Being an Athletic Director

Scott Bruno

Stay motivated- Work Hard- Patience

Athletic directors, ordinarily known as “AD’s” act as administrators at the college/university level, large high schools and middle schools. Athletic directors supervise coaches and any other staff members who are involved in the athletic program. Athletic director’s main responsibility is to provide supervision in

the school’s athletic department. AD’s need to deal with budgets that include, coaches’ salaries, team travel expensive, equipment and having enough staff members. High school level AD’s holds the responsibility of being the leader in all of these areas as in the college level there are co-workers who help the head AD with these jobs.

Athletic directors work with coaches to try and provide the best schedule for their teams to play. All coaches and the head AD need to plan accurately for their teams and give them the best shot for playing in the post-season. Athletic directors at the high school level and at the college level both need to make sure their student athletes are maintaining good grades. For example, AD’s at the high school level coincide with school administrators to make sure that student athletes are doing well in their classes and are eligible for their sports. AD’s at the college and university level work with a compliance officer to make sure that

student athletes are achieving the right GPA in order to participate in their sports.

High school and middle school athletic directors have a little bit of a different lifestyle then college athletic directors. High school and middle school AD’s usually start their careers by being teachers and coaches in their local school system. All athletic directors need to have a bachelor’s degree in either health education or physical education along with pertaining a master’s degree in education administration or sports management. However, if one’s desires is to

1

Scheduling,

Budgets,

Staff

“If winning isn’t everything, why do they keep score?” Vince Lombardi

1

Being an Athletic Director

Masters Programs, Coaching experience,

Certifications

purse a career in being a high school or middle school athletic director, he or she needs to have a principles certification.

When applying for an athletic director job, applicants should have

numerous skills that include, planning, communication skills, organizing skills and general knowledge on sports.

There are many benefits and challenges’ working as an athletic director and it is a great career to pursue. Athletic directors want to work with coach

es and players to make sure that their team is the best on the market. Being an athletic director puts you in a very important to make sure your team succeeds. In order for your team to succeed AD’s need to make sure their coaches and athletes are happy with their programs and schedules. College and university athletic directors can come across interventions that they have no control over such as, budgets, rule changes and even other school related matters. High school athletic directors may face problems with parents and coaches and more importantly grades with athletes. An important challenge that big division I school athletic directors can face has to deal

with the media. As soon as a problem stirs up with a student athlete and grades or team misconduct, head athletic directors are always the ones who have to deal with it. Recently, some big division I schools have had to deal with certain coaches who have

altercations with their own players and officials

who want that coach out of that position.

Generally high school athletic

directors make anywhere between

$50,000- $80,000 a year where college athletic directors make a median of $100,000 a year

2

“It’s a round ball and a round bad, and you got to hit it square” Pete

Rose

2

Being an Athletic Director

Name URL General Audience

Rating

National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics

http://www.nacda.com/ Schedules, schools, events

Athletic Directors

3

A National Professional Association Serving Athletic Directors

http://www.nacda.com/ Profile of an AD and different board members

Athletic Directors

3

National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association

http://www.niaaa.org/ Different programs, awards for athletic administrators

Athletic Directors

2

Washington Township High School

http://www.wtps.org/WTHS/athletic/index.html Athletic directors at the high school level

Anyone

3

Athletic http://www.naia.org/ViewArticle.dbml? About the Athleti 2

3

3

Being an Athletic Director

Directors, NAIA

DB_OEM_ID=27900&ATCLID=205327003 NAIA c Directors

Athletic Directors lobbying NCAA

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/athletic-directors-lobbying-ncaa-for-more-control-of-college-sports-024802663.html

College Athletic Directors wanting more control of college sports

Athletic Directors

3

4

4