Kemper will take over as commissioner of the MAC

With the pending resignation of Tim Buschur as commissioner of the Midwest Athletic Conference, the MAC athletic directors spent the last several weeks looking for a viable replacement.

Don Kemper was announced on Monday as the new MAC commissioner after a pool of 15 candidates was trimmed to five finalists.

"It was a tough choice with the ones we interviewed. All of them were top-notch individuals, but Don had a little of everything to bring to the table," said Coldwater athletic director Eric Goodwin. "He is well-respected throughout all of the communities within the MAC and that was an important factor in his hiring. It was a tough choice, but Don was just a little better."

Kemper, the facilities manager at Nidec Minster Corporation in Minster, will take over at the end of the school year to become the fourth commissioner in the 40-year history of the MAC.

"Jon Sidenbender, Phil Schumann and Tim Buschur all did a great job in their role as commissioner of this league and we feel that Don will do a great job as well," said Eric Goodwin. "We needed someone to take our strong league and take it to the next level. We, as a conference, have a lot of respect around the state and we want that to continue. We feel that Don is the right man for the job."

Responsibilities of the MAC commissioner include being the secretary and treasurer of the league, along with assigning qualified officials for MAC sporting events.

Kemper is a well-respected official in northwest Ohio in basketball (1995-present), football (1998-present) and baseball (2005-present). He is also a certified official instructor for the Ohio High School Athletic Association and officiated college basketball for NCAA and NAIA colleges and universities.

Identifying quality officials was a big aspect of Kemper's hiring according to MAC President and Marion Local Principal Tim Goodwin.

"All of the candidates were good, but the application that Don presented to us laid out some clear plans in regard to a method of improving our level of officiating in our conference," said Tim Goodwin. "He has experience in that area with officials and mentoring officials and how to evaluate them. That was the biggest positive that set him apart. He had a plan and the AD's liked the plan."

The MAC commissioner is a paid position of around $5,000 annually, but that number may increase since other competing leagues pay between $6,000-$7,000.