Central High School’s Rick Anderson also earned honors as the Boys’ Cross Country National Coach of the Year.

Anderson and Gregg Grinsteinner of Dickinson Trinity High School also were inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association National Coaches Hall of Fame during the convention.

It was Piatz’s third time being nominated for the award and, still, he was unsure if he would ever win such an award.

“Never, ever in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would win something like this,” Piatz said. “I have to give a lot of credit to a lot of great players and a lot of good people that have helped me along the way. It’s a pretty cool deal.”

Just to be nominated was an honor in itself, Piatz said.

“I’ve gone to these conventions and listened to these guys and listened to their resumes and what they’ve done,” he said. “I am pretty honored just to be included with them because their resumes are unbelievable with the things they’ve done and how many kids they’ve sent on to play college golf. It’s a pretty nice honor.”

Piatz also expressed his gratitude for those who helped him achieve the award.

“I have to give credit to our High School Coaches Association here in North Dakota. They’re very good at promoting our state and getting people nominated and so forth,” he said. “I would be remiss if I didn’t give some credit to John Dahl. He’s our head pro at Oxbow, our home course for Kindred.

“John Dahl has helped with our junior program and our young kids. He has been so much help throughout the years. I don’t think we’d be where we’re at without a lot of his help.”

Like Piatz, Hardie also took pride in winning his award.

“It means a lot to be recognized for the work that I did not only in coaching but in the North Dakota High School Coaches Association,” Hardie said. “For 25 or 26 years I helped with the executive board so a lot of it is recognition that I did a lot of service for the organization along with being a high school coach.”

Hardie named former Fargo South coach Gelaine Orvik, former Fargo North coach Gary Mailloux and the executive director of the high school coaches association Randy Johnson as three people who had the biggest impact on him being able to accomplish all he has.

“Every coach has mentors or people that guided them along,” he said. “It’s the natural way the coaching realm works. Usually older coaches mentor the younger ones. It’s just kind of a natural thing.”

Hardie added that he has followed this trend, as he continues to pass along lessons to a new generation of coaches.

In addition to the three coaching awards, the state had another positive from the conference as Kenmare High School’s Tim Wallstrum became the National High School Athletic Coaches Association President.

The 2024 NHSACA National Coaches Convention will be held in Bismarck, June 22-27.