Gary Naylor and Lynn Vogt of Ankeny are among the recipients of this year’s outstanding service awards from the Iowa High School Athletic Directors Association.
Naylor has served as a sports public address announcer for over 30 years, becoming the voice of both the Ankeny Hawks and the Ankeny Centennial Jaguars. For the past six years, he has been the PA announcer covering Centennial baseball and basketball.
Naylor has announced at the state softball tournament and also served as a longtime softball and basketball official. He served as a state softball umpire for over 20 years. His philosophy is simple as he stated, “I am not flashy…I just want to see the excitement of the kids when they get announced over the PA.”
Naylor is currently a member of the Softball Officials and Girls Basketball Hall of Fame.
“Gary is proud that he has had the opportunity to announce for some of Iowa’s greatest coaches, including Larry Ireland, Mel Murken, Scott DeJong, Dick Rasmussen and most recently Mark Hey,” said Centennial Activities Director Scott Garvis.
Vogt, meanwhile, has volunteered to set up and run the timing system for swim meets since the very beginning of high school swimming in Ankeny. He is the school’s technology expert on every aspect of the timing system.
“I’ve witnessed him troubleshoot everything from malfunctioning touch pads, to faulty cable connections, to setting up complex scoreboards,” Garvis said. “Throughout the years, he has spent countless hours of his personal time consulting with vendors and IT personnel setting up brand new systems, scoreboards and video boards as well as guiding us through glitches with software updates.
“Over the past 28 years, he’s also taken faulty equipment home (most recently a starter’s microphone) to tear apart, rebuild and return in working condition, at his own expense. With no formal training, he’s also taken it upon himself to communicate directly with the equipment vendors to problem solve,” Garvis added.
Recently, Ankeny’s swim team moved to a new pool and added girls’ diving to the program. Vogt was instrumental in the transition to a new site with all new equipment and a new program to integrate into the timing system. He worked side-by-side with professionals to launch the new system, all as a volunteer.
“His perseverance and expertise are invaluable to our programs,” Garvis said.