Can Turf Fields Pose Health Risks?

By Dennis Read

Athletic directors are used to watching contests played on their schools' fields. Now some are seeing battles being fought over them. Recent reports of high lead levels in a few synthetic turf fields have roused critics with concerns about the technology’s safety. However, industry leaders strongly stand behind the safety of their products, countering that there is no evidence linking synthetic turf to illness or environmental damage.

A Recipe for Safe Events

By Jay Hammes

Violence erupting at a high school sporting event is every athletic director’s worst nightmare. Jay Hammes, Athletic Director at William Horlick High School in Racine, Wis., shares tips for making events safer and more secure.

NCAA D-III Stands Pat, Issues Remain

By Michael Vienna

In March, the NCAA officially ended its discussion of creating a division or subdivision to address the growth of Division III, instead recommending a more broad-based approach in responding to the Association's continuing growth. Michael Vienna, Athletic Director at Salisbury University, shares his take on the discussion, including some ideas for moving forward.

A Sharp Facility

By Nate Dougherty

Herb Rhea, Head Athletic Trainer at Jenks (Okla.) High School, talks about the health and fitness center that was recently constructed at his high school. The facility, which contains an underwater treadmill, also houses a physical therapy clinic run by a local hospital.

Ready for Action

By Abigail Funk

One of the largest facilities of its kind, the Boo Williams Sportsplex is set to open in Hampton, Va., in March—less than one year after breaking ground on the project.

Lessons From the Journey

By Brian Gerrity

Contributor Brian Gerrity, currently completing a fellowship at Springfield College, shares a few of the lessons he’s learned while pursuing a career in athletic administration. These teaching points are great food for thought for up-and-coming administrators, and important reminders for established veterans and leaders in the profession.

Football Debates Early Signing Date

By Nate Dougherty

To address this acceleration of the recruiting process and alleviate the pressures on both student-athletes and coaching staffs, many coaches and administrators believe football should institute an early signing day for National Letters of Intent. This would allow athletes to make a binding commitment before the current February signing date and put the recruiting process behind them, possibly even before they begin their final season of high school football. But the idea is a contentious one, with strong beliefs held on both sides, and even supporters of an early signing period disagree on when one should be held.

Battling Booze and Body Paint

By Laura Ulrich

No high school contest would be the same without an enthusiastic student cheering section. Passionate, creative teenagers putting everything they’ve got into backing their school’s team on a Friday night are central to the high school sports experience. But for administrators, that unbridled enthusiasm often comes with a side of worries. This fall, two trends in high school fan behavior have been making headlines: alcohol and body paint.

Q&A with Joe Dean, Jr.

While moving into NCAA Division I can hardly be called routine, it’s far from unusual. Most every year, schools decide to make the move and suffer through the difficulties of the transitional years. In 1999, Birmingham-Southern College was one of those schools as it began the switch from NAIA to NCAA Division I. Eight years later, Birmingham-Southern finds itself at the beginning of another transition—one without recent precedent. Birmingham-Southern is now moving to Division III.

Q&A with Robb Vessely

The start of a new school year brings a host of new beginnings. From students to teachers to staff, people are embarking on new ventures. It’s a safe bet that few athletic administrators are facing bigger changes than Robb Vessely. After spending the last 13 years as an assistant athletic director at several Midwestern colleges including Ball State University, Indiana University, and Illinois State University, Vessely is now the Athletic Director at Eastern Hancock High School in Charlottesville, Ind., enrollment 345.

Not that the small-town life is completely new to Vessely, who grew in a small town in northern Indiana and whose father is the athletic director at Indiana’s North Judson-San Pierre High School. Still, Vessely’s work day promises to be a lot different at Eastern Hancock than it was at Illinois State. In this interview, Vessely talks about why he made the move, the differences between high school and college athletics, and what he hopes to accomplish in his new setting.

Intern Insider

By Brian Gerrity

Brian Gerrity is a 2005 graduate of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. At Bates, he was a two-year captain and a 1,000-point scorer for the men’s basketball team. In 2006-07, Gerrity worked at Yale University as an intern in the varsity sports office, where he acted as contest manager for Yale’s nationally-ranked women’s soccer and women’s hockey programs. Gerrity has accepted a fellowship to attend Springfield College in the fall of 2007 to pursue a master’s degree in Athletic Administration.

In August 2006, I accepted an internship to work in the athletic department at Yale University. Though I was treated as an equal and expected to perform important duties, the staff never lost sight of the fact this was a learning experience and my first taste of working in college athletics. During my time as an intern, I learned how an athletics program operates, the keys to getting hired for a permanent position, and some very valuable information about athletics as a whole. My goal for this blog is to share those lessons with others who have similar career aspirations.

Views From the Top

The 2006-07 athletic season at Jesuit High School in Portland, Ore., was the type most athletic directors can only dream about. Five of the school's teams won state championships, five more finished as runners up, 16 teams won Metro League titles, and a slew of other team and individual earned accolades. The entire year was topped off in June when Jesuit was named the nation’s top athletic program by Sports Illustrated.

Athletic Director Mike Hughes credits the program's success to a tight-knit coaching staff and a focus on team rather than individual accomplishments. It’s a philosophy he personally follows by calling on the school’s two previous athletic directors—now serving as assistant principals at the school—for help in guiding the program. Jim Naggi (Athletic Director from 1993-2000) and Chris Smart (Athletic Director from 2000-2005) form a link of experience dating back to the school’s first year as a co-ed institution and help Hughes maintain a continuity that’s spurred much of the program's success. In this interview, Hughes, Smart, and Naggi talk about how they work together, their philosophy on three-sport athletes, and getting coaches to cooperate with one another.

Hokies Regroup in Wake of Shootings

By Michael W. Goforth

Michael W. Goforth is Director of Athletic Training for Virginia Tech Athletics

On April 16, the institution I call home was attacked by one of its own. At 7:15 a.m., a student killed two of his fellow students in West Ambler Johnston Residence Hall. At 9:01 a.m., he mailed a package of writings and videos outlining his actions to NBC News. Two hours after the first shooting, that student chained the entrance to Norris Hall and proceeded to go on a nine-minute, 170-round killing spree that ended with him taking his own life. When he was done, 33 were dead, 25 were wounded, and an entire community was left devastated by another senseless act of violence.

There’s no doubt the events of that day will change our university and its students, alumni, and staff forever. As a school that values its athletic programs and our role in the overall student and community environment, we in the athletic department were all left with a desire to contribute in some way to the healing process and help the community get back on its feet.

Draft Prospects Schooled on APR

By Laura Ulrich

In early April, as the NCAA Division I Men’s Championship basketball tournament draws to a close, coaches and fans have traditionally watched very closely to see which players would declare for the NBA draft. In recent years, another group has also been interested—athletic administrators concerned about their teams’ Academic Progress Rates (APR).

Sharing One Shining Moment

Paul Griffin, Senior Associate Athletic Director at Georgia Tech, is a Co-Chair of the Game Management Committee for the 2007 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Final Four. In the days leading up to the Final Four, Athletic Management talked to Griffin about his role in making one of the most popular weekends in sports come off successfully.

Preventing MRSA

To help in the fight against MRSA, Athletic Management is offering five free posters you can download and use in your athletic department facilities. View Posters »