April 28, 2009
(release courtesy of Larry Happel, Central College sports information director)

PELLA, IOWA . . . Central College Athletics Director Al Dorenkamp will receive the Distinguished Iowan Award from the Iowa chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Saturday.

Dorenkamp will be honored at the chapter’s 6 p.m. awards banquet at the West Des Moines Marriott Hotel.

The award is “presented to a former player or individual who has been closely associated with, and committed to, the advancement of amateur football and has made significant contributions to the game. He is recognized for his outstanding leadership and achievements and is someone who carried the basic character-building values taught in amateur sports throughout his professional life.”

“That description fits Al perfectly,” said Rod Rhoads, the veteran Iowa chapter president.

Dorenkamp is a long-time supporter of the organization and has been a national leader in college football. He recently completed a four-year term on the NCAA Division III Football Committee, serving as national chair for 2005-06 and 2006-07.

A 1975 Central graduate, Dorenkamp was captain and an all-American linebacker for the school’s NCAA Division III champion football team in 1974.

“Al emphasizes the student part of student-athlete and the proper balance that must be present for success in the classroom first and then on the field,” said Wayne Burrow, who served as NCAA Director of Championships during Dorenkamp’s tenure with the Division III Football Committee. “He stresses the life lessons that competition can provide young people. He also sets a tremendous example of giving back to the sport that provides so much value to so many individuals.”

Dr. David Roe, Central president, also endorsed the selection.

“Al Dorenkamp is particularly deserving of the Distinguished Iowan Award because he embodies the criteria for the award,” Roe said.

“Having been elected captain of Central College’s 1974 national championship football team, having served as a high school football coach and senior administrator, having helped two great coaches continue Central’s proud football tradition as athletics director, having been elected by his peers to serve on and chair the NCAA Division III Football Championship Committee and most importantly having dedicated his life to helping student athletes forge the character that breeds integrity, all attest to why he is a worthy choice and why we at Central are so very proud of him.”

A native of Thornton, Iowa, Dorenkamp received his master’s degree in education administration from the University of South Dakota, and was a graduate assistant football coach there. He earned an educational administration specialists certification from the University of Northern Iowa.

Dorenkamp taught science and coached for three years in the Sheffield-Chapin school district and for five years at Denison, earning conference football coach of the year honors three times and district coach of the year recognition once. He served as a secondary principal at Center Point for three years. He was the high school principal at Waverly-Shell Rock from 1987-95 and spent two years as sales manager at Rubber Development, Inc. in Waverly before moving to Carroll in 1997, where he spent a year as high school principal prior to joining the Central staff.

He received a Service to Iowa High School Athletics Award from the Iowa High School Athletics Association in 2001 and is a member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. Dorenkamp is also involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and has participated as an athlete, coach, administrator and speaker, and as an FCA dean at national camps. He is a long-time member of Rotary Club International, spending two years as a chapter president, and is a member of Third Reformed Church in Pella. He is a frequent speaker at athletics and education clinics, workshops and banquets

Dorenkamp is featured in the spring issue of the NCAA’s Champion magazine in an article about athletics administrators who also teach in the classroom.

Dorenkamp’s wife, Jo Ann, is also a Central graduate. They have two daughters and one grandson.

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