Baltimore, Md. - In conjunction with today’s celebration of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association 75-Anniversary, the association is unveiling a 75-anniversary logo to be used for the remainder of the 2020-2021 academic year.  The commemorative logo was originated by Patrick DiMisa, a senior at Urbana High School in Frederick County, as part of the MPSSAA 75-Anniversary logo contest.  

Mr. DiMisa’s design bested 33 others in an MPSSAA logo contest for member high school students. The school’s athletic department will receive a $1,000.00 in scholarship funds from the MPSSAA and t-shirts sporting the logo.  

Seventy-five years ago on January 26, 1946, representatives from local school systems and the Maryland State Department of Education met at the Enoch Pratt Library in downtown Baltimore to establish the framework for a state high school athletic association to replace the loosely organized "Playground Athletic League".

The MPSSAA’s origins can be traced to a collection of pioneers with the foresight to establish an association on the heels of World War II for the benefit of delivering statewide education-based athletics.  Dr. Thomas Ferguson, the State Supervisor of Physical Education and Recreation at the time, was the driving force behind the formation of "The Health and Physical Education Association of Maryland Schools" which  eventually became the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association that we know today.  

The MPSSAA congratulates Mr. DiMisa, Urbana High School, and Frederick County Public Schools.  For more information on the MPSSAA at 75, check out related newspaper articles and a story on the 75th Anniversary at www.mpssaa.org.