CARTERVILLE (WSIL) -- Our local high school athletic directors have a tough job. They put in countless hours. They are pulling all the right strings to make sure we have local sports, so we go beyond the highlights with some of our local AD's.
"Speaking on behalf of all athletic directors, this is what we do," Marion Athletic Director Ryan Goodisky said. "We get used to schedule changes and some years are better than others but we do it for the kids. That's what t's about and the kids have had a hard enough school year and if a little more work on my plate benefits them then, that's all that matters to me."
"What gets lost is this whole thing is you want everybody to be safe," Eldorado Athletic Director Greg Goodley said. "We agree with that a hundred percent, our administration is fully behind that but you want to give these young men an opportunity and young women the opportunity to play. Tey worked all their lives to get to this point to be in high school, to be able to play for their school and they put a lot of time in."
Schools may be opponents on the court or playing field, but through these challenging times, athletic directors have leaned on each other like teammates. They all quickly realized if we are going to get in athletic seasons, they need to work together.
In the River to River Conference we've all worked well together to get a schedule together and to get officials has been great," Du Quoin Athletic Director Derek Beard said. "I know they are overwhelmed too but all the AD's I've worked with have been great in scheduling games and reschedule things and we may have to cancel some non conference games and reschedule conference games. It's been a mess here this week but people are working well together for the kids."
"Every AD is in the same boat," Goodley added. "We text each other, call each other all the time. Getting officials for games when you make games up. It's just a lot of time on the phone but every AD in the area, we all know each other, we all communicate back and forth even if we had a game canceled what if the officials we had, can we send them to you, that kind of stuff. It's a pretty close-knit group, everybody works together, everybody is trying to find games and we are trying to give these kids an opportunity to play and we are doing everything possible to allow them to get games in."
If you spot an local athletic director, good chance they are on their phone. They are great communicators and have really taken to social media to keep us informed. Marion's Ryan Goodisky said he got some of the best career advice from Mount Vernon's Doug Creel.
"You got to stay ahead of it and that's something I took to heart," Goodisky said. "Anytime there's a change, I'm on it immediately. I'm letting workers know, contacting officials, I'm talking to coaches and I'm trying to contact our parents and local media."
Our AD's are kings of multi-tasking. Some have young children at home and they're able to balance the job and family life.
"For me it's been really wild," Beard said. "We just had a newborn two weeks ago, as soon as basketball started we had a new baby in the house so it's been wild here the last couple weeks but my wife is very supportive and people here at the school are very supportive as well."
"This year, they've probably seen me more than ever," Goodisky said. "In a normal year, I'm gone 4-5 nights a week so I think they know this is what dad does and it's time for dad to go to work and I think they are happy I get to do what I love and that's all that matters at the end of the day."
