The RIIL is pleased to announce its continued partnership with UA Local 51, the trade union for plumbers, pipefitters and refrigeration technicians in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. As part of its partnership with the RIIL, Local 51 will provide a $500 trade scholarship to one graduating senior interested in pursuing a career in the trades industry.

Each year, the National Federation of State High School Associations recognizes coaches and officials around the country for their outstanding service and unselfish devotion to interscholastic athletics. Individuals selected to receive the Coach of the Year honor are chosen based upon their performance as a coach on and off the field and the positive work they have done with the athletes in their program. Nominees for the Official of the Year award must exemplify the highest standards of ethical conduct, moral character and carry the endorsement of their respective state high school association. They also shall have made a recent significant contribution to high school officiating in their state. The Rhode Island Interscholastic League congratulates the following individuals selected as 2024-25 NFHS R.I. Officials and Coaches of the Year in their respective sports. The honorees will be recognized during the RIIL Winter Championships at an event to be determined.

The final item of business at the Principals’ Committee on Athletics’ November meeting was a bittersweet one as its members recognized outgoing chairperson Dan Warner for his more than 20 years of dedication and service both to the Rhode Island Interscholastic League’s governing body and to the tens of thousands of high school and middle school students across the state who play interscholastic athletics. “It was 2004 when Dan rolled onto this committee,” said RIIL Executive Director Mike Lunney, as he presented Warner with a commemorative plaque at the November 17th meeting in the RIIL office. “That was quite a few years ago. I was an athletic director at the time and just getting involved at the state level, and I know that the amount of institutional knowledge that Dan has is immense. So we’re definitely going to miss that, and his leadership of this organization during a really difficult time, as well. These past few years have been really challenging, and you’ve had a steady hand in leading us through all of that.”

“The space where ideas are shared, decisions are made, and the future of Rhode Island athletics and activities continues to evolve now bears the name of the man who helped shape its past and present.” Shortly after convening for its November meeting in the conference room of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League’s Warwick office, the Principals’ Committee on Athletics then dedicated that very meeting space to the individual who was instrumental in the RIIL relocating to its current home on Centerville Road. Joined by members of his family and many current and former members of the PCOA with whom he had worked beside for decades as both a principal and the Executive Director of the RIIL, Tom Mezzanotte and his wife Kathy unveiled a plaque in what is now known as the “Thomas A. Mezzanotte Conference Room.”