The National Federation of State High School Associations has announced the coaches of the year for 2018 and Centralia head volleyball coach Kimbrook Tennal has been named the Midwest Sectional Coach of the Year.

The Midwest section is made up of six states; Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Tennal led Centralia to a third consecutive state championship this past season, as the Panthers finished 47-0 on the year dropping just three sets all season long.

Tennal, a 2017 Kansas Volleyball Association Hall of Fame inductee, has been the head man of the Panthers since 2007 and at Centralia since 1997.

In ‘97 Tennal was hired with his wife at Centralia to coach volleyball and together they won eight State titles in a row and had a 126 match win streak ranking second best in the State. Tennal took over in ‘07 as the head coach and led Centralia to three State titles and four State runner-up finishes, while amassing a career coaching record of 791-49 in volleyball.

The NFHS, which has been recognizing coaches through an awards program since 1982, honors coaches in the top 10 girls sports and top 10 boys sports (by participation numbers), and in one “other” sport that is not included in the top 10 listings. Winners of NFHS awards must be active coaches during the year for which they receive their award.

 The KSHSAA works with the Kansas Coaches Association (KCA) to nominate Kansas coaches. The KCA contacts their 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 NFCA award recipient and considered for sectional and national coach of the year, 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 and select the best candidates for the sectional award in each sport category. The NFHS Coaches Association Advisory Committee then considers the sectional candidates in each sport, ranks them according to a point system, and determines a national winner for each of the 20 sport categories, the spirit category and one “other” category.