Noblesville Man to be Honored by IHSAA
A Noblesville man is among five individuals being honored during the 116th Annual IHSAA Boys Basketball State Finals Saturday for contributions to education-based athletics and Indiana high school basketball in particular.
Rick Vanderwielen, a Lafayette native and Noblesville resident, will be celebrated on the court with Sen. Ron Alting, Tamika Catchings, Scott Arthur and Mike Broughton.
The Jim Morris Humanitarian Award will be presented to Vanderwielen at halftime of the Class 3A state championship. The award honors the enduring legacy of James T. Morris, a founding member of the IHSAA Foundation Board whose leadership and vision left an indelible mark on high school athletics across Indiana. This award recognizes individuals from IHSAA member school communities who embody Jim’s core values of family, friends, faith, community, and vocation. Each year, the IHSAA Foundation celebrates a recipient whose extraordinary service and dedication reflect the humanitarian ideals Jim championed throughout his life, while also providing a grant to support the athletic department of the nominating school.
Vanderwielen’sdedication to broadcasting high school sports and his service in a consulting capacity have resulted in the creation of IHSAAtv.org and the IHSAA Champions Network. From 2005 to 2013, Vanderwielen’s companies produced the IHSAA baseball, softball and volleyball state finals for Fox, Comcast, IHSAAsports.org and eventually Hamilton County’s HomeTown Sports Indiana.
Since his retirement in 2013, Rick has volunteered his time and expertise supporting the broadcasting efforts of the state finals as well as creating IHSAAtv.org as a portal for IHSAA games of the week and sub-state tournaments in basketball and football.
His entrepreneurial spirit has resulted in being named as One of the 100 Most Influential Businessmen in Indiana by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce in 1997. In 2003, he was designated as Person of the Year by the Noblesville Daily Times and Riverview Hospital. And in 2004, he was named Businessperson of the Year by the Noblesville Chamber of Commerce. His companies also have been recognized as Growth 100 achievers by the IU Kelley School of Business and earned the Mass Mutual Blue Chip Award.
He is the founder of Indiana Automation, Inc. (later Integrator.com), Flexware Integration, Security Automation Systems, HomeTown Television and a partner in Webstream Sports. He has been a principal in four other businesses.
He has served on advisory boards at Purdue University, the Hamilton County Judicial Task Force, and the Riverview Hospital Board of Directors. He and his family are trustees of the “Vanderwielen Family Foundation” and “1 More Game” which have contributed scholarships to deserving organizations and individuals for 20 years.
Alting and Catchings will both receive the Richard G. Lugar Award at halftime of the Class 4A state championship. Catchings was last year’s honoree but was unable to be in attendance that day. Arthur will be celebrated as this year’s Boys Basketball Official of the Year during halftime of the Class 2A state championship. And Broughton will be recognized with the Ray Crowe Excellence in Leadership Award at halftime of the Class 3A state championship.
