In light of recent events where other school systems in Maryland are threatening to eliminate the position of athletic directors (AD) due to budget cuts, it seemed an important time to take a look at the behind the scenes actions ADs do for school’s athletic programs and student athletes.
The school athletic director is responsible for all aspects of the school sports program from managing, budgeting, and giving opportunity to all student- athletes’ futures. Coach Ruocco is Kenwood High’s athletic director and his job is managing student- athletes, coaches, and staff to provide support and resources to every sports team. Athletic directors put in a lot of overtime hours event planning for tournaments and athletic events their school hosts for other schools, budgeting so all programs have what they need each season, and marketing to get team’s the support they need.
Coach Ruocco’s reflects on the challenge of budgeting a school’s athletic budget, “Balancing a high school athletic budget can prove to be challenging as the financial resources are limited and you have to support the operation of up to 45 different teams over 3 seasons. You have to carefully plan for who is due for new uniforms, equipment needs, facility upgrades, athletic training/medical supplies, etc. etc. Program wide and team fundraisers can help to augment the athletic budget.”
Athletics can play such an important role in a students’ educational and personal growth their four years in high school. Coach Ruocco shares Kenwood’s Athletics Vision, “Our primary commitment has always been to provide an opportunity for student-athletes to fully develop their academic and athletic potential. Through practice, training and competition Kenwood Athletics strives to instill in each student-athlete: hard work, perseverance, pride and sportsmanship.”
“Coach Ruocco does countless things in the background and is always supporting our athletes and is an advocate for us coaches,” adds Kenwood Coach Swain.
The role of athletic directors plays a big impact on the success of school sports. Playing for your school team is a long standing tradition across generations as representing your school on the field or court builds community pride not just for the players but for the whole community. Maintaining the availability and success of school sports relies on the role of the school athletic director. They do so much behind the scenes to keep this well loved tradition of playing for your school alive through the changing of generations.
