Coach Mike Venos MHSCA Hall of Fame
The Michigan High School Coaches’ Association (MHSCA) has selected Michael Venos from Brother Rice and Mercy High Schools for induction into the Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will take place in the Terrace Room of the Bovee University Center on the campus of Central Michigan University at 1:00pm on Sunday, September 15, 2024.
The MHSCA is a 70-year old association with nearly 12,000 members representing 18 sport related associations was founded on the campus of Central Michigan University in 1954. The Hall of Fame is located in the hallway of the old Rose Arena entrance.
Michael Venos’ coaching career spans four decades and sixty-three seasons and is still actively coaching.
He began coaching at Grand Blanc High School as the head coach for varsity boys water polo and the assis- tant varsity boys/girls swim coach from 1983-1989. He moved on to Bloomfield Hills Andover High School as the assistant varsity boys/girls swim coach from 1990-1992 and to Bloomfield Hills Lahser High School as the assistant varsity boys swim coach (1992). His next coaching position took him to Ferndale High School as the head varsity boys/girls swim coach from 1993-1997. In 1998 Mike was hired as the head coach of the varsity boys swim team at Brother Rice High School for the next twenty-five seasons and as the head coach JV baseball team at Brother Rice High School for the next five seasons. He also served as the head coach of the varsity girls swim coach at Notre Dame Prep from 2014-2016 and has been the head coach of the varsity girls swim team at Mercy High School since 2016-present. His varsity boys swim teams at Brother Rice High School have earned twenty-two Catholic League District Titles, three MHSAA State Runners Up Finishes, six MHSAA State Titles, finished as the National Dual Meet Runners Up from 2014-2017 and were National Dual Meet Champions in 2000. His varsity boys swim win/loss record is an impressive 480/90. Coach Venos’ Mercy High School varsity girls swim team has earned seven Catholic League District Titles, two MHSAA Runners Up Finishes, three MHSAA State Titles, and were National Dual Meet Runners Up from 2017-2020. The varsity girls swim win/loss record is 95/15. Mikes teams have also produced over one hundred MHSAA All State Individuals and fifteen MHSAA Individual State Cham- pions. Student athletes Mike Zennedjian and Chris Bagley were both named Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (MISCA) Swimmers of the Year. Mike also coached numerous Dream Team Individ- ual and Relay student Athletes. Many of his athletes have gone on to compete at the collegiate level.
Coach Venos has been honored many times for his coaching accomplishments and service to his sport. He was named the Oakland Press Coach of the Year three times, the Observer-Eccentric News Coach of the Year two times, the MISCA Zone Coach of the Year (2000), the MISCA State Coach of the Year four times, the National Federation of High School Coaches National Coach of the Year in 2017, and in 2016 he received the Matt Mann Award – Swimming Hall of Fame (MISCA’s highest honor). Mike has also been inducted into the Catholic League Hall of Fame (2016), the Grand Blanc High School Distinguished Alum- ni Hall of Fame (2019) and the Brother Rice Hall of Fame (2020).
Over the years Mike has also taken on several leadership positions to support and promote his sport and athletes. He has served as a MISCA board member zone vice president (2000-2007), is presently a MISCA board member at large, served as Catholic High School League (CHSL) meet manager 2003-present, mem- ber of the MHSAA swim committee four times, was a MISCA presenter in 2017, a MISCA coaches board presenter five times and an Ohio coaches clinic presenter in 2018. Mike has also coached summer club swimming every year since he was 16, and has coached at the USA club level and the YMCA producing three YMCA National Champions and four Olympic Trial Qualifiers.