About Scott Garvis, CMAA
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Scott Garvis has been a leader and innovator in intercollegiate and interscholastic athletics development and fundraising for more than 25 years – as an athletics director, coach, association board member, adviser and editorial contributor.
Scott has a record of excellence as Athletics Director, Director of Activities and Assistant Principal, having led the athletics departments at six high schools or school districts in three states. He has achieved unparalleled success at all levels of high school athletics: large public school districts, a small public high school, a private school, and with state and national athletics administrator associations.
His first role as athletics director was at MFL Mar Mac from 2000-2004 after a four-year stint in the collegiate ranks as Intramural Director, Recruiting Coordinator and Assistant Football Coach at William Penn University and Westmar University where he coached with current Jacksonville Jaguars Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell.
Scott served as Athletics Director at Muscatine High School in Iowa from 2004-2006. Under his watch, the Muskies won six Mississippi Athletic Conference titles and made many state appearances. He led a $2.2 turf project for Muscatine’s sports practice facility. He also developed the addition of a full-time Strength and Conditioning Coach, which helped the Muskies attain a student-athlete, balanced athletics program to include all sports.
Scott was hired at Burnsville High School in Minnesota where he served as athletics director from 2006-2010. Under his watch, the Muskies won six Mississippi Athletic Conference titles and made many state appearances. He hired 14 head coaches in 12 sports, and six of his new hires achieved section championships or section runner-up finishes. Student-athletes at Burnsville continued to excel in the classroom during his tenure. With newly developed grade requirements, the student-athletes were held accountable for their grades and actions on and off the field. He also led a campaign for Blaze Athletics' $3.25 million dollar enhancement project to improve all of the Burnsville athletics facilities.
He then spent two years as the senior director of athletics at Eastside Catholic, one of the top private schools in the Far West. Under his leadership at Eastside Catholic, the athletics department saw a rise in the WIAA Scholastic Cup standings, finishing ninth in 2011 and seventh in 2012, both highest in school history. He led a $3.2 million dollar capital campaign effort to build a multi-purpose field through grants totaling $300,000 and created a fundraising event featuring Hall of Fame and World Series championship manager Tommy Lasorda, an event which raised an additional $400,000.00. He increased scholarships at the school for economically challenged families, and created the Student Athletic Advisory Council to create an atmosphere of citizenship and sportsmanship within the school community.
During Scott’s two-year tenure at Eastside Catholic, four individuals earned All-American honors and four received All-American Region recognition. Crusaders’ student-athletes also picked up 48 first-team All-Metro league honors, 32 on the second team and 41 honorable mentions. Academically, the Crusaders Football team was named 2011 Academic State Champions with a 3.51 team GPA.
Scott took over as Director of Athletics at Newton High School in 2012. During his six-year reign, he led a transformation on the field in student-athlete support, in facilities and in student academic achievement. Under his leadership at Newton, the athletics department made significant strides in becoming a leader in Iowa athletics. The Newton Cardinal Athletic Program was awarded the 2015 National Interscholastic Athletic Administrator Association Quality Program Award which Scott has received twice. This prestigious award is granted to schools which exemplify interscholastic programs that build visionary athletics programs, that stimulate improvements, innovations and renewal, that operate with integrity, maintain respect for all participants, serve their stakeholders, and are responsible to the community.
Scott was a finalist for the 2014-15 National High School Athletic Coaches Association Athletic Director of the Year. He was also named the 2015-16 Iowa High School Athletic Director Association Central Iowa Athletic Director of the Year as well as receiving the 2015-16 and 2017-18 NIAAA IHSADA Distinguished Service Award and received the 2016-17 IHSADA NFHS Citation Award.
In 2015-16, Newton had 10 sports programs advance to postseason competition to secure its highest finish in the Bank of Iowa Challenge Cup standings in school history.
Scott served as Director of Athletics at Ankeny Centennial for three years, firmly placing his stamp on Centennial Athletics and positioning the program among the most innovative in the nation. He implemented coaching professional development programming for Ankeny Community Schools, oversaw the completion of the Ankeny Community Football Stadium, and implemented Student Leadership programming.
He has been an Active Member, National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) since 2004, and he is the liaison for the state of Iowa to the NIAAA. He is also an Executive Board Member, Athletic Director Chair for the National High School Athletic Coaches Association (NHSACA).
Scott has served in an advisory role to numerous companies that provide services to the high school athletics market. He has been the Fundraising Consultant for higschoolsports.com an online resource for coaches, athletics directors and student-athletes; a paid consultant to Gear Boss, a subsidiary of Wenger Corporation; Marketing Consultant to Digital Town Inc., an athletics marketing and program development company; and marketing consultant for Imago athletic international video board.
National Management Campaign Consultant and Editorial Board Member to Athletic Management magazine; and a consultant to Fiinom Technologies scoreboard integration and software product development, Newton Manufacturing, 7 Second Coach (an online resource for coaches and athletics directors) and Varsity Bound (a mobile resource for coaches, athletics directors, student-athletes, and fans) and currently is serving as an athletics consultant to ACE Sports.
Scott is a graduate of Westmar University. He received his Master of Sports Science from the United States Sports Academy and received a second Master’s of Science in Education from Drake University.