An Athletic Director Is Employed by a Public Or Private School System to Manage Their Athletic

Jerry McGee, CAA

Executive Director

Chris Roehner, CMAA

President

The Importance of an Athletic Administrator

An Athletic Administrator is employed by a public or private school system to manage their athletic and sports programs. They must be able to administer and supervise, as well as provide the most comprehensive athletic program possible for all enrolled students.

Athletic Directors develop and are responsible for the recruiting, hiring, training and supervising of qualified employees for the school system. But, how import is the athletic administrator to the day-to-day operation of the school and what exactly do they do?

The specific role will always vary with the individual, the scope and size of his/her program, and maybe a dozen other things. Still, the job comes with a lot of built-in responsibilities.

Student-Athletes: Work with student athletes to achieve balance between academics and athletics, noting the importance of communicating eligibility standards, training and behaviorrules, and athletic codes. Develops system to monitor attendance, academic performance and personal conduct. Develops a student leadership initiative among athletes and captains of boys and girls teams
Personnel: Hiring, motivating, informing, supervising, training, and evaluating coaches (for up to 4 levels of competition) (athletic trainers??)
Stakeholders: Cooperative work with parents, faculty, administration, and the community to develop, support and maintain successful programs.
Communication: Disseminating information regarding the complicated task of developing schedules for practice and competition, as well as administering the departmental budget. Publish and provide coaches and student-athlete handbooks.
Administration: Provide strategies for working cooperatively with other departments; promote school spirit, and broadening the visibility and impact of athletics. Develops system to account for parent permission, medical exams, insurance, authorization to treat injuries, acknowledge contents of parent athlete code and coaches manual
Public Relations: Implement strategies and provide materials for maintaining effective public relations; establish relationships with local stakeholders and organizations.
Legal Issues: Responding to immediate and unanticipated legal issues (14 legal Duties). Develop and implement Emergency Action and Crisis Management Plans.
Human Resources/Conflict Management: Ancillary issues including but not limited to working with cheerleaders, team physicians, booster clubs, national organizations, and support staff (announcers, ticket takers, crowd control personnel, security guards, equipment managers, contest officials, certified athletic trainers, secretarial and custodial staff).
General Responsibilities: Operation of the athletic department in accordance with policies and regulations prescribed or directed by NCHSAA, Local Board (LEA), and the Local Conference. Represents the school at league and state meetings.
Event Management: Arrange event supervision, ticket sellers, announcers, game officials, security, and the readiness of the playing surface. Responsible for the development and implementation of an active community-wide sportsmanship/citizenship program.
Assessment: Assesses and analyzes player and parent satisfaction as follows: assess program satisfaction (by parents, athletes), assessment of coaches (by parents, athletes, administrators), and administer assessments (by coaches and senior administrators).
Budget Director: prepares budgets, monitors expenses, pays bills, and is accountable for the athletic department’s share of the school budget.
Advocate: Standard /bearer, spokesman, defender, and promoter for the department; often initiates improvements, expansion, changes, and new programs.
Visionary: Strategic or long-term planning, guides and compilation of thorough review of mission statements, goals, and status of all current programs and facilities; projection of the needs and directions for the future as well as necessary steps for successful achievement.
Schedule Coordinator facilities, officials, transportation, private sector, recreation and intramurals
Equipment and Facilities Maintenance Issues cleaning and repair contracts with certified repair companies to maintain player equipment in accordance with National Oper4ating Committee on Safety of Athletic Equipment standards (NOCSAE). Uses sport specific checklists to inspect facilities for damage or dangerous condition. Disallows access or use until repairs made,

This is by no means an all-inclusive list. It is simply a starting point. How important is the Athletic Director? You decide. What does an Administrator of athletics do? He or she establishes the climate of sportsmanship, fair play and ethical conduct within the athletics department and to a large extent within the entire high school! Chances are that he, or she, is enjoying every minute of it as they build relations with student-athletes and constituents. Serving as an athletic administrator is rewarding, fulfilling and professionally challenging. Getting involved in local, state (NCHSAA, NCCA), and national associations (NIAAA, NF) will allow you to network with people who may have had a similar experience. I would strongly suggest that you rely on the fellowship and membership within these organizations to assist you. Good luck!

Chris Roehner, CMAA

NCADA President

PO Box 307, 33 Camden Causeway, Elizabeth City, NC 27907, Phone: 252-335-7396,