The Athletic Director Survival Guide Kevin M. Bryant, CMAA
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The Athletic Director Survival Guide Kevin M. Bryant, CMAA KEVIN BRYANT | 73 Dedication I dedicate this Survival Guide to the following people without which this project would have never seen the light of day. To ‘my person” Sara Ann Bryant, your love and belief in me have often been the difference in my personal success and failure. Thank you for living out God’s love for me in such practical daily ways. In my marriage to you I definitely “out punted my coverage” in winning your heart. To my dearest children Michael, Julie Ann, Megan and Katherine. I have felt your love for me as real as the Oregon rain. Thank you for your encouragement to “finish the race” by following through on this book and my dreams. To the athletic directors, past, present and future in the state of Oregon, you are my inspiration and motivation. Thank you for loving, challenging and encouraging the students, coaches and community members around your athletic program. You are daily difference makers and my hero’s. To Marshall Haskins of the Portland Interscholastic League. Thank you for believing in me and for being my first client. I shall never forget you! To the many people who have had influence in my life (coaches, bosses, close friends, colleagues) your encouragement, challenge, friendship and care have influenced me. Thanks for your belief in me that has led to my best work. The Athletic Director Survival Guide Table of Contents Dedication Preface 1. I have the title Athletic Director, now what? 2. No Surprises 3. Builder or maintainer? 1 4. Fundraising basics 5. PAPERWORK 6. What is best for kids? Connecting with student athletes 7. Hiring the best possible coaches 8. Strategic Planning 9. Turning around part or a whole athletic program 10. Athletic Director Evaluation 11. Program evaluation 12. Booster Clubs 13. Athletic Director Professional Growth 14. Investing yourself outside the athletic program 15. Youth/Feeder Programs 16. Marketing your athletic program 17. Capital Fundraising 18. Communication skills 19. Dealing with the Entrenched or Ineffective Coach 20. Overcoming tough times/tragedy 21. Participation Fees 22. Teaching life skills through your athletic program 23. Student Athlete Leadership Team (SALT) 24. Creating a positive climate through your athletic program 25. Designing Effective Coaches meetings 26. Season Ending Award ceremonies 27. Creating and Maintaining a Hall of Fame 28. Power vs. Responsibility in the athletic director position 29. Impacting the student experience of your athletes 30. Student Athlete Recognition 31. Pre-season organization 32. Working Successfully with Parents 33. Using your summer months effectively 34. Building community through the HS athletic program 35. Creating Manuals for everyday use 36. State playoffs 37. AD Health 38. The art of having difficult conversations 39. Working effectively with your state associations. 40. Student Athlete Discipline 2 41. Meeting the challenge of club sports 42. Making your coaches an effective TEAM. 43. Out of building coaches 44. Multiple Sport Athletes 45. Budgeting 46. Building attendance at game and events 47. Time Management 48. The Professional Growth of your coaching staff 49. Social Media—Pandora’s Box is OPEN 50. The Politics of Leadership in high school athletic administration 51. Ten Mistakes to Avoid making to be your most successful 52. The future of interscholastic athletic leadership 53. How to use this book to help you be your best 54. Resources/References 55. Appendix 56. Acknowledgements 57. Blank notes pages 58. Meet the author The AD Survival Guide; why survive when you can THRIVE? Preface While a high school athletic administrator in Oregon some years ago now, my daughter had a conversation with a parent of her select soccer team regarding my position as an interscholastic athletic administrator. His statement to her was that “I had the best job going because I got paid to watch games”. His perception was that interscholastic athletic administrators did nothing more important or valuable than watch games. It is this misperception of the role and job description of the interscholastic athletic administrator as well as my deep desire to assist and encourage people in this profession that led me originally to write the Athletic Director Survival Guide. 3 I am convinced that athletic directors have an impact on their communities far beyond their title, position or their communities’ expectation. I am writing this book, in part, because I want you hard working and dedicated folks to have some tools to keep you connected, active and fresh in this important job so that you can have a maximum impact on those you serve on a daily basis. Athletic directors might be considered to be a bit like wallpaper in a home. The wallpaper is there for all to see but over time it is not something you focus on, you forget it is there at all. Athletic administrators are everywhere, morning, noon and night, often their time and effort is not fully appreciated by those being served. As I am concerned for the future of interscholastic athletic administration and those that practice this great profession, I want to do whatever I can to encourage, challenge and assist AD’s to be their very best. That is my motivation to write this book. I am concerned by three current trends in the interscholastic athletic administration field that also leads me to write on this subject: 1. Turnover in this profession. Last year in Oregon, out of 286 schools there were 45 new athletic administrators. This is not an anomaly but a yearly occurrence. Long hours, lack of support from administration, parental pressures, increased fundraising expectations and a trend toward more coaches coming from outside the education field than from within it. 2. The encroachment of club sports on current high school sport offerings. If I have heard it once I have heard it one hundred times, club sports are where kids go who win college scholarships, and high school sports don’t matter anymore. I strongly reject this thinking, high school sport is not just about the top 5% of athletes who can afford club sport participation and whose 4 primary goal is winning a college scholarship. High school sport is about the other 95% as well: those who gain self-confidence, joy, fitness, skill development, become more athletic and who learn life skills from educated, trained and motivated coaches who are there to make a lifelong impact. 3. Finally, my third motivation for this book comes from my desire to impact the next generation of high school athletic administrators. We need to be prepared to look ahead at those who will inherit the high school sport leadership scene. Without a proactive approach to recognition, selection and training for these future sports leaders we will lose momentum and impact on those participating. Current high school athletic administrators are seeing the future of high school athletic administration as they walk the halls of their schools each day. We need adults like you ready to encourage, invest in and challenge the next generation of athletic director leadership. The Athletic Director Survival Guide is written in an easy to understand, practical style with reflection questions at the end of each chapter for each AD to use for his or her every day professional growth. Few concrete, hands on training opportunities exist for interscholastic athletic administrators. Leadership Training Institute (LTI) are offered by the National Association of Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA). Often these classes are challenging to access and are usually focused on just one subject matter. While it is a privilege to spend four hours discussing specific content and these classes are excellent, it does not meet the day to day needs of athletic administrators referencing challenges that come up as regularly as the sun. The Athletic Director Survival Guide will become a daily reference guide for athletic directors from all over the USA who need assistance or encouragement with one of 5 the myriad issues with which athletic director’s encounter on a daily basis. Examples are practical and questions will challenge each athletic administrator to reflect upon their current practice. In addition to the use of the Athletic Directors Survival as a daily reference guide it will become the centerpiece of a summer AD Survival School concept that will become a reality in 2015 through the support and assistance of the NIAAA. A pilot program will run this summer in four two day sessions this summer in Oregon with the support of the Oregon Athletic Directors Association (OADA). This material would be a practical look into the world of high school athletic administration for those taking classes for a degree in athletic management and or athletic administration. I am unaware of other related materials that would give potential athletic administrators such practical, timely and helpful challenge into this profession. 6 Chapter 1 I have the title athletic director, now what? If you aim at nothing, you hit it every time. --Anonymous You look at the job description and your original enthusiasm wanes as you see the reality of the 27 different expectations under the words, job description. You were thrilled to be overseeing a program of coaches, facilities, working with parents, student athletes and school staff. You feel overwhelmed, you are not sure where you are to begin and how to make your way in this amazing profession. Often, job descriptions don’t cover the true focus or vision that a job requires. The lines under job description represent what you are supposed to do. That is for sure. If you do these tasks well no one will fault you for your work. You are living up to the expectations of the job description.