When schools are closed, many school employees have an opportunity to catch up on their busy workloads or get to enjoy a day off. Athletic directors aren't usually that fortunate. The cancellation of sports games creates a whole new set of problems. The athletic directors were put to the test recently when snow, cold, and ice played havoc with the schedules. Snow wiped out the first two play dates following Christmas break – January 2 and 3. Then the Polar Vortex postponed activities slated for January 6 and 7.
Although school was cancelled January 7, Perryville High athletic director George Rash spent more than two hours working the phones. "And that was an easy day because I was mostly dealing with county schools," he said. It becomes even more complicated when school is in session but afterschool activities are canceled. "People don't realize what we do," Rash said. "There are a lot of calls to make." The athletic directors have to be in contact with the opposing coach, make an announcement at school, contact coaches who do not work in the building, call the athletic trainer, bus company, officials, and people slated to work the scoreboard or the gate. Even when Cecil County Schools are canceled, the school system of a Perryville opponent may not be. The Panthers had a wrestling match and girls basketball game postponed on January 2 and another girls basketball game postponed on January 3. On January 6, the girls basketball team was able to get their afternoon game in, but the plummeting temperatures forced the postponement of that evening's boys' game. Both the boys and girls basketball teams had a game postponed on January 7. Rash estimates he spent a total of 10 hours dealing with the postponements and trying to reschedule the games. Athletic directors are paid $5,000 a year. "People think we make $60,000 a year as an athletic director but my number one job is teaching," he said. Rash teaches honors trigonometry, honors pre calculus, and algebra. He does have one planning period for teaching and another for his athletic director job. Some school systems have full-time athletic directors, but that does not interest Rash because he loves teaching. Although it can be stressful, he still likes serving as athletic director. "I enjoy it," said Rash, who is in his 19th year as Perryville's AD. "I like being around the kids and working with the kids and I like sports." As of last Thursday night, each of the postponed events had been rescheduled. Rash didn't have much time to celebrate. Schools were closed Friday, forcing the postponement of a rescheduled boys basketball game against Harford Tech that had been originally set for January 7. Comments are closed.
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