Merri Sherman, the executive director of the Columbus Sports Council for the past 20 years, will join the GHSA’s staff in July as the association’s sixth associate director, executive director Tim Scott announced this week.
Sherman’s main sports responsibilities will be soccer and softball.
Columbus was the host for 85 sports events in 2024 that Sherman’s council secured and helped manage. Sherman has worked with Olympic, NCAA and GHSA championships in the city.
The GHSA’s fast-pitch softball finals have been held at Columbus’ South Commons Complex for more than 20 years. GHSA cheerleading championships have been held at the Columbus Civic Center.
‘’She’s worked with us in so many of our state events, and she knows the office staff,” GHSA executive director Tim Scott said Tuesday. “And she’s a real community person and has great relationships with people. Making sure our events are first-class is very important. She brings a lot to the table.”
The hire will mean a reshuffling of some duties.
Associate director Don Corr had been coordinating softball. Corr’s job of managing the GHSA’s postseason rankings, which entails collecting and verifying every contest result to help select and seed playoff teams in most sports, has become a full-time duty, Scott said. Corr also will give up wrestling, which Scott will take over.
Sherman will inherit soccer from associate director Darrell Lane. Lane will add officiating and lacrosse to his duties, formerly handled by Ernie Yarbrough, who retired in 2023 but has remained as a consultant. Yarbrough will continue to coordinate flag football and coordinate state championships.
Sherman’s hire also means that the GHSA will have gender balance among associate directors for the first time, with three women and three men. Penny Pitts Mitchell was hired in 2016, and Tanya Anderson was promoted in 2020. The other associate directors are Lane, Corr and compliance director Carror Wright.
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