Throughout the 2014-15 school year the Ohio Valley Conference will celebrate the stories of pioneers and leaders from each of our member institutions who paved and continue to pave the way for future generations of student-athletes and administrators. Check back here often as well as check out www.OVCSports.com/Diversity to learn more.
Bernard Childress has parlayed a high school playing career at Maury County into a scholarship at Belmont and eventually into the Executive Director of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA).
With a player at Belmont (1974-78) he was regarded as one of Coach Ken Sidwell’s top recruits, a versatile wing player who could take over games. Childress finished his Bruin playing career with 1,580 points, including averaging 22.9 points per game as a senior after missing a season due to injury. For his career his 17.5 points per game average is in the Top 10 in school history.
A three-time all-conference pick he was later inducted into the
Belmont Athletics Hall of Fame.
A successful playing career led Childress into a career in education that included being principal at Columbia Whitthome Middle School and later Columbia Central after obtaining his master’s degree in administration and supervision from Trevecca Nazarene.
Childress began his career with the TSSAA in 1994 working his way to assistant executive director before being named Executive Director in 2009. He is just the fourth Executive Director of the organization and the first African-American to serve in that role, the highest in prep sports in the state of Tennessee.
In his role with the TSSAA he is responsible for board of control proposals, classification, hardships, eligibility, legislative council proposals and sportsmanship among other tasks.
Under his watch he has guided the TSSAA through several key issues including a
new football playoff system and most recently the discipline of two girls’ basketball coaches whose teams were purposely trying to lose a district playoff game in a story that made nationally headlines.
“Bernard is doing an outstanding job,’’
his predecessor Ronnie Carter told the Nashville City Paper in an interview. “It’s basically the story of his life; he’s very humble, dedicated and totally focused on the task at hand whether he was in the role of a player, coach or an administrator. He’s stepped up and met the challenge.”
In 2005 Childress was honored for his contributions to prep athletics as a recipient of the prestigious NFHS Citation Award.