Shaffer, Lipinski are Coaches of Year at the Greater Akron-Canton High School Sports Awards

In all, 37 awards were handed out at the show, which honored athletes, coaches and teams from the area. The show was produced with the support of the Meijer, Planet Fitness, SARTA, USA Today Sports and Golfweek.

Shaffer is the Girls Coach of the Year after retiring at the end of this school year after a record-setting run as a high school tennis coach in Stark County, spending the last 21 years at North Canton Hoover coaching the boys and girls teams. Last September, in a match at his alma mater, Perry, Shaffer became the winningest coach in Ohio high school history. His final career record is 1,061 wins against 178 losses. His 2023 Hoover girls team was ranked No. 1 throughout the season and finished third in the state, losing one match all year. It was the 8th team he coached to a state final four. He also coached 84 players to the OHSAA state tournament, including five Hoover girls last fall when Tess Bucher joined 1990s Aquinas star Celena McCoury as state championship players coached by Shaffer. Last fall’s Hoover girls team became the 19th Federal League championship he coached, including 14 by the girls teams. Shaffer was inducted into the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2011, one of four halls of fame he has been enshrined in.