Niwot's Prahl honored by Colorado athletic directors

Sue Prahl doesn't see anything special about her 25-year tenure with the Niwot High athletics department, so when she learned that she had won the Colorado Athletic Directors Association's 2020 Award for Distinguished Service, her reaction was bewilderment.

"I'm not a person who needs to be patted on the back, and I never have been," Prahl said of the honor, which was announced publicly on April 30, along with the Athletic Director of the Year awards. "You just go at it and do it. And so I was overwhelmed, thinking, 'Someone had to write up something to nominate me, so what did they say?' I was just astonished."

That someone was first-year Niwot High athletic director Joe Brown, who hasn't worked with Prahl for long, but knows distinguished service when he sees it. He called her a "perfect" candidate for the CADA award, which recognizes dedication to high school athletics in the state of Colorado that goes "above and beyond the call of duty."

"I'm just blown away every day by what she does for us," Brown said of the longtime Cougar games and events manager. "When the nomination form came out, and we were reading through the list of criteria, it was just one of those 'ah ha moments'. She has literally dedicated her life to not just Niwot High School, but the St. Vrain school district. Those types of people, who just give their heart and soul to something, are just so hard to find. And when you do find them, they're the type of people who don't want the recognition. And that's a further testament to why she does this so well-she doesn't want accolades from it."

Prahl would be the first to agree with that. In fact, it took her two days and prompting from Brown to acknowledge that the curious email she initially dismissed as a prank was actually an official notification of the award from CADA. Even then, she initially eschewed the praise, calling her longtime involvement with Niwot High and other community groups "just something I did."

"I thought as a parent, if you involve your kids in something, you have to take your fair share of involvement. So I took that, and then some, and then I enhanced it. If the school or team needed somebody, I helped. If the community needed something-Nostalgia Days, the fun run, club volleyball-I did it; I just said yes. 'No' wasn't in my vocabulary."

Prahl's involvement with Niwot athletics goes back to the late 1980s, when the oldest of her three children enrolled at the school and promptly joined the football program. Years-long stints as "team mom," booster club member, and enthusiastic volunteer eventually turned into a paying gig with SVVSD in the mid-1990s, and Prahl has been expertly managing the logistics of Cougar sporting events ever since.

"In just the small amount of time that I've had to work with her, it's just amazing what she does, and how much pride she takes in it," Brown said. "And it's not just the quality of work that she does, it's also the relationships that she builds with our kids, coaches, and officials through the process of doing it."

Those relationships are one of the things she misses most, now that the 2020 spring sports season has been officially canceled in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Prahl has also been forced to postpone Niwot's summer youth sports camps, an annual pastime she has come to adore.

"It's hard on me, but it can't be anywhere near as hard as it is for our student-athletes," she said of the shutdowns. "It's brought me to tears...My heart just bleeds for the seniors. And who knows what it will look like when we come back. Right now people need to take care of themselves and their families."

Prahl has found relief in daily walks around the Niwot High track, where she occasionally sees current and former students working out.

"I did get into some things around the house that were long overdue, but not as much as I intended to do, because I just got into that melancholy mode," she said. "It's better now. I walk every day, and it's what's kept me sane. I'm still in the atmosphere that lets me remember and dream as I walk."

The quarantine and CADA award have also prompted Prahl to reflect on her five-plus decades in Niwot, her love of youth sports, and the countless triumphs she has witnessed during her time as a fan of Cougar athletics.

"It brings up the memories of when the kids were in school and the screwy-louie things we did," she said. "Niwot is just exactly where everyone should raise their children. There was so much to offer, and so much that went on. So I just got involved."

Read more about Sue and her career with Niwot Athletics in our Familiar Faces profile from October, 2019.