Section 9 honors Middletown AD David Coates before retirement

Section 9 honored Middletown athletic director David Coates as he prepared to retire after 31 years in local high school athletics, giving him the Dr. William Moran Award for leadership and integrity.

Coates’ path in the county started at Pine Bush High School, where he graduated in 1989 as a three-sport athlete. He spent four years as athletic director at Ellenville before moving to Cornwall, where he won a Section 9 title in 2003. Middletown hired him in August 2005, and by 2006, Middletown was in a sports revival under his leadership.

Over more than two decades as Middletown’s athletic director, Coates mentored newer athletic directors, advocated for student-athletes and handled the practical workings of school athletics across Section 9, which spans Orange, Ulster, Sullivan and Dutchess counties. His influence reached into the practical workings of school athletics: how teams were scheduled, how facilities were used and how coach hiring decisions were made.

Faller Field has hosted the New York State boys soccer tournament finals since 2010. Middletown also hosted boys and girls track and field state championships, boys lacrosse state championships and numerous sectional and regional football and soccer contests. The district’s stadium, built in 2008 for soccer, lacrosse and football, received a $1 million makeover in 2019 that added a new turf field and scoreboard.

Chris Mayo, the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association executive director who was named OCIAA athletic coordinator in 2014 and is also retiring, praised Coates for putting kids first and helping create successful programs.