Michael Bowler, Mary Beth Bourgoin and Anne Ellett were three of 23 high school coaches honored Monday for their excellence by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association.
Bowler, a lacrosse coach at
Rocky Point (N.Y.), was selected in the "other" category for boys sports, and Bourgoin, a field hockey coach at
Winslow (Maine), was chosen in the "other" category for girls sports.
Ellett of
Centennial (Gresham, Ore.) was the National Coach of the Year Award for spirit. She's been the school's dance coach since 1966 and is one of the longest-tenured coaches in any sport in state history.
The 2020 National Coaches of the Year awards recognize current leaders who coached in the the 2019-20 school year. The NFHS has recognized coaches through an awards program since 1982 and honors the top 10 girls sports and top 10 boys sports (by participation numbers) in addition to three others.
Recipients of this year's national awards for boys sports are:
Douglas Hislop, wrestling,
Imbler (Ore.) 
Ron Murphy, Rio Rancho baseball
File photo by Jim Smith
The recipients of the 2020 NFHS national awards for girls sports are:
The NFHS has a contact in each state responsible for selecting deserving coach award recipients.
This person often works with the state coaches' association in his or her respective state. He or she contacts the potential state award recipients to complete a coach profile form that requests information regarding the coach's record, membership in and affiliation with coaching and other professional organizations, involvement with other school and community activities and programs, and coaching philosophy.
To be approved as an award recipient and considered for sectional and national coach of the year consideration, this profile form must be completed by the coach or designee and then approved by the executive director (or designee) of the state athletic/activities association.
The NFHS Coaches Association has an advisory committee composed of a chair and eight sectional representatives. The sectional committee representatives evaluate the state award recipients from the states in their respective sections and select the best candidates for the sectional award in each sport category.
A total of 707 coaches will be recognized this year with state, sectional and national awards.