At the ECAC-SIDA Convention (June 9) Wheaton College Associate Director of Athletics John Sutyak and Wellesley College Assistant AD Avery Esdaile presented their thoughts and suggestions for SID's interested in moving up the athletic administration ladder.
Sutyak began his athletics career serving Wheaton in a dual role as assistant sports information director and an area coordinator in 2002-03. He then went to Yale University for three years on the administrative team in athletic facilities and varsity sports operations. He came back to Wheaton in 2006 as assistant AD before being promoted to associate AD in January 2008 where he oversees seven varsity teams, all club sports/intramurals, game management, work study, officiating and championships.
Esdaile has budgetary, travel and event responsibilities for Wellesley's 13 varsity sports and has numerous campus-wide and conference committee appointments. A Wesleyan University graduate, he was a four-year basketball letterwinner and worked part-time as an undergraduate in the school's University Relations Department. Esdaile then worked at Yale as assistant for athletic facilities and varsity sports operations.
graphic courtesy of selfleadership.com
by John Sutyak, Wheaton College Associate Director of Athletics and Avery Esdaile, Wellesley College Assistant AD
Presented at ECAC-SIDA Convention, June 9, 2010, Falmouth, Mass.
Pictured: Esdaile (top), Sutyak
If interested, there are a handful of ways one can work their way into athletics administration from the sports information profession. Below are common duties you can suggest to your supervisor that will allow you to gain valuable experience as you try to navigate through your career in higher education.
First and foremost, your current responsibility is always most important. In order to move up the administrative ladder, you must first exceed at your primary job duty before proving worthy of other tasks.
Game Scheduling – This is a natural secondary duty, as the SID already is working with the coaching staff on future game schedules and dates. Work load is moderate, as the majority of the contracts can be sent out at once over the summer. You also will need to keep track of who has/hasn’t sent contracts back to your institution; however that can be easily delegated to an intern or a student worker.
Officiating Assignments – Also a somewhat natural secondary duty, as the SID knows when the institution will have home games throughout the season. Work load is moderate but consistent throughout the year as you will need to check regularly that officials are assigned to your contests, in addition to submitting payments weekly. This is easily done with most officiating assignors utilizing on-line systems.
Involvement within conference and on campus – Involvement in various projects within your athletic conference and on campus will help provide you networking opportunities and allow you the opportunity to be involved outside of the department. Work load can be moderate to high, depending on how much you want to get involved.
Compliance – A very challenging endeavor, as there will always seem to be compliance questions from your head coaches and athletics staff. Work load can be high at times, especially if/when you need to deal with any potential rule violations, investigations or transfer situations. However if up to the task, compliance experience can get your foot in the door to many Division III Assistant/Associate AD positions.
Oversight of staff – Oversight of staff members or other head coaches/sport programs will definitely put you in position to move up the administrative ladder. This is generally a duty reserved for individuals who are ready to move into full-time administration. Work load can be high, depending on how many people or sports you oversee. Often times it is not busy work that will take up your time, it will be personal time sitting with your employees. A good supervisor allows his/her employees time to meet and sometimes to vent. In doing so, that can sometimes take hours of your day before you get anything done for yourself.