Ron Karbowski and Alex Rickens receive Golden Apple Awards

Clifford H. Smart Middle School coaches, Ron Karbowski and Alex Rickens, received Golden Apple Awards at the May 1, 2025 Board of Education meeting.

Karbowski and Rickens were nominated by Clifford H. Smart Middle School parent, Kristy Blewett, for all of the extra hard work, dedication and heartfelt feeling that they put forth into creating an amazing middle school athletics experience for the large number of student-athletes that they interact with throughout the school year. Karbowski and Rickens coach both boys’ and girls’ cross country, basketball, and track and field at Clifford H. Smart Middle School.

“Anyone associated with the teams they coach can see the passion they have for middle school sports,” said Blewett. “This passion for athletics is translated to both students and families alike.”

Karbowski and Rickens are both a positive representation for the Smart community and district as a whole, which can be seen by the high number of participants in each of their programs, their attention to detail and the success they have within those programs.

“As parents, we didn't think much about how big our cross country, basketball or track teams were until we started to compete against other schools in the area,” said Blewett. “There is no other middle school that has the large number of student-athletes that we do, and this is made possible by the strong relationships Alex and Ron make with their student-athletes.”

Competition can bring out high emotions. Karbowski and Rickens are always engaged with their student-athletes and help them work through their emotions. Parents also have high praise of the sportsmanship displayed by the coaches, which in turn is embodied by their athletes before, during and after competition.

“Winning isn't everything, of course, but the noteworthy success of the cross country and track programs, in particular, is certainly a product of their approach to coaching and the connections they’ve formed with their student-athletes.” added Blewett.

Among those successes, Karbowski and Rickens programs have taken home three Lakes Valley Conference championships in the past three years. The girls’ and boys’ cross country teams also both won their first regional championships in program history and the girls also took home the Oakland County Championship for the first time this fall.