In this May 2015 photo, Southwestern Central School athletic director Kevin Salisbury holds a frame filled with photographs of longtime Trojans coach Fran Sirianni upon the renaming of the athletic complex on campus in Sirianni’s honor. Salisbury will be honored tonight in Saratoga Springs when he receives the New York State Athletic Administrator’s Association Chapter 6 2023 Athletic Director of the Year Award. P-J file photo by Scott Kindberg

Kevin Salisbury of Southwestern Central School has been named the New York State Athletic Administrator’s Association Chapter 6 2023 Athletic Director of the Year.

He will be honored tonight at an awards banquet in Saratoga Springs for his “outstanding contribution to athletics over the years” after showing “evidence of dedication to athletics through the activities of the New York State Athletic Administrators Association.”

SWCS Superintendent Maureen Donahue couldn’t be happier.

“For Kevin, it has been about making things happen for athletes and coaches,” she said. “He takes his responsibilities very seriously. … One thing I can tell you, if you come to the parking lot in the morning, his is one of the first cars here. If you’re here at the end of the day, his is the last car here. That’s what it takes to have a successful athletics program.”

Donahue noted that Salisbury has served as AD for as long as she’s been the SWCS superintendent, which is now 10 years

“It takes a huge amount of commitment on his part and on his family’s part,” she said. “It’s not a 9-to-5 position, and Kevin has always embraced it. One of the things I’ve come to admire most is his leadership in the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association and in Section VI on behalf of all the CCAA athletes.”

Donahue, who is also the Section VI president, added that Salisbury is good at putting the attention on the student-athletes, but isn’t the least bit concerned with having the spotlight on himself.

“He wasn’t even going to go to (Saratoga Springs) to receive the award,” she said. “I told him, ‘You don’t have a choice.'”

Joining Salisbury as NYSAAA Chapter 6 award recipients tonight are Section VI’s Don Scholla, Non-AD Award; Ken-Ton Athletic Director Brett Banker, Positive Change Award; Section VI’s Pauline Turski, Secretary of the Year; the late Buffalo News sportswriter Miguel Rodriguez, Community Service Award; Clarence Athletic Director Jason Lehmbeck, Emerging AD Award; and retired athletic director Patrick Burke, New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class of 2023 Hall of Fame.