Union Pines High School Athletic Director Bobby Purvis recently received the Charlie Adams Distinguished Service Award from The North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
The NCHSAA presented special awards at the regional meetings across the state that were just completed last week.
A long-time teacher, coach and athletic director, Bobby Purvis has served students for 42 years. He began his coaching career in the 1980s serving as head men’s and women’s basketball coach as well as head track and field coach while assisting in football and baseball, according to an NCHSAA press release.
His teams collected 17 championships in track and field and 17 championships in basketball with more than 400 wins. He was the Region 4 women’s basketball coach for the North Carolina State Games in 1988 and was chosen as a head men’s coach for the East/West All-Star game in 2007.
He has been named “Coach of the Year” 16 times in track and basketball combined while serving as conference president for three different conferences.
He was selected as the Region 4 “Athletic Director of the Year” in 2016 and is a member of the Union Pines High School Hall of Fame.
In a phone interview with Sandhills Sentinel, Purvis said the most important thing he teaches student-athletes is trust, unselfishness, and putting the team first. He added that the biggest thing students have taught him is their intentions, spirit, and thoughts on alway trying to do the right thing.
Purvis said he was very surprised about the award, and the award is not about him.
“This is not my award,” Purvis said. “It’s Union Pines, the students, and the community’s award. This award is shared by many.”
The Charlie Adams Distinguished Service Awards, named for the Association’s late, long-time Executive Director, are given per region and go to a person with at least 10 years of experience in education and athletics who is still active in the field and has regularly gone “above and beyond” the call of duty at both the local and the state level.
Courtesy photo of Bobby Purvis.
