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For this roundtable discussion, we talked to athletic directors and coaches from across the country about their summer schedules, including travel and reading plans to career development clinics and workshops. The following people make up our panel:
• Dan Cardone, Athletic Director at North Hills High School in Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Kenneth Cheeseman, Head Football Coach at White Pass High School in Randle, Wash.
• David Hoch, Athletic Director at Loch Raven High School in Baltimore County, Md.
• Chuck Jones, Athletic Director at North Central High School in Indianapolis, Ind.
• Kirby Whitacre, Director of Athletics at South Bend (Ind.) Community School Corporation

AM: What are you doing this summer?

Whitacre: Working around the house, keeping tabs on the office, spending time with the family, and playing softball twice per week.

Cheeseman: I am actually very busy this summer as we have combined two school programs. This has created a lot of new work. For example, one of the schools is rebuilding, so we have to switch everything over to the other school. I also have a larger coaching staff, which means holding more coaching meetings and finding a mutual location to host them.

Jones: So there is something called summer vacation? On the level that we are on, size of school and program, it is pretty much 24/7/365 for our entire office. We will minimize our workload after the 4th of July and make only brief appearances until the week of July 27. During that time it will be family and some travel to Michigan and simply getting away from the school and office.

Hoch: Most athletic directors operate on overwhelming schedules, have to meet relentless deadlines and exist on limited sleep during the school year and I'm no exception. The summer is a time to regenerate.

My normal response is that I "watch" the tomatoes grow with our dog Maggie from the deck. I may water them if needed, but try to avoid all strenuous activities other than my daily morning run.

Since my wife retired a year ago as a middle school teacher, I will have to be extremely creative to avoid her long, long Honey Do List. But I'm up to the challenge.

In Baltimore County, we only get paid for seven to 10 days over the summer. Most athletic directors usually go into the office on their own and easily double this figure. But it still leaves enough time to kick back and become human again.

Whether on the deck or in our family room during the evening, I try to spend some time on projects and ideas which are simply impossible to do during the normal year. On my summer list are the following:
• Revise our Parent Handbook ... and actually have already finished it
• Rewrite several items for our fall coaches' meeting
• Prepare the materials needed for our Hall of Fame Meeting in late August
• Put together instructions and guidelines for our coaches to solicit sponsorship and advertising possibilities for our stadium and gym
• Write several professional articles

Do you have any travel plans?

Cheeseman: No, too busy to go anywhere this summer.

Whitacre: No. Not really, though I do plan to get to the ballpark and watch some minor league baseball.

Hoch: Only a few days that we are going to spend around the 4th of July at my 88 year-old mother's in Pennsylvania. This holiday trip is an annual event during which my brother and I usually trim scrubs and behave like teenagers again. Of course, my wife claims we've never really matured past this point.

In early August, I have a two-day professional meeting in Indianapolis, which requires some travel.

I do get a reprieve from my wife's Honey Do List when she visits with her college roommate for a week in July. It is amazing how little Maggie and I do during that week.

Cardone: I had the chance to go to Italy in the spring of 2009. It was my sixth time visiting this country. I immensely enjoy the history, culture, and especially the food as an American of Italian descent.

Every summer, I work the Penn State football camp held on the campus of Penn State University. The opportunity to teach young men the sport of football is rewarding, as is the interaction with coaches from different areas of the country. It serves to keep those of us in athletic administration attuned to the challenges and rewards of coaching interscholastic athletics. I value the experience.

Jones: My wife and I focus on Michigan, starting at New Buffalo and will work north to Traverse City with no real plan in mind. I have to do enough planning during the year so it is nice to simply leave and fly by the seat of my pants. I am surrounded by great people so it is nice not to have to worry.

What is on your summer reading list?

Hoch: During the school year, I basically skim professional magazines and journals when they arrive to see if there is anything that needs my immediate attention. I then pile them on a shelf in my office at home to be read during the summer.

If I have any time after wading through this monstrous stack, I have Big Russ & Me by Tim Russert waiting to be read.

Jones: I am finishing up The Match: The Day the Game Changed Forever by Mark
Frost and probably will begin The Greatest Game Ever Played, also by Mark
Frost. Two great golf books written in historical context.

Whitacre: Red and Me by Bill Russell, Tibetan Buddhism and Modern Physics by Vic Mansfiled, and A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle.

Cardone: I try to read books with the least number of pages and the biggest print. This summer I am reading the following:

Michelangelo's Mountain, by Eric Scigliano. I had the opportunity to visit the marble quarries of Carrara, Italy, where Michelangelo obtained his marble. The world famous sculptor, who carved the Pieta, Moses, and the statue of David, went personally to select the stone from the marble mountains in this northwest corner of Tuscany. By living and working alongside those who mined the marble, and transported the marble, Michelangelo was in on the process from the start to finish. To him, this was the most important of all tasks, to pick the right material, and to fully understand how difficult and dangerous an undertaking this was in ancient times. He had to be engaging, demanding, and exhibit extraordinary people skills to enlist the support from the individuals who mined marble.

Competitive Leadership, by Brian Billick. The former NFL coach divulges the Twelve Principles for Success. These include Understanding the Essence of Leadership, Being a Team Builder, Being a Problem Solver, and Being a Communicator. The section on Verbal Communication Skills was something I found extremely valuable. To project success, Coach Billick says "you don't just sound like you feel, you also think the way you sound. Speak with the expectation of success."

Cheeseman: I just finished the leadership books from Craig Hillier. They are GREAT for your team leaders and captains. I have started with the following: Creating Your Own Destiny by Patrick Snow, which is a good foundation book on how to get exactly what you want out of life; How Successful People Think by John Maxwell, which like many of his books is great motivation and good tips on leadership. Another is Be Yourself Everyone Else Is Already Taken by Mike Robbins. I'm just starting it, but it's already very interesting and is about how to change your life for yourself.

Do you have any professional development activities planned?

Cardone: I'll be a member of the Pennsylvania Delegation to the 2009 NFHS National Student Leadership Conference in Indianapolis in July. I am also Co-Director and Founder of the Western Pennsylvania Student Athlete Leadership Academy (SALA). In August, over 250 student athletes from the Pittsburgh Region will attend this event to foster their leadership skills. They have been identified as team captains of the sports teams at their high schools. This event is held annually at Robert Morris University, and is endorsed by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the WPIAL (Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association).

Hoch: I'm teaching two NIAAA Leadership Training Courses in July at the Maryland State Athletic Directors Association Summer Institute. The second course incorporates a LTC course and includes a day-long presentation for our New and Aspiring Athletic Directors Workshop.

Whitacre: I am completing a coaches handbook and currently writing my second book, which is about slowpitch softball and life (I'm only a few pages in so it may not really get done....we'll see). It's tentatively titled: Slow Pitch Softball, Confessions of a Geezer. I also might check into other job options like a career switch or maybe go back to teaching.

Cheeseman: The Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association will be putting on a coaching clinic at the start of August, and our local hospital is putting on a clinic on concussions right before practice starts. This is designed to spread information about our new state laws on concussion.

Jones: I don't have anything planned. I am old and too close to retirement to follow that route. However, I do attend our state AD convention here in Indiana and hope to go to the national convention. I spoke at the state convention last spring and I find that more rewarding than any professional work in the summer.