Simmons receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Published 7:52 am Tuesday, December 12, 2023

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WINSTON SALEM – Charles Simmons, Athletic Director and men’s basketball coach at Hertford County High School, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from NC SHAPE on Nov. 30 at the annual NC SHAPE Convention held in Winston Salem.

Hertford County High School Athletic Director Charles Simmons (left) is shown receiving NC SHAPE’s Lifetime Achievement Award from Jim Hammond. Contributed Photo

NC SHAPE, also known as NCAAHPERD-SM, is a non- profit organization for professionals in the health, physical education, recreation, dance and sports management fields, providing professional development, advocacy and leadership for North Carolina educators.

Coach Simmons was nominated by Chowan University professor Jim Hammond, President of the North Carolina Athletic Educators Association.

Simmons was recognized for his work with high school athletics, as a coach and leader in the profession. Coach Simmons has served as a visiting mentor for students in physical education program at Chowan. He and other coaches from the high school regularly serve on a guest panel providing insights into the challenges and rewards of teaching and coaching in public education.

Simmons was named Athletic Director at Hertford County High School in 1991and for over three decades has worked tirelessly to provide quality athletic opportunities for the students in Hertford County Public Schools. His commitment to physical education and athletics has been evident throughout his career; Simmons served on the NC Athletic Directors Board of Directors (1995-99), NC Coaches Association Board of Directors (2003-2007) and currently serves as a member of NCHSAA Nominating Committee.

His accomplishments as a leader in his profession are seen in the list of state recognitions he has earned during his tenure at HCHS. They include being named the 2013 NCHSAA Davis Harris Athletic Director of the Year and the 2013 NCADA State Athletic Director of the Year.

He is one of only a handful of coaches in the state to have recorded more than 700 wins in his career as a basketball coach and perhaps the only one to have done so at a single school.

In 2022, Coach Simmons was inducted into the NCADA (North Carolina Athletic Directors Association) Hall of Fame.