Richards Is Named Athletic Director Of The Year

Broadus Schools Activities Director Mike Richards received the Montana Class C Athletic Director of the Year award, presented at the MHSA Annual Meeting last week in Billings.

Richards is in his 6th year as Activities Director in Broadus, and during that time he has made several major contributions to the state's athletic landscape. Richards was instrumental in presenting the 8th grade participation in high school wrestling proposal, as well as working to re-align the divisions in Class C basketball.

Mike, a Broadus native and successful coach, currently holds numerous positions within state sporting organizations. Richards is the current Class C State Vice-President. He is the Eastern C Divisional Vice-President. Mike is the District 4C District President, and director of the Coach Connors Basketball Classic (the tournament Broadus plays each year in Miles City in the early season), as well as director of the Eastern Montana Volleyball Classic in Glendive. Richards is also the Class C representative to the Montana Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association – representing small town Activities Directors from across the state.

It was this MIAAA organization that presented Richards with the award last week.

In the presentation announcement, Kara Triplett, MHSA Executive Board Vice President, presented the following information:

It is my pleasure to recognize our 2025 Class C AD of the Year. Tonight we honor an AD who displays characteristics we all admire and appreciate. This person is experienced, confident, and caring. Because of this person's love of athletics, experiences as a former player, and work as a coach, this person has stepped up to serve in leadership roles not only in school and community, but also at the District, Division, and State levels in the MHSA. This person's vision and insights have contributed to strong pools of information and better overall understanding, leading various groups to good decisions for athletes, coaches, and fans.

Mike's principal says....I must comment on the effect that Mike has on our school culture. Mike has expectations that students will follow rules and helps students to be their best selves, sometimes by just walking to a room. In the summer Mike is making sure the practice field is watered and it is a common sight to see Mike on a mower. Mike does the extra work to help our school be the best it can be, as well as the extra work at the state level so MT activities can be the best they can be.

For the past couple of years, our classification was charged with the task of re-aligning our Divisions, which sounds fairly easy. A reminder in our classification, however, we have about 90 schools with different challenges due to geographics, vast miles, multiple co-ops, and community cultures and traditions that run deep. Mike Richards led our charge, putting in many hours, of course his day job as the Study Hall Supervisor allowed him some time to work on this and he eventually mastered Google Maps....but he tirelessly reached out to schools with ideas and information, eventually bringing us together and getting this task achieved this past November.

Mike Richards of Broadus is a large man in stature, a veteran AD with large suggestions, a leader in our classification with large and effective ideas, but his largest contribution comes from him being an educator with a large heart for helping to make experiences for our student athletes, coaches, and fans the best they can be.

Please join me in congratulating Class C AD of the year, Mike Richards of Broadus!