Congratulations to these Administrators of the Year:
Janis Qualizza
Merrillville - District I
A 1967 graduate of Lew Wallace High School in Gary and a 1971 graduate of Purdue, Merrillville’s Janis Qualizza has been at the helm of the Pirates’ athletic program since 1982.
She obtained a master’s degree in 1975 from Indiana University-Northwest and her principal’s license in 2002 from Indiana State. She also met qualifications to be named a Certified Athletic Administrator in 1998.
Qualizza began her teaching career in 1971 at Kennedy King Middle School. She taught there for four years before shifting to the high school level at Lew Wallace for three years. She moved to Merrillville in 1978 as a teacher, volleyball coach and assistant athletic director, positions she held for four years before being promoted to Merrillville’s athletic director.
She was elected to the IHSAA Board of Directors in 1985 and has served in that role for 16 years. She was chosen District 1 Athletic Director of the year in 1991, 2002 and 2010 and was presented the Charles F. Maas Award by the Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association in 1999 and 2011. She was recognized with a Distinguished Service Award by the National Interscholastic Administrators Association in 2006 and the Spirit of Sport Award by the National Federation of State High School Associations in 2009.
Prior to becoming an administrator, Qualizza was a volleyball, basketball and track coach. Her 1982 Merrillville volleyball team advanced to the State Finals.
Mike Necessary
Randolph Southern - District II
Mike Necessary is superintendent for Randolph Southern Schools, but he has been active in high school basketball and high school sports throughout his career.
A 1969 graduate of Centerville High School, where he was a four-sport athlete, Necessary went on to earn bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from Ball State University. He was a junior varsity basketball coach for one season at New Washington, one season at Cambridge City Lincoln and four seasons at Yorktown. He then became varsity coach at Wes-Del for five seasons and Yorktown for five more, winning one sectional at each school and guiding 1986 Indiana All-Star Greg Miller at Yorktown. In 10 seasons, his teams won 104 games. He also coached football, baseball and track at various points.
Necessary moved into administration in 1989, serving as an assistant principal at Yorktown for five years, principal at Winchester for 10 years and now is in his seventh year as superintendent at Randolph Southern. During his time at Winchester, he was elected to two terms on the IHSAA Board of Directors.
In 2010, Necessary was elected to the board of the Northern Indiana Superintendents Association. He was honored as Assistant Principal of the Year for District IV in 1992, and he was recognized as District VI Superintendent of the Year in 2011.
Necessary and his wife, Pam, a principal at Muncie’s Grissom Elementary, have two adult children -- Nicole, a former IHSAA Mental Attitude Award winner in volleyball from Winchester; and John, who was a two-year starting quarterback at Winchester.
Kevin Stephenson
Beech Grove
Kevin Stephenson is in his fourth year as Athletic Director at Beech Grove following 14 years in the same role at Fall Creek Valley Middle School in Lawrence Township. Previously, he was a teacher and baseball coach at Brebeuf Jesuit for seven years and a teacher at Whiteland High School and Clark-Pleasant Middle School for five years.
A 1976 graduate of Whiteland High School and a 1980 graduate of Franklin College, Stephenson has been an educator for 30 years and obtained his master’s degree in 1989 from Indiana University.
He has been involved in basketball administration as Assistant Tournament Director for the IHSAA boys basketball State Finals for 18 years. He also helped coordinate the IHSAA boys basketball regional and semistate tournaments from 1994-97 at Hinkle Fieldhouse and served as an official in the IHSAA 3-point and Slam Dunk contests from 1994-98.
Stephenson was president of the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association in 1991. He and his wife, Theresa, have been married for 21 years.
Brad Lindsay
Mooresville - District III
Brad Lindsay is completing first year as superintendent in the Mooresville School Corp. after two years as an assistant superintendent for the same district.
Previously he was principal at Triton Central High School in Fairland, Ind., and he also has served as a teacher, coach, athletic administrator and a high school assistant principal.
A 1982 graduate of Westfield High School, Lindsay received his bachelor's degree from Dallas Baptist University, his master's degree from Indiana Wesleyan University and his doctorate from Indiana State University.
A three-year letterman in basketball and a four-year letterman in baseball, Lindsay set basketball school records for points in a single game (48), in a season (567) and a career (1,319) in 61 varsity games for the Shamrocks. He averaged more than 26 points as both a junior and senior, and was a two-time letterman in college for Dallas Baptist U.
Lindsay began his career in education as a teacher and coach in Texas, with multiple state championships. He was chosen the Texas Class 1-A Coach of the Year early in his career after leading his team to state championships in basketball and baseball. He also served as head coach for the 1992 Texas North-South All-Star Basketball Game.
Later, Lindsay was an assistant coach for Anderson University (1993-94) and head boys basketball coach at Lakeview Christian (1995-96), Elwood (1996-97) and Westfield (1997-2001). In 11 seasons as a head coach, both in Texas and Indiana, his career record was 165-103. He was recognized as the 1999 Hamilton County Boys Basketball co-Coach of the Year following a 14-8 season.
He transitioned into administration following the 2000-01 season and worked for three years as an athletic director and high school assistant principal at Jay County. He then served four years as a high school principal at Triton Central before moving to Mooresville in 2008 as an assistant superintendent. While at Triton Central, Lindsay was named District 10 Principal of the Year in 2006 by the Indiana Association of School Principals. During the 2007-08 academic year, Lindsay represented an eight-state region for the National Association of Secondary Schools Principals' National Honor Council in Washington, D.C.
Basketball long has been a part of Lindsay’s life. He is the son of Larry Lindsay, a former head coach at Center Grove (1966-68) and assistant at Greensburg and Mishawaka who also went on to a career in education administration.
Lindsay lives in Mooresville with his wife, Vicki, and their daughters Hannah, 14, and Emily, 10.
