CHS Athletic Director Willie Smith mingles with next gen hoops stars. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
High school athletic directors rarely get time off.
At least that’s true for the top-notch ones, who often sacrifice family and personal time to deal with the 40,001 quirks of the biz.
Case in point, Orcas Island AD Ryan Wilson and his counterpart at Mount Vernon Christian, Pat Russell.
Wednesday, the duo was out and about, running a district golf tourney while also trying to solve ferry-related transportation issues, and dealing with a blogger who primarily writes about a school that is not their own.
But since the subject at hand was long-time Coupeville AD Willie Smith, both Wilson and Russell were happy to balance chatting on the phone with trying to keep things running smoothly for their duffers.
Smith is the current president of the Northwest 2B/1B League, where Orcas, MVC, and Coupeville are joined by Concrete, Friday Harbor, Darrington, and La Conner.
That lineup has pushed each other hard over the past couple of years, helping battle-harden teams which have gone on to win multiple state titles in sports such as boys’ soccer and volleyball.
Now, as Coupeville Schools administrators ponder possible budget cuts, one proposal is to remove Smith as AD and hand his duties to an assistant principal, whose own job would be slashed from 216 days to 200.
That doesn’t sit well with Wilson and Russell.
The former is in his fifth year as Orcas AD, while the latter, like Smith, is a veteran, having worked for several schools.
One runs athletic programs at a public school on a far-flung island, the other a private school on the mainland.
But both share similar thoughts about the man who has been the face of Coupeville sports as the Wolves have prospered — athletically, academically, and socially.
“Willie has become one of my mentors,” Wilson said. “If I’m coming to Coupeville, the first person I call is him.
“What I appreciate is he’s more than a pencil pusher in the job. I can call or text him at 5 AM, he can reach out to me at 11 PM, and we’re both going to respond.
“If you want excellent programs, like Willie does, you have to want to put in the work, to get your own hands dirty, and have skin in the game. That’s big!”
Russell has taught, coached, and spent time in administration, both as an AD and as a principal.
Through it all, MVC’s man in charge has found Smith a colleague worthy of deep respect.
“Willie brings professionalism to everything he does,” Russell said.
“So many times, with the league, we’ve been able to solve issues because of his deep knowledge gained through years of being involved with leagues of varying size.
“We work closely together, and a large part of our success hinges on our past experience,” he added. “Our league works better with Willie in it.”
The Mount Vernon Christian AD has seen experiments with handing off AD duties to principals, assistants, secretaries, even superintendents, all while asking them to balance multiple jobs at the same time.
Some had the power to put their personal stamps on things, while others had no authority to make changes. The end result was almost always the same.
“Even if it’s a great person, no matter how it’s set up, functionally it just doesn’t work,” Russell said.
Smith has come through this before, having his AD duties erased for several years, before returning to the job, faced with needing to push hard to get Coupeville athletics back to where they were before.
This time around, despite being hammered by a pandemic, he has guided a resurgence.
Rosters are at an all-time high for most Wolf sports teams, with CHS earning its first state tournament berths in football and boys’ basketball in 30+ years.
Three of four spring sports teams are playing to advance to state, while every sport at the school, varsity and JV, achieved a 3.1 or higher team GPA this school year.
Athletes are committed, coaches and teachers are committed, the community is committed, and that springs from Smith’s hands-on, always-available mentality.
“Willie has good quality programs across the board, and that contributes to success at other schools as well,” Wilson said.
“He has spent so much time getting these programs where they are, and we know, in every sport, Orcas will be pushed by Coupeville.
“That’s what you want in a league if possible – no gimme games,” he added.
“We love having that competition, and that commitment to excellence from our closest rivals. Willie has built that, and I don’t know it stays the same without him guiding things.”
