Practical Suggestions for the New Athletic Director [NIAAA]

By: Paul Pignatello

In 2010, I was serving as the supervisor of Health, Physical Education, and School Nurses. At the conclusion of that school year, our Athletic Director retired. Our board of education decided to consolidate a number of supervisory positions. My position was to be combined with the Athletic Director's position. As you might expect, my initial response was that the responsibilities of the position were far beyond what one person could handle. I debated whether to accept the position, retire early, or look for another position. I had been in the district for five years and was also serving as the High School's Varsity Baseball Coach. The athletic director's position also had a part time secretary who was nearing retirement. I had some real concerns about accepting the position.

In trying to make a decision, I shared with a friend the expectations and job description of the position. He offered me some interesting advice. He simply said, "Make the position what you want it to be." In other words, think about what is important to you and shape the position around those priorities.

I did accept the position and the first year was not easy. However, I have been able to establish some priorities and practical suggestions that I believe might be helpful for new athletic directors in managing a very demanding position and still enjoy a fulfilling personal life. Here is what I hope are some helpful suggestions in making the job more manageable:

1. LIMIT YOUR TIME WITH THE GRUMBLERS AND COMPLAINERS

In every position I have served in there are people who spend their existence on complaining how bad their situation is. I try to limit my time with them. It is so easy to become a grumbler and complainer when they are the only people we spend time with. Find people who can share your vision and encourage you along the way.

2. BUSSES AND OFFICIALS

In my first few weeks on the job, another athletic director said to me, "Whatever you do, make sure you have a bus for your away games and officials for your home games." Mistakes in these areas will be in public view and not sit well with your coaches and parents. Try to stay a day or two ahead in this area. The first thing I do each day is to check the schedule to ensure these two things are in place. If you have an assistant or secretary, make sure you both check that buses and officials are assigned to your games.

3. E-MAILS AND CORRESPONDENCE

Most athletic directors will tell you the volume of e-mails we receive each day can be overwhelming and take up a great deal of time. It is a good idea to establish some priorities in responding to e-mails. Here are some of mine:

• Answer e-mails from the people you report to immediately. This would include your superintendent, assistant superintendent, and principal.
• Respond to all e-mails and phone calls from your fellow athletic directors. They are the people who will be there for you when you need support, advice or a favor.
• Respond promptly to questions or concerns from your coaching staff. One of your primary purposes is to coach and train your coaches. They are your primary representatives to the community.
• Make sure parents follow the chain of command. The chain of command would be sub-varsity coach, head coach, athletic director, and principal.
• Encourage your principal and superintendent to have parents follow the chain of command.
• Educate your parents that you will not discuss playing time or coaching strategy with them. This is clearly explained in our Athletic Handbook which all parents and athletes must read prior to each season.
• Do not respond to e-mails or correspondence from anonymous senders.

4. THE USE OF SITE MANAGERS

• Although there may be an expectation for you to be present for the duration of all games, this is an unrealistic expectation which leads to burnout and negatively impacts personal and family life.
• If your district allows you have site managers, make full use of them. During the winter season, there is literally a night event every day. I assign a site manager to every event. This allows me some freedom to attend or not attend an event. I try to limit myself to 2-3 events per week. It is important to remember that if you were absent for any extended period of time, the need for site managers who are well trained to carry out the various responsibilities will be extremely important.
• If you have an assistant, keep him/her in the loop on all things so that they can answer questions while you are out of the office.
• Make time for your spouse and children. If you have trained your coaches and workers well, the school and athletics will not fall apart in your absence. As the baseball coach at my former school, we played about six to seven miles from campus. In the absence of our athletic director, I knew I was in charge of the facility. As a Head Baseball Coach, I was always interested in training my assistants to become head coaches. Many went on to be successful head coaches. The same would be true for athletic directors. There are always people in your building who aspire to be school administrators. Training them well will be beneficial for the both of you.

5. MANAGE ALL THE MEETINGS

• In my first year as the supervisor of Health, Physical Education, School Nurses, and Athletics, I was amazed at the number of meetings that I was expected to attend. Some of which are:
  • PE Department Meetings for highs school, middle school, and elementary teachers.
  • High School, Middle School, and Elementary School Faculty Meetings.
  • Supervisors meeting at three levels.
  • Administrative Council Meetings
  • Curriculum Meetings
  • League Meetings
  • County AD Meetings
  • Individual Sport Meetings
  • Seasonal Meetings with Coaches
  • NJSIAA Meetings
  • Meetings called by your principal or central administration

I would offer the following suggestions in making the best use of your time:

• If a meeting is for informational purposes only, pass along the information through an e-mail. All scheduled meetings are not always necessary.
• Inquire if the meeting will pertain to your responsibilities. How often have you sat through a meeting for three hours and nothing on the agenda pertained to your areas of responsibility? Often times, you may be excused from attending the meeting.

In some weeks, you will have multiple meetings with conflicts. I would suggest the following priorities:

• Any meeting where you need to handle a crisis or emergency situation in your district.
• All leagues, county and state meetings. Your absence or presence is noticeable. These meetings will keep you in the loop on important matters and enable you to gain the wisdom and knowledge from more experienced athletic directors on how to best manage your job responsibilities.
• Try to space out your school meetings.
• If there are meetings that you are running, make sure the meeting is necessary. Don't just schedule meetings for the sake of having a meeting. It is important to value your time and the time of others.

6. SELECT COACHES WHO SHARE YOUR PHILOSOPHY AND ARE LOYAL

• Coaches are your link to the student-athletes. Select coaches who share your philosophy of athletics. Coaches must also be loyal to you and the other coaches. If they are casting disparaging remarks about you or the coaching staff, it will destroy unity and filter down to parents and student athletes.
• Select coaches who demonstrate self-control when dealing with emotional situations involving parents and officials. They should be attempting to deescalate volatile situations, not promote them.
• Select coaches who know the rules and will abide by them. Coaches who attempt to circumvent NJSIAA, League, and School rules will ultimately not be successful and will hurt your school's reputation in the athletic community.

7. EXERCISE AND NUTRITION

• Try to keep a regular exercise routine. It is a great stress reducer. I find the best time to exercise is before I begin my school day.
• Make efforts to eat well. The demands of the job require great energy and your body needs to refuel. Try not to skip meals, especially lunch. I would recommend not eating in the office. There are too many interruptions. Block out 45 minutes to an hour and find a quiet place to eat and recharge for the second half of the day.

8. COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Take time each day to give thanks for the good things in your life. The many struggles and adversities we face often create a "woe is me" mindset. We all have so many things in life we can be thankful for: faith, family, friends, co-workers, career, etc. Begin each day with a thankful heart. It goes a long way!

CONCLUSION

I have seen too many athletic directors try to be all things to all people and in the process sacrifice their health and family. I often ask coaches or athletic directors who are retired or at the end of careers; what is one thing you would do differently if you had to do it all over again? Sadly, many would respond that they wish they would have given more time to their family and friends. Athletic directors often place on themselves the expectations of others that they must be present at every event. I can tell you from experience, the place will survive in your absence. Make the job your own not based on other's expectations are or what others are doing. Define what is important to you and try to make the job fit those core values. Life will be more fulfilling and balanced when you do!