CHS’ Pasanen to be honored by NEOIAAA

CONNEAUT – Tony Pasanen has served so little time as the Conneaut High School Athletic Administrator that when he was notified he was being honored for his work, he thought it was simply a friend playing a prank.
There was no prank. Pasanen will receive will receive the Tim Flannery Horizon Award from the Northeast Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
“I was shocked,” Pasanen said. “I actually thought one of my friends was messing with me.”
The Horizon Award is presented to an active athletic administrator who shows professionalism and involvement in the profession and who makes a difference in his/her school district and/or league. Pasanen will receive the award during the Northeast Ohio NEOIAAA Annual Awards Banquet on Monday, April 20, in the ballroom at the Holiday Inn in Independence.
As Pasanen moves through just his second school year as the CHS athletic director, he is being recognized for shining a spotlight on the athletes at Conneaut as well as across Ashtabula County.
“My whole first year as the assistant AD, I made a list of things I wanted to do to recognize the past, present and future,” Pasanen said. “To honor the past athletes, I wanted to have boards for our 1,000-point scorers and record board. That will also serve as motivation for future athletes as goals to reach. The goal is to promote our kids.”
“I think one of the biggest things is I have been big on promoting our kids, coaches and programs,” Pasanen continued. “I’ve been involved with the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation and Ashtabula County Touchdown Club. I’ve put in a lot of time and effort to not only promote our kids at Conneaut, but the county’s athletes, as well.”
Improving and adding to the district’s athletic facilities will impact future athletes.
“The stuff with the facilities has been awesome to be a part of,” Pasanen said. “It’s been unbelievable to have somebody like Chris Ricaurte pay $2.5 million for facilities. It’s not just him. When this all got started 20 years ago, there were a lot of people involved. That kind of fell off, but it’s my goal to get that going again. What Chris did was a shot in the arm. He basically wants to see an effort. We have plenty of people who want to be involved, it’s just a matter of organizing and moving forward with ideas.”
Pasanen graduated from Ashtabula Harbor High School in 1997 and attended Youngstown State University, earning his Bachelor of Arts in Middle Childhood Education in 2001. He completed his Master’s Degree in educational administration in 2004.
“I loved coaching,” Pasanen said. “I had gotten my masters in administration early on. I didn’t want to be a principal but I liked the athletic side, so I guess I did think about it a little. The last couple years I was teaching, I was coaching the girls, but I was coaching my son. I guess the timing worked out with (former CHS AD) Joel (Taylor) retiring.”
Pasanen has spent his entire career teaching and coaching in Conneaut Area City Schools.
“Some of the best friends I’ve had in life come from and work in Conneaut,” Pasanen said. “It makes it special for me that I grew up in the Conneaut Area City Schools and I had two girls graduate from Conneaut with a son in middle school as the next generation of athlete.”
In the classroom, Pasanen taught algebra at both CHS and Conneaut Middle School for 23 years. After a year as assistant athletic director, he was named AD in the summer of 2024.
“I worked with Joel for a full year as the assistant AD,” Pasanen said. “That whole year I got to learn from him. Going to meetings was nice. I wasn’t just thrown into the fire. I was able to see how a lot of stuff worked.”
“We’re very fortunate at Conneaut,” Pasanen continued. “It started with the school board, which is a group of people that truly cares about the kids. They just get it. (Superintendent) Lori Riley is unbelievable. I think it was her idea to get me learning the ropes when Joel announced he was retiring. It was definitely their idea. It was all on them, but it couldn’t have worked out better for me.”
Pasanen volunteered as a youth coach at the Ashtabula YMCA before spending 20 years, 16 as head coach, as a girls basketball coach at Conneaut High School. He was also the girls’ golf coach for five years and an assistant football coach for 15 years.
“I like the relationships I’ve built with the students and athletes,” Pasanen said. “Winning is great and I love that part, but it’s the relationship building and the bonds that I like. Now, it’s coming full circle. A lot of the girls I coached and taught are teachers and coaches for me now. That’s good for me. I’ve basically been involved in every aspect of their lives since they were in high school.”
There were also countless hours spent coaching youth sports, including softball, baseball and youth basketball.
“I think a lot of it was my dad,” Pasanen said. “He started coaching me at a young age. I saw the impact he had on the kids he coached and friends of mine. I loved sports and being involved with the youth programs. I started (into coaching) as a volunteer at the YMCA with the youth programs. I don’t want to say I became a teacher to coach, but in order to be a good teacher, you have to be a coach and vice versa.”
Without the support of his wife, Jodi, and children, Ally, Laney and A.J., Pasanen would not have had the career he has.
“I would not have been able to pursue my passions of coaching and being an AD if it was not for the support of my family,” Pasanen said. “Not only have they allowed me to do those jobs, they have been right there helping along the way.  My wife is the one who really deserves any type of award for dealing with me all these years. Family is the most important thing in my life, and the fact that I have been able to combine my profession with my family has been icing on the cake.”
Beyond the support of his family, Pasanen has been blessed to work with Taylor as well as the other athletic directors in Ashtabula County.
“There was a lot of learning I did with Joel in terms of discipline and following the process,” Pasanen said. “There was a lot of stuff he dealt with when it came to being in a league, being independent, becoming part District 10 in Pennsylvania and, now, with joining the Chagrin Valley Conference. There are a lot of things to do behind the scenes as far as getting registered. There are a million things that need done behind the scenes. In the car driving to meetings, I would pick Joel’s brain. Joel wanted to give me room to do the job, but he’s also only a phone call away.”
“There aren’t many people who do the job,” Pasanen continued. “There’s usually only one per school district. Other ADs are there to help. (Edgewood AD) Steve Kray and (Jefferson AD) Greg Juhola are people I can contact any time. We have a county AD thread and we text to help each other know what’s going on.”