WILMINGTON — Southside athletic director and basketball coach Sean White was named North Carolina Athletic Director’s Association AD of the year for Region 1 earlier this week.

Former Camden AD Scott Jones nominated White for the award. Jones has been an active member of the NCADA. From there, nominations are evaluated and each region’s AD of the year is determined. North Carolina is broken up into eight regions, and the eight winners go up against each other to determine the state’s AD of the year.

“It was a nice little honor,” White said modestly. He’s been Southside AD for eight years. “I was very surprised. I knew ahead of time that I was getting this honor. … I think because of my years as athletic director was why I was nominated.

“Some other things that were said was how I look at the school and how I look at the kids. Not just the athletes, but also the student body as a whole. I truly love this job. There’s one thing about getting up in the morning and wanting to go to work.”

White first thanked his wife, Shannon.

“There are some that are special that I need to thank,” he said. “I thank my wife. She’s my biggest my fan, but she’s also my biggest critic. I love her for that because you need that. You need someone to critique you and to give you ideas for something you can possibly do better. Or, if you did something that was great and needs to continue being done. I need that from her. She’s my best friend.”

He also believes his faith and coworkers at Southside had a lot to do with it.

White said that the conference was also a nice chance to get away and unwind a bit. It provided him an opportunity to catch up with friends from across the state and network with others.

“I talked to some people about scheduling some games because we’re short soccer games,” White said. “We had a chance to pick some up there. You also have professional-development classes.”

There are different certification levels. White is currently working on improving his certifications, while also encouraging other Seahawk coaches to earn higher certifications, too.

Southside’s athletics have excelled across the board under White’s direction. The football team made back-to-back regional-championship appearances. The girls’ basketball team made the postseason this past year, as did the volleyball team. The track team sent a wealth of athletes to the state championships last year. Right now, softball is on track to make a run in the playoffs, and the school has a girls’ soccer team for the first time ever.

“I think when you get something like this, it puts a little pressure on you to keep excelling,” White said. “Just like with anything. A state championship or a conference championship in every sport, you expect that to happen every year. I know I won’t be AD of the year every year. This was a very humbling award to me.”