Longtime Cheverus High School athletic director Gary Hoyt got more than a little relaxation and social time when he traveled to the Maine Interscholastic Athletic Administrators’ Association’s spring conference earlier this month.

His long tenure and many contributions to high school athletics in the state were rewarded as Hoyt was named the MIAAA’s Athletic Director of the Year for 2012.

“The MIAAA is proud to honor Gary Hoyt in recognition of his long tenure at Cheverus,” said MIAAA executive director Marty Ryan. “Maine interscholastic athletics is very fortunate to have a person with the qualities Gary possesses working with out young people in Maine.”

Hoyt, who has been the director of athletics and student activities at Cheverus for 32 years, had no inkling he would be honored.

“It came totally out of left field,” Hoyt said. “My wife had been warned in advance, but she kept the secret well. It was very exciting. The room was packed with 126 athletic directors from across the state. It was elegant.”

Hoyt’s tenure has included enlarging sports programs and facilities and establishing a girls’ program when the school went co-ed in 2000. Hoyt has also initiated a community service requirement for all athletes and broadened the school’s booster club’s support to all student activities and service efforts in greater Portland. Hoyt has coached a varsity of sports, has been the director of the Cheverus Basketball Day Camp for 30 years and has served as the Southern Maine Activities Association’s league president and its liaison for outdoor track, boys’ ice hockey, girls’ ice hockey, sportsmanship, boys’ lacrosse, assigners’ contract committee chair and as a member of the SMAA/Western Maine Conference collaborative.

“(Gary’s) contributions not only to this league, but to the state cannot be measured,” said Marshwood High athletic director Rich Buzzell. “He’s done more for the student-athletes, coaches, ADs and communities involved with athletics than you could ever imagine. He’s been a guiding light for all of us in the business and quite frankly, has made a lot of our jobs easier with the foundation he has laid in his 30-plus years of service.”

Hoyt, a Thornton Academy and University of Southern Maine graduate, has become synonymous with Cheverus over three-plus decades, a span which has seen him serve on countless Maine Principals’ Association committees and moderate or present numerous MIAAA and National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators’ Association seminars.

“How fitting that a man who has dedicated his entire professional career to the formation of Cheverus’ student athletes is being recognized as Athletic Director of the Year,” said Cheverus principal John Mullen. “Gary is the consummate high school administrator, always seeking to provide opportunities for students from which they can carry the value of sportsmanship, hard work and respect for others. I’m extremely grateful for his 36-year commitment to Cheverus. As a colleague and friend, I’m extremely proud.”

Hoyt deflected praise for the honor, seeing it as a lifetime award, with credit going to many.

“For 32 years, I’ve worked six and seven days a week so it was gratifying that my colleagues recognized that,” Hoyt said. “It isn’t just about me. It’s about a lot of other people, from my parents on down. It’s a collective body of work. At the presentation, they talked about things I’ve done at the local and national level. It’s a reflection of a career.”

A career unique in this state and one which merited acclaim.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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Cheverus’ Gary Hoyt, the MIAAA’s Athletic Director of the Year for 2012.