Andover High School activities director, Eric Lehtola, recognized by national athletic administrators association
(05/29/2020) Eric Lehtola, activities director at Andover High School (AndHS), has been recognized by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) as a Certified Master Athletic Administrator.
To earn this distinction, Lehtola demonstrated exemplary knowledge, contributions and ongoing professional development in the field of interscholastic athletic administration. The voluntary certification process included a thorough evaluation of the candidate’s educational background, experience, NIAAA leadership courses and professional contributions. It culminates with a practical written or oral presentation project.
“My purpose statement is: I lead to model integrity and serve my community by creating and maintaining programs and opportunities that will have a positive, meaningful, and lifelong impact,” Lehtola said. “I believe that being an activities director isn’t something that you do, it is something that you are. This accomplishment marks another milestone on my journey of commitment and dedication to the service of the Andover community.”
Lehtola has been the activities director at AndHS since it opened in 2002 and is an active member of the Minnesota Interscholastic Athletic Administrator’s Association (MIAAA) as well as the national organization, the NIAAA. He represents Sections 7-8AA on the Minnesota State High School League Board of Directors and will conclude his four-year term on the board this year. Lehtola has also served as the tournament manager for the Section 7AA boys and girls soccer tournaments and the 7AAAA boys and girls basketball tournaments. He has formerly served as a region representative and on the activities directors’ advisory board for the MSHSL as well as being the chair of the Region 7AA committee.
Lehtola is one of a very elite group of interscholastic athletic administrators nationwide to attain this level of professionalism.
The NIAAA is a national professional organization consisting of all 50 state athletic administrator associations and more than 12,000 individual members. It’s dedicated to promoting the professional growth of high school athletic administrators and preserving the educational nature of interscholastic athletics and the place of these programs in the secondary school curriculum.