FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dan Schuster
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (January 16, 2024) — Twenty-three high school coaches from across the country have been selected as 2022-23 National Coaches of the Year by the NFHS Coaches Association.
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), Winners of NFHS awards must be active coaches during the year for which they receive their award.
Among the boys sports winners is Klel Carson, wrestling coach at La Grande HS. The girls winners include Grant HS tennis coach Donna Roisom.
Klel Carson
La Grande High School
For 31 years, Klel Carson has led the La Grande (Oregon) High School boys wrestling program with the philosophy to “strive to teach and model for young athletes how to become champions in life, great parents and great people.” On the mat, Carson has coached 28 individual state champions and 328 state qualifiers. La Grande has won the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) team wrestling championship four times under Carson, including back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023. His teams also have won the OSAA state dual-team championship three times. Carson has twice been named Oregon’s Class 4A Coach of the Year and was the state’s wrestling Coach of the Year in 2023. In 1996, Carson was inducted into the La Grande High School Hall of Fame. He also has 28 years’ experience coaching middle school football and another 15 years coaching youth baseball and softball.
Donna Roisom
Grant High School
Donna Roisom has been coaching high school tennis in the Portland, Oregon, area for 36 years. Currently the coach at Grant High School in Portland, Roisom previously coached at St. Mary’s Academy, Catlin Gabel School and Valley Catholic High School. She played tennis at Portland Franklin High School and Lewis & Clark College before beginning her career in education. Roisom posted a 280-122 record at Valley Catholic, and overall in 36 years she has had a singles player or doubles team qualify for state every year except for four years. Roisom has been district coach of the year for girls once and four times for the boys team. In 2017, she was selected Northwest Girls Tennis Coach of the Year by the NFHS, and she was Girls State Tennis Coach of the Year in 2018. In 2019, she became the 13th recipient of the Lewis and Clark Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement and Leadership Award for involvement in tennis as a player and coach. In 1990, Roisom received her “most meaningful award” when her team received the sportsmanship award voted on by opposing coaches.
About the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS)
The NFHS, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the national leadership organization for high school sports and performing arts activities. Since 1920, the NFHS has led the development of education-based interscholastic sports and performing arts activities that help students succeed in their lives. The NFHS sets direction for the future by building awareness and support, improving the participation experience, establishing consistent standards and rules for competition, and helping those who oversee high school sports and activities. The NFHS writes playing rules for 17 sports for boys and girls at the high school level. Through its 50 member state associations and the District of Columbia, the NFHS reaches more than 19,500 high schools and 12 million participants in high school activity programs, including more than 7.8 million in high school sports. As the recognized national authority on interscholastic activity programs, the NFHS conducts national meetings; sanctions interstate events; offers online publications and services for high school coaches and officials; sponsors professional organizations for high school coaches, officials, speech and debate coaches, and music adjudicators; serves as the national source for interscholastic coach training; and serves as a national information resource of interscholastic athletics and activities. For more information, visit the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org.
MEDIA CONTACTS: Bruce Howard, 317-972-6900
Director of Publications and Communications
National Federation of State High School Associations
Chris Boone, 317-972-6900
Assistant Director of Publications and Communications
National Federation of State High School Associations
