This is the third member Q and A’s in a series entitled "
Communicators Outside the Lines: Better Yourself, Better Your Community" that the CoSIDA Goodwill & Wellness Committee will be producing leading up to our #CoSIDA16 convention in June
.
First profile: Bryan Marshall, Millikin
Second Profile: Kim Ling, Ole Miss
HAVE IDEAS OR MEMBERS TO NOMINATE FOR THIS SERIES?
If you have any ideas for this series, which will revolve around CoSIDA member volunteerism and health and wellness, please contact Goodwill and Wellness Committee chair
Chris Mitchell, Washington University in St. Louis Assistant AD for Communications, via cell (618-560-9280) or email (
mitchell@wustl.edu).
REMINDER: SEND IN YOUR VOLUNTEER 15 COMMUNITY SERVICE FORMS
All CoSIDA members are encourged to participate in our
Volunteer 15 program, where we recognize those members who have completed 15 or more hours of community service during the academic year. We will acknowledge Volunteer 15 participants in the spring with certificates, CoSIDA.com mention and acknowledgment at the 2016 CoSIDA June convention in Dallas.
VOLUNTEER 15 FORM (PDF)
Q and A With Rich Baker, Mars Hill University Assistant AD/SID/Director of Compliance
by Joe Browning
UNC Wilmington Senior Associate AD/Athletic Communications
CoSIDA Goodwill & Wellness Committee
A former four-year baseball letterwinner at East Tennessee State, Rick Baker continues to give back to his sport with numerous volunteer efforts. Rick is in his 21st year at Mars Hill University, responsible for all the sports information needs for the Lions’ 21 intercollegiate sports. He also serves as the Director of Compliance and assists with all the daily operations of the athletic department. Prior to moving into a administrative role 13 years ago, Baker coached baseball at MHU for 10 years, serving as both an assistant and as the head coach.
UESTIONS:
Q. What are some of the ways you serve the Mars Hill community?
HILL: I volunteer to be the game administrator and game operations manager when we allow local high school and middle school
Rick Baker - Mars Hill University
teams to use our facilities in circumstances such as inclement weather, etc. I have volunteered for the local Relay for Life; helped promote fund-raisers for the Make-A-Wish Foundation; Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund (Hearts with Hands). I served as a local Babe Ruth youth baseball coach for four years, President of the local Babe Ruth league for two years and coached in the local Babe Ruth softball organization for three years. I coached a travel baseball team in the USSSA national organization for five years. This team competed at a very high level. This team was ranked in the top five in the nation in USSSA for two years and qualified for two USSSA World Series. The age group for this USSSA team spanned from 11U to 16U.
Q. You wear a lot of different hats at Mars Hill as Asst. A.D./SID/Compliance Coordinator. How do you juggle all three so well?
HILL: I try not to procrastinate on any duties that come across my desk. If my coaches or athletic director ask me to complete a task I try and knock it out as soon as possible to make room for any unforeseen problems that may arise, and they most often always do. This gives me time to put out fires, problem solve and fix any issues that come up so that Mars Hill’s athletic contest can hopefully be played without any complications. Compliance is tough because there are so many different angles you have to look at in each case. The one thing I have tried to do is not assume I know everything about NCAA compliance, instead ask our conference compliance officer for advice and if more investigation needs to be done, I have no problem using the online NCAA service (RSRO) to make sure Mars Hill’s interpretations of NCAA eligibility are correct.
There is a lot of attention to detail in compliance. NCAA eligibility waivers demand a great amount of time. I never mind filing a waiver for a student-athlete that we feel has a legitimate case, but the time and work involved is stressful to say the least. The worst part is losing a waiver that you worked extremely hard on but at least you know you did all you could for the student-athlete. The other part of my job is internal operations of the athletic department. I am in charge of game management as well as scheduling indoor and outdoor practice times in all of Mars Hill facilities for 19 intercollegiate sports. The weather in the mountains of Western North Carolina can be tricky to say the least in the winter and trying to get all our teams a fair amount of practice times in both indoor and outdoor facilities can be stressful.
Q. How did you get into the profession and what keeps you motivated for so many years?
HILL: I fell into the position. I was finishing my master’s degree when a job came open as assistant sports information director and assistant basketball coach at Lees-McRae College. I applied and got the job. Being a college baseball player and playing high school basketball, I adjusted to coaching basketball faster than my SID duties. After a year or so I learned the basics of SID work. Then a job opened up at Mars Hill as assistant baseball coach and SID. I applied and got that position, not on my SID skills but on my baseball resume. My plan was to do the job for a couple of years and then move on into the baseball coaching world. My wife and I really liked the Mars Hill community and 22 years later we are still here.
In 2002, I had to make a choice between coaching and administration because the way athletics has evolved over the years it was impossible to continue to do both. Even though I loved coaching college baseball, the decision was easy for me. My son at the time was three years old and I had missed all three of his birthday parties because I was on the road coaching baseball. Even though my assistant A.D. duties and SID duties do not relieve me of any work hours, I am able to be close to home and spend more time with my family. What motivates me the most to continue my profession is to provide for my family. Secondly, I feel like can truly make a difference in young people’s lives every day I go to work and if that makes at least one of them successful down the road it is worth it. Third, I enjoy getting up and going to work because in our profession every day is different and we never get caught up in a job where every day has the same expectations.
Q. What is the best piece of advice you can share to someone considering the profession?
HILL: If I have one flaw it is that if you ask me a question I will tell you what I think. This job, in my opinion, can only be done by a select few as a career. You have to be willing to work well over 40 hours a week, work nights and weekends as well as holidays, put your job over many family obligations and at the same time be willing to do all these things for a paycheck that will not reflect the amount of effort and sacrifice you have put into it. I love my job and I figured out what it was about a long time ago. You will not be happy in this job if you are not willing to work long hours with little recognition compensation that will not depict your production. The fulfillment for me at the end of the day is that no one complained about the statistics, game recap, video, audio or website. This means to me, our parents, fans and players got the publicity they deserve and I did my job well.
Q. What technological advancement or gadget has helped you the most through the years?
HILL: There is no question computers have saved me. I started using a computer to stat football in 1994 since I did not have any kind of a staff to keep these stats manually. I have relied on keeping up with technology ever since. It has been a lifesaver for me. I have always been open to any kind of technology that can save time and reduce my workload.
Q. Why is it important for SID's to be involved in the community?
HILL: Community service keeps you grounded. When you get out there and work with a variety of people it makes you thankful for what you have. Many occasions I have taken for granted what I have until I meet someone less fortunate than me and it stops me from feeling sorry for myself.
Q. Did you make any New Year's resolutions? If so, why did you choose them?
HILL: I did tell myself I was going to clean up my office. However, I don’t think it will happen. I am either too busy to clean it or if I get caught up and have time to do it, I think to myself, let’s get out of here and do something fun outside of Mars Hill Athletics while I can. Making time to do things for myself does keep me from getting burned out.