2022 Hall of fame class
Cary Cada, Borah HS
Cary Cada’s exemplary thirty-six-year career began in 1979 at Capital High School. Cada spent his first year in coaching and education as a varsity boys’ basketball assistant under legendary coach Charlie Henry. After that first year, Cada moved to Cascade High School, serving four years as a teacher, librarian and track and basketball coach. Cada came back to the Treasure Valley in 1984 taking a job at Borah High School, a place he would remain until his retirement in 2016. Working as a teacher, coach and eventually a counselor at Borah, Cada impacted hundreds of students and notably, an entire generation of basketball players. Cada’s basketball teams qualified for State sixteen times, played in seven championship games and won four state titles. He was named District Coach of the Year eight times and State Coach of the Year four times. He also coached golf for more than ten years with his teams qualifying for State nine times. Cada is a true advocate for education-based participation and a mentor to young coaches in Idaho.
John Gregory, Nampa HS
John Gregory spent the final twenty-seven years of his career at Nampa High School. He was the head coach for three varsity sports for sixteen of those years, coaching girls’ basketball, softball and volleyball from 1988-2004. Prior to coming to Nampa, Gregory taught at Melba High School for five years and coached boys’ and girls’ basketball and field hockey, where his team went undefeated and beat Meridian High School in the Mythical State Championship. The final eleven years of his career, Gregory served as Nampa’s athletic director. With a total of forty-one years in education, Gregory became a statewide role model for coaches and athletic directors alike. He was, and continues to be, extremely involved in the Idaho Athletic Administrators Association, holding numerous leadership positions within the organization. He has received numerous awards from the IAAA as well as the NIAAA and the IHSAA. Gregory received the NIAAA Citation Award in 2011 and the IHSAA Distinguished Service Award in 2014.
Dave Mills, Boise HS
Dave Mills is one of the most prolific and influential cross country and track coaches in Idaho history. He served the students of Idaho for forty-one years and worked in all levels of education from elementary school through post-secondary education. He spent the majority of his career working as an elementary physical education specialist with the Boise School District while also coaching cross country and track at Boise High School. He coached ten state champion cross country teams, two state champion track teams, eleven individual cross country champions and forty-four individual track champions. Mills was instrumental in numerous IHSAA cross country and track policy changes including the addition of the hardship rules for state qualifiers and adding wheelchair/para-athletes to the state track meet. Mills continues to volunteer as a collegiate cross country coach.
Polly Dahlke
A lifelong teacher, coach, administrator and advocate of high school activities, Polly Dahlke retired as the athletic director of Bear Lake High School in 2013. Polly coached volleyball, girls’ basketball, track and golf during her exemplary thirty-three-year coaching career. She also had a profound impact across the state as a well-respected administrator and has served as the LTI coordinator for the Idaho Athletic Administrators Association since 2008. Polly has held leadership positions in many professional organizations including the NIAAA and the Fifth District Board of Control. She was honored as the Idaho 3A AD of the Year twice as well as being inducted into the IAAA Hall of Fame in 2014. Polly was also selected as the District V Distinguished Service award recipient in 2016.
Bill Hawkins
Bill Hawkins spent twenty-nine years as the head boys’ basketball coach at Madison High School and created a dynasty that won’t soon be matched.
During his career at Madison, his teams advanced to the state tournament an amazing twenty-two times where they earned trophies fifteen times and won the state title five times.
During that time Bill was also a leader in numerous professional organizations including the Sixth District Coaches Association and the Idaho State Coaches Association. He was named Idaho Basketball Coach of the Year five times, earned the Distinguished Coach of the Year award and was presented with the Hugh Brady Award for Outstanding Service.
Bill Hawkins is by all accounts a coaching legend in Idaho and he continues to serve as a mentor and role model for young coaches today.
Tracy Leinen
Tracy Leinen is one of the most well-respected administrators in the state of Idaho. In her thirty-five years in education, she has impacted literally thousands of young people and was instrumental in the growth, promotion and advancement of the Idaho Athletic Administrators Association.
Before being named Boise High School athletic director in 1998, Tracy spent twelve years coaching a variety of sports including girls’ basketball, volleyball and softball. She earned numerous coaching awards including district coach of the year honors seven times.
However, Tracy’s true impact came from her years as an outstanding athletic administrator and leader of the IAAA. She spent twenty-seven years serving her fellow AD’s in both the IAAA as well as the NIAAA.
She was a member of both the IHSAA and NIAAA Board of Directors, received Idaho Athletic Director of the Year honors three times, earned the 2006 NFHS Citation award and the Dick Fleischmann award in 2009. Tracy was also inducted into the IAAA Hall of Fame in 2019.
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