Janis Qualizza, athletic director at Merrillville High School for 40 years, became the first IHSAA athletic director to be inducted into the Indiana Sports Hall of Fame.
Qualizza, along with 1966 Merrillville High School graduate Gregg Popovich, a fixture in the National Basketball Association, were inducted at the Inaugural Indiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Banquet held last weekend in Evansville, Indiana.
“I am very humbled to have been chosen to be inducted into the Indiana Sports Hall of Fame,” said Qualizza. “The State of Indiana certainly has many deserving winning coaches, administrators and most importantly exceptional athletes who are very worthy of being selected into the Hall of Fame. I am blessed to be a 2022 inductee.
“There are many elite individuals who far surpass anything I have done throughout my career to be deserving of this honor,” she continued. “I am proud to represent the Merrillville School Corporation, our present and past coaches and the thousands of athletes that I have had the pleasure to work for during my 44 years as an athletic administrator at Merrillville High School. I thank the Indiana Sports Hall of Fame committee for selecting me to be a proud member.”
Though she’s been athletic director for 40 years, Qualizza has been at Merrillville High School since 1978, starting her lengthy career as the assistant athletic director.
Qualizza was the first female athletic director of a Class 5A high school and the third female athletic director in the state of Indiana. She was also the first female to be voted onto the Indiana High School Athletic Association Board of Directors as a representative of a large school. She served on the IHSAA board for 20 years, the longest term ever held, and she also served on its financial committee.
Qualizza has been recognized extensively over her career. In 2017, she was named both the Athletic Administrator of the Year and Athletic Director of the Year by the Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
Other recognitions over the years include District 1 Athletic Director of the Year in 2010, 2002, and 1991; recipient of the National Federation of State High School Associations Spirit of Sport Award, 2009; and National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Distinguished Service Award, 2005.
“Janis is an amazing leader in her field, and she is very deserving of this wonderful honor,” said Merrillville Community School Corporation Superintendent Nick Brown. “MHS has been blessed to have had her at the helm of its athletics program for so long.”
Over the years, she developed many aspects of Merrillville High School’s athletic program, including the Athlete and Coaches Halls of Fame; handbooks for athletes, coaches and trainers; the Merrillville Pirate Athletic Council; parent brochure; and more.
From 1988-1993, she was heavily involved in the $55 million building project at Merrillville High School that resulted in the school’s state-of-the-art athletic facilities.
Qualizza was certified as an athletic administrator in 1998 and received her Indiana State principal’s license in 2002. Prior to her athletic director roles, she spent a number of years teaching physical education/health and coaching at schools in Gary. She continued to coach at Merrillville through 1982.
Qualizza received her master’s in secondary education from Indiana University Northwest and her bachelor’s in physical education and health from Purdue University.
For more information on Inaugural Indiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Banquet, visit www.inshof.com or call 812-430-2725.