One local high school athletic director has been honored by a state association for his contributions to high school athletics at a local and state level.

Gray Stone Day School Athletic Director Jeff Morris was honored by the North Carolina Athletic Directors Association as the 2020 Athletic Director of the Year.

The award, presented by the NCADA, honors an athletic director “in recognition of their service, special accomplishments, contributions to education-based athletics and administrative excellence at the local, state and/or national level in the past year.”

Morris has been the AD for Gray Stone since the school opened in 2002, well before the school moved into its current buildings in 2011. He served as president of the NCADA and is a lifetime member of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. Morris also previously served on the Board of the Directors of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.

The Gray Stone AD said he has worked with the NCADA for a long time and has “established great friendships and a tremendous professional network through the organization and it has given me a great opportunity to mentor others and be mentored by some of the best people I know.”

Calling the award humbling, Morris said the award “represents a lifetime of professional growth and I am just grateful to have had the opportunity to serve Gray Stone during my time here.”

“Our program has developed from fledgling teams in the early years struggling to compete to teams that represent themselves, our school and their sport in a positive way,” he said.

Morris said high school sports are “a means through which we guide young people to become the best version of themselves. Seeing them grow is a reward in itself, but I cherish the recognition by my peers and the respect for our program and the work we do that it symbolizes.”

Gray Stone Chief Administrative Officer Helen Nance said Morris “has led Gray Stone athletics from a tiny, non-competitive school to a school where students are having wonderful opportunities through participation in the NCHSAA. He has been very active in the development of the conference alignment as well as helping athletic teams navigate through the pandemic. I am proud of all the work Mr. Morris has done for the state, but even more proud of what he has done for Gray Stone Day School.”