PCOA recognizes outgoing Chair Warner for two decades of service
BY CAROLYN THORNTON
Rhode Island Interscholastic League
WARWICK, RI (December 1, 2025) - The final item of business at the Principals’ Committee on Athletics’ November meeting was a bittersweet one as its members recognized outgoing chairperson Dan Warner for his more than 20 years of dedication and service both to the Rhode Island Interscholastic League’s governing body and to the tens of thousands of high school and middle school students across the state who play interscholastic athletics.
“It was 2004 when Dan rolled onto this committee,” said RIIL Executive Director Mike Lunney, as he presented Warner with a commemorative plaque at the November 17th meeting in the RIIL office. “That was quite a few years ago. I was an athletic director at the time and just getting involved at the state level, and I know that the amount of institutional knowledge that Dan has is immense. So we’re definitely going to miss that, and his leadership of this organization during a really difficult time, as well. These past few years have been really challenging, and you’ve had a steady hand in leading us through all of that.”
RIIL Executive Director Mike Lunney presents outgoing PCOA Chair Dan Warner with a plaque recognizing his service to the organization. (PHOTO: CAROLYN THORNTON/RIIL)
A Newport native and Rogers High School graduate, Warner began his career out in Colorado, but returned to Rhode Island in 1999 and spent the next 24 years working for the Narragansett School Department, the first several years as assistant principal and another 20 years as principal of Narragansett High School. Upon retiring from Narragansett in 2023, Warner then served as principal of Block Island School for two years.
Over the course of his career, Warner was recognized as the 2007 School Administrator of the Year by the Rhode Island Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and the 2009 Principal of the Year by the Rhode Island Association of School Principals.
After serving for 15 years as a member of the RIIL’s Principals’ Committee on Athletics, Warner was appointed Assistant Chair in 2019. He was then named PCOA Chair in 2022.
“I’ve seen a lot and I’ve seen a lot of camaraderie and I can’t express enough the awesome responsibility that you folks have as members of the PCOA,” Warner said at his final meeting leading the group.
“This appointment and your service on this committee should never be taken lightly,” he continued, sharing some of the sentiments he had expressed in a letter to the members. “The responsibility you have to the thousands of student-athletes we serve can sometimes feel overwhelming. It is your duty, and really your honor to deal with those situations with thoughtfulness, courage and reverence. Do not ever take your role, or the decisions you make lightly, because their impact can be far reaching. I know in my heart that in working with you on this committee, the student-athletes of Rhode Island are in good hands. Again, thank you for allowing me to chair such a wonderful and talented group of principals, I will miss you and the work we share. Your work is indeed without measure.”
Warner offers some parting words as Assistant Chair Candace Caluori and PCOA members, Dr. Mike Sollitto and Mark DeCiccio, look on. (PHOTO/CAROLYN THORNTON, RIIL)
