What is an Athletic Director, and who is our Athletic Director?
An Athletic Director (AD) is an administrator who is responsible for the management and success of sports programs at any educational institution. Their responsibilities include developing growth plans, managing budgets for the programs, hiring and supervising coaches, and much more.
The Athletic Director of Sutton Middle/High School is Mathew Friedman. This is his 2nd year in the position.
The beginning of his day is very flexible. He tends to come into school between 7:30 and 9:00 am. This is because most of his job is after school, and he stays later almost daily, sometimes not leaving until 6:00 pm or later.
Some of the first things he does when he arrives at school are to clean up from the previous day, check the schedules, and ensure everything is set up, including transportation and fields. He also checks in with coaches and athletes to ensure they are all set and ready for game day or practice.
Another thing he does in the morning is catch up on any emails that came in the night before and plan what he needs to do for all the events of that day to go smoothly.
He also works on schedules for the upcoming seasons. He makes a lot of phone calls and emails to other ADs and administrators about schedules and coaching during the day.
Mr. Friedman will also attend meetings or conferences when needed, which would keep him from being in the school building some days.
When school is over, he goes to practices or games that are either on campus or near Sutton and observes the players and the coaches. He also provides any support that is needed to the teams.
On game days, he has a little more responsibility, like setting up for the event(s), making sure there are athletic trainers, and officials and scorekeepers.
He always has to be ready for change, such as schedule, coaching, and athletes. Change occurs in his schedule daily.
Something I asked him was what his favorite sports season is, and he said fall because of the weather. The fall is also his busiest season due to how many sports are going on. Right now, during the season, he is averaging 20 to 50 calls and way too many emails to count.
Once his scheduling for the season is finalized, that is when they get the transportation. There is a transportation director, who is by the superintendent’s office. Mr. Friedman gives her the schedule, and they meet up once a week to go over any changes that are needed.
This is just the beginning of what Mr. Friedman or any athletic director does. Without him or our previous athletic directors, students would not have sporting opportunities. Thank you for all that you do, Mr. Friedman.
