Sandy Searcy, assistant commissioner of the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) for the past 16 years, has been named to the administrative staff of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) as director of sports. Searcy is expected to start her new duties August 1.

In her new position with the NFHS – the national leadership organization for high school sports and performing arts activities – Searcy will be responsible for the sports of swimming and diving, water polo and softball, and she will assist in planning workshops for the NFHS Summer Meeting and the National Athletic Directors Conference, which is co-sponsored by the NFHS and the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA).

Since joining the IHSAA staff in 1999, Searcy has been responsible for the sports of softball, boys and girls swimming and diving, and volleyball. She also has administered the IHSAA Student Advisory Committee and the IHSAA Student Leadership Conference. In addition, Searcy is responsible for IHSAA publications and the IHSAA Policies and Practices Handbook.

“Sandy brings a tremendous depth of knowledge in swimming and softball to her new responsibilities with the NFHS,” said Bob Gardner, NFHS executive director. “She also will be of tremendous service in helping to build our meetings through her role as workshop coordinator. I am confident that our member state associations will benefit greatly from her expertise; we look forward to having Sandy on the NFHS staff.”

After earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana University (IU) in Bloomington, where she competed on the IU women’s swimming team, Searcy was a teacher, coach and girls athletic director at Bloomington North High School. She was girls swimming coach for 14 years, boys swimming coach for 12 years and girls athletic director for 11 years. She also was a physical education teacher.

With her expertise in swimming, Searcy also assisted with the boys and girls teams at Bloomington South High School, Tri-North Middle School, the Indiana University Swim Camp, as well as the Bloomington Aquatic Club and Bloomington Swim Club.

As a member of the IHSAA staff, Searcy has been very involved at the national level on NFHS committees. She is currently a member of the NFHS Volleyball Rules Committee and chair of the NFHS Swimming and Diving Rules Committee, and she is a former member of the Girls Gymnastics Rules Committee, Softball Rules Committee, National Student Leadership Planning Committee and Spirit of Sport Selection Committee.

Searcy has served on the Indiana University Alumni Association Executive Council since 2011, was the Indiana University I Association Board President for two years and received the I Association President’s Award in 2012. She was president of the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association (ICGSA) in 1997-98 and was ICGSA Coach of the Year twice. She also chaired the ICGSA Swimming Committee for 10 years.

While serving at Bloomington North, Searcy was a member of the IHSAA Rules Proposal Committee for 10 years and the IHSAA Girls Advisory Board for five years.

Last year, Searcy was the Section 4 recipient of the NFHS Citation, which is presented annually to eight state association administrators for their impact on high school activity programs at the state and national levels.