Ron Laird, the former Powell athletic director and coach who rose to become Wyoming High School Association commisioner, was honored last month as the 42nd class of the NFHS National High School Hall of Fame was inducted during a ceremony in downtown Chicago.

Laird was one of 11 honorees.

During his 45-year career in education-based activities, Laird had significant contributions at the local, state and national levels. From his success as a high school basketball coach and athletic director, to his 19 years directing high school activity programs in the state of Wyoming, to his immense contributions nationally with the NFHS, Laird touched every aspect of high school sports and other activity programs.

Prior to becoming commissioner of the Wyoming High School Activities Association in 2004, Laird was an educator and athletic administrator at Powell High School for 26 years (1978-2004), which included 20 years as boys’ basketball coach. During that time, Laird led his teams to two WHSAA State Boys Basketball Championships, three second-place finishes and several other regional and conference titles.

Laird led the Panthers to Class 3A state championships in 1985 and 1998 before stepping down following a third-place finish in 2000. He concluded his career with a 262-186 overall record. For a number of those years, Laird was the school’s assistant principal and athletic director, and he then served seven years on the WHSAA Board of Directors, including a term as president, before being named commissioner in 2004.

During his 19 years as WHSAA commissioner, safety and risk minimization were at the forefront. The WHSAA was one of the first state associations to initiate a rule to not allow an unconscious athlete to return to play on the same day, and also one of the first states to offer concussion insurance to all participating athletes.

Laird took pride in being a servant leader, with a goal of assisting schools by having the WHSAA provide leadership to the member schools in advancing their programs. In 2008, he adopted the WHSAA Student Advisory Council to promote sportsmanship, and the student-led council initiated the “Join the Ride” slogan.

Other accomplishments during his tenure included adding indoor track, girls’ softball and girls wrestling to provide more opportunities for Wyoming student-athletes. Laird also secured matching funds to build a new office for the WHSAA that has been used by many of the activities, coaches and activity director groups. He has increased sponsorships over the years, which has allowed the WHSAA to not raise dues or ticket prices for culminating events.

While athletic director at Powell, Laird initiated a local Target-Champions Against Drugs role model program for high school athletes to visit the elementary schools, and he developed an Academic Letter Club to demonstrate the benefits of participating in education-based athletics.  

Nationally, Laird served on the NFHS Board of Directors, including a term as president, and he served on — and chaired — many other NFHS committees. He was a member of the Athletic Directors Advisory Committee (twice), the National Citizenship/Equity Committee, Football Rules Committee, Summer Meeting Advisory Committee, Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, Strategic Planning Committee — and he chaired the NFHS Basketball Rules Committee for five years.

Laird also served on the NFHS Network HoldCo Board of Directors, and since retiring he has continued to work with the NFHS Network Advisory Council.

Laird has received numerous other awards during his career, including the NFHS Citation, the Wyoming Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Distinguished Service Award (three times), the NIAAA State Award of Merit, and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association (NHSACA) Distinguished Service Award. He also has been inducted into the NHSACA Hall of Fame and the Wyoming Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and he was selected Wyoming 3A Basketball Coach of the Year three times.