Best Athletic Director to ever run the show

Word came last week that Mike Beard, the Athletic Director at Clinton County High School, had resigned from that position.

It’s no secret that Mike and I are close friends, as is his entire family to my family, and have been for many, many years.

Why we would be looking for a new Athletic Director at Clinton County High School is beside the point, although I’m sure budget restrictions figured in and from what little explanation I could get from Mike, I understand that his main concern was that he could no longer devote enough time to the A.D. job to do it justice, and in the long run, it would be the student-athletes who would suffer the most.

I’m going to date myself here, but I’ve worked in my position here at the Clinton County News with every single Athletic Director since the position was first created and held by Lindle Castle, who served in the position from the mid 1970s through the 1980s.

We’ve had some good ones and we’ve had some who weren’t so much so, but if the job is done as it should be, it’s a time consuming job that requires more time and effort than most people realize.

Mike Beard was the best at the job that I have ever worked with and I don’t care to share that sentiment with all of you readers, now that he has decided to step down from that position, and continue in his teaching and coaching career.

Mike managed to coordinate the fine tunings of all of the sports programs offered at Clinton County High School and deal with other Athletic Directors and coaches across the state with issues that had to be ironed out with every sport.

He had to make sure officials were in place, pre-game ceremonies were organized, halftime events were correctly scheduled, letter jackets were ordered, bus drivers were scheduled and the list goes on and on and on.

In addition to all of that, Mike also had to deal with getting information out to media types like myself before seasons started, special events were held, and tournament pairings were lined up.

After that first year, I don’t think I ever had to call Mike more than once about a piece of information I needed in order to promote a game, or an individual player. More often that not, Mike would send the information before I could even ask for it.

High School athletics isn’t the one or two sport program it was many years ago and keeping up with all that needs to be done is not only a big responsibility, but it’s a very time consuming job as well. If you don’t think so, just slack up on getting a few forms turned in to the KHSAA office and see how that goes for your school.

Bottom line is that Mike Beard was without a doubt, the best Athletic Director that Clinton County High School ever had and he pulled all of those A.D. duties off in the best of fashion, making sure all of the details were in place, in addition to his coaching and teaching duties.

He did all of that without an Assistant Athletic Director, a position that is becoming more and more commonplace even among smaller high schools in Kentucky which are, like us, trying to offer the most opportunities possible for our student athletes.

Last year I reported that Mike had been honored by his Athletic Director counterparts across the 4th Region by being named 4th Region Athletic Director of the Year.

Now, I’m sad to report that Mike has stepped down from that position, for the consideration of the student athlete.

Thanks Mike for all you did and for taking the pride in our program and school to make sure that every “i” had been dotted, and every “t” had been crossed before you left for the next activity.

Mike’s decision to step down was one that I’m sure was with tremendous thought, consideration and discussion, and he had to do what was best for Mike – which is ultimately what he felt would be the best for the student athlete.

I’m still proud to call him one of my best friends but I’m sure whomever takes on those duties will find that he has left some mighty big shoes to fill.

I hope, for the sake of the program and for the student athlete and for the reputation of our high school, the next Athletic Director is able to do the job as well as Mike did.