Athletic Director

In today’s world the athlete is treated on the same level as royalty in other countries. Those that perform well are handsomely rewarded financially and given an incredibly large amount of respect. Behind many of these secular saints there is a much less glamorous but no less difficult position. That being the athletic director.

The athletic director is a job that exists in nearly all levels of sport. There are high school athletic directors and those that work in the professional sports. They have a difficult job with lots of responsibility. They are usually well paid but have to deal with all of the hassles and headaches of the sporting world.

An athletic director at the high school level is responsible for the school’s sporting program. The manage all of the team sports and are responsible for the game schedules. It is many times the athletic director’s job to spread the funding and make sure all the various team sports are treated fairly.

The athletic director duties become increasingly intense the higher up one goes. The athletic director at the college or university level has many more responsibilities than those in high schools. This is largely due to the size of colleges and universities compared to high schools and the wider range of sporting teams that they tend to have.

An athletic director does need to be qualified in some way. There are various ways however to achieve this. Most athletic directors have served as coaches at some level or another. The are familiar with athletics and take that experience with them into the athletic director position. Others may earn an academic qualification in management or physical education as well.

A position as an athletic director is usually well paid. However, they do not receive the praise, respect or glory that the athletes receive. Athletic directors work extremely hard to make sports programs a success. They receive very little credit for their successes but all of the criticism for the failures. One has to really want an athletic director position to be able to survive for long. Outside of finance, there are limited rewards.