Coupeville HS/MS Athletic Director Willie Smith. (John Fisken photo)
The man in the head office has a few words for you.
Willie Smith has spent two decades-plus at Coupeville High School, working as a teacher, coach and Athletic Director.
This is his second time around as AD, having re-assumed the post at the start of the 2016-2017 school year. He previously held the position for five years, stepping away in 2009.
Today’s column marks the launch of “ADD: Athletic Director Directives,” which will give Smith a chance to impart the “thoughts and musings of a small-town AD with big-time dreams.”
Is this mic on?
Whenever a new leader, supervisor, head man, big cheese, whatever you want to call it, takes over, there is a period of transition and philosophical change that occurs and that is what we are in currently.
My goal, in writing this, as well as follow-up articles, is to give all of you insight into what the goals are for our athletic program and to let you in on how those goals came to be; however, fair warning that entering into my world, especially my head, may not always be advisable.
First, my role as I see it, is to be an advocate in all aspects of our athletic program: student athletes, coaches, parents, and administration.
I have coached for over 20 years, been part of building two different programs from the elementary level up, am unafraid to ask questions and speak up, am extremely competitive, and am fiercely loyal to our schools, kids, and coaches.
I am not political, nor always politically correct, whatever that means, but I am never demeaning, nor crass in my opinions or decisions.
I am what you see and what you hear (well, depending on the person telling you what I am) but I am not going to tell you one thing and do another.
In forming who I was as a coach and a player, I had some very good coaches, and some very poor coaches; I played at the state level, and went win-less for an entire season.
As a coach, I stressed the fundamentals, had high expectations of myself, players, and coaches; I even yelled every now and then, but always tried to be the first to congratulate when kids did it right.
I have no idea what my overall win/loss record is but am super proud that my teams improved from the beginning of the year to the end, had high character, didn’t make excuses, outworked most other teams, and got to experience a lot of successes, both at league level and state level.
I believe that middle and high school athletics can be the most rewarding experience in a student’s life.
There is no book, quiz, or state test in the education system that can teach you so many different lessons and put you in so many life experiences.
In any given game or contest you can rise to euphoria and in the next instant, be brought to your knees.
You have to work as a team, experience a wide array of personalities, deal with adversity and conflict, confront your emotions, and ultimately, be able to talk with and come to tenable solutions with those that are in charge of you.
Those that say, “Winning isn’t everything” are correct (though it is a lot of fun); there are many other successes that kids, coaches, and communities can embrace: high character, work ethic, teamwork, commitment, service, accountability.
I truly believe that if our students, coaches, parents, and community embrace these things winning takes care of itself, and even if it doesn’t, these are values that we should all aspire to.
This is the vision of the Athletic Department, it is at the bottom of each of the Athletic Director emails:
CHARACTER LEADERSHIP ACCOUNTABILITY SPORTSMANSHIP SERVICE
These are the values, the basis of all decisions, and the vision moving forward.
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