Classical Athletic Director Palazzo to Receive Distinguished Service Award
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Classical Athletic Director Palazzo to Receive Distinguished Service Award
Palazzo is one of just ten high school athletic directors in the country to receive a Distinguished Service Award.
He will receive the honored on December 17 in National Harbor, Maryland, at the 50th annual National Athletic Directors Conference conducted jointly by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and the NIAAA.
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Palazzo, CMAA, is in his 24th year as an athletic administrator and has spent his entire tenure at Classical High School, where he currently serves as director of athletics and as a coach of multiple sports.
As the head coach of the track and field program at Classical for the past 29 years, Palazzo has won 300 dual meets and 59 Rhode Island Interscholastic League (RIIL) Class B state and divisional championships, and has mentored four national track and field champions, 47 individual state champions, 18 New England champions, 30 all-Americans and one national record-holder in track and field.
He is a five-time Rhode Island Track Coaches Association (RITCA) Coach of the Year, an NFHS Coach of the Year, and a member of both the RITCA and Classical High School Hall of Fame.
He is also the meet coordinator for two of the largest track and field championships on the East Coast – the Rhode Island Classic and the East Coast Invitational Indoor Track and Field Championship.
Palazzo has been a member of the NIAAA for the past 23 years.
Over that time, he has attended the past 14 National Conferences, serving as the state delegate for Rhode Island six times and as a conference moderator three times.
He has also been the state’s Leadership Training coordinator for the past 20 years and is currently helping rewrite material for the Turf and Field course as a part of the NIAAA’s Leadership Teaching Team.
He received the NIAAA State Award of Merit for Rhode Island in 2005.
At the state level, Palazzo has served on the Rhode Island Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (RIIAAA) Executive Board for 26 years.
He was RIIAAA president from 2004 to 2006, and vice president and chair of the Awards Committee from 2008 to 2018. In 2003, he was named RIIAAA Athletic Director of the Year.
Palazzo has mentored and led 22 athletic directors to complete their Certified Athletic Administrator (CAA) certification the past 20 years.
He currently serves the RIIL as well, holding positions on the Track and Field Sports Committee and the Swimming Sports Committee.