The following are the five most-asked questions posed by students. In my next blog, I will answer questions from my students I have deemed to be the most interesting and most challenging.

Is there a traditional career path to becoming an Athletic Director at the high school level?
The path to becoming an athletic administrator was once a very traditional one. High school coaches who had solid organizational skills, were detail oriented, understood the value of interscholastic athletics in the school setting, and who were no longer interested in continuing their coaching career often transitioned into the roles of school administrators—principals, athletic directors, and central office administrators. They were already respected leaders as coaches, so the move was a natural one.

In recent years, the trend to take on the additional responsibilities that come with being an athletic director has declined. This is in part due to higher teacher salaries. Why work 18-hour days and summers when the payoff is minimal?

For this reason, today’s high school athletic administrators come from a wide variety of settings. Some candidates come as recent graduates from collegiate sport management programs, others migrate from the business community, and there are those who move from the collegiate to high school ranks. Another trend is to hire someone who holds the duties of both coach and athletic director, but who may not come from the education field.

What are the most rewarding and challenging aspects of being an athletic administrator?
The most rewarding part of being an athletic director is the behind-the-scenes effort that goes into the facilitation of the sports program. No one knows the amount of detailed work that goes into the various components of athletics. The result is seeing the fruition of those efforts in the form of interscholastic athletic competition. Watching students learn valuable life lessons via sports is extremely gratifying.

Being part of a winning team made up of a vast group of people is both rewarding and challenging at the same time. The athletic director must gain willing cooperation from coaches, custodians, secretaries, principals, and all others involved in making wheels of athletics turn—all in unison.

Do you see recruiting as a problem in high school athletics?
A big challenge facing high school athletic directors in this country is the transfer of students from one school to another for purposes of athletic intent. One stellar basketball player can lead a school to a conference, regional, and state championship. A high school football team graduating a veteran Division I quarterback might have to change its offense next season, or recruit a new quarterback from another school.

The majority of high schools in this country play with the hand they are dealt. However, with the onslaught of cyber schools, charter schools, and the willingness of parents to uproot their families for athletic purposes is problematic. Parents have become more familiar with transfer rules and they’re willing to hire a lawyer and quicker to challenge a decision that has rendered their child ineligible.

How do you handle complaints from parents and the community?
I am a strong advocate of customer service. Parents and community members are our clients, and we promptly respond to questions they have about tryout processes, participation, and use of our facilities. That’s why it is important to have procedures in place to handle complaints to our department.

Why was my child cut from the team? Are you neglecting getting the field ready for the softball team in favor of the baseball team? Why don’t we have a junior high boys’ volleyball team since our varsity team has low numbers? Why don’t you make more gym time available to the community?

We ask our program’s parents to consider having their child first go to their coach if they have a problem, before the parents get involved. Teaching the kids to take responsibility for things they bring up at the dinner table is often the best remedy. If after that, parents wish to bring forth a concern, they should do so within the parameters set forth by the coach. We encourage them to have a “24 hour rule,” which asks them to wait 24 hours after an incident, before speaking to the coach about it. This rule can help diffuse emotions in tense situations, such as their child not making a team or receiving enough playing time.

What ingredients go into making a successful athletic administrator?
The athletic director needs to have solid communication skills. They need to be someone who gets things done—and gets them done now! This means building relationships, which takes time, effort, and constant positive reinforcement. No one writes or e-mails more thank-you notes than me.

Other important ingredients to success are strong organizational skills, and paying attention to detail. Simply put, we cannot afford to make mistakes. Checking and rechecking schedules, game official assignments, assigning workers and volunteers to events, and securing facility use for practices and contests are just a few things that come to mind.

George Allen, former head football coach of the Washington Redskins once said, “Consistency is the truest form of success.” Conducting business the same way, day in and day out, week in and week out, month after month, and year after year is a key ingredient to the role of athletic administrator.

Dan Cardone is Athletic Director at North Hills High School in Pittsburgh, Pa. He is a frequent contributor to Athletic Management.