Camden Central School District Athletic Director Josh Mazzaferro is set to receive one of the region’s most significant honors in scholastic athletics administration. Mazzaferro was chosen as this year’s winner of the Dr. Liam Frawley Emerging Athletic Administrator award by the New York State Athletic Administrators Association Chapter III. The honor was recently announced by Chapter representative Scott Sugar, who is the Athletic Director at Fayetteville-Manlius.
The award recognizes a rising star administrator in the area of scholastic athletics administration within the chapter, which covers NYSPHSAA Section III. Mazzaferro, a Rome, NY native, is in his second year at Camden. He has presided over numerous key growth initiatives within Blue Devil Athletics, including the establishment of eSports and the debut of a girls’ varsity wrestling team. While significant athletic facility improvements were approved prior to his tenure, Josh has supervised the implementation and operation of these new and evolving community assets.
In his first year, Blue Devil athletic teams also excelled in the classroom. The department was chosen as a NYSPHSAA School of Excellence for the 2022-23 school year. To attain “School of Excellence” honors, a school’s athletic department must have 75 percent of its varsity teams achieve “Scholar-Athlete Team” status through NYSPHSAA. Per the association’s criteria, a “Scholar Athlete Team” is a team that can take the overall averages of 75 percent of its players and have the average of those numbers exceed 90.
The award was chosen by a vote of area interscholastic athletics administrators.
For Mazzaferro, the award is the product of hard work, immense on-the-job learning, and a great team of coaches, student-athletes, and administrators who have helped along the way.
“It’s nice to know that while it’s a tough job and a lot of things go on behind the scenes, the things that you can control and that are visible are being appreciated,” Mazzaferro said. “I’m not perfect, but i’ve learned so much along the way in my time here so far. It means a lot to be recognized by other athletic directors around the section, and I couldn’t do it without everyone who makes our department work.”