MADISON TOWNSHIP — Doug Rickert didn’t have time to chat. Madison’s new athletic director was being pulled in a hundred different directions at the same time as the Rams prepared to host the 28th annual B-Dry Richland County Cross Country Championship last week.
A race official wanted to talk to him at the starting line. The sheriff’s deputy in charge of traffic control needed a moment of his time. A few well-wishers offered their congratulations on the new job. And one of the volunteers selling official race t-shirts had a question that couldn’t wait.
“I had no idea what I was getting myself into,” Rickert joked — sort of — as he hurried off.
The event was the rookie AD’s baptism by fire and by all accounts it went off without a hitch. As for Rickert, the Madison graduate and longtime baseball coach has a new-found respect for the other side of high school sports.
“There are so many administrative things that go on behind the scenes. Most people have no idea,” Rickert said as he sat in his new office Wednesday morning. “To be honest, there is a lot more to it than I expected. There is a lot of paperwork.
“Still, it’s exciting. I love Madison and I love the kids.”
Madison’s former attendance officer, Rickert succeeded Kirk Manns over the summer when Manns accepted a position as vice principal at Madison’s new middle school. Manns also is the middle school athletic director.
“I’ve probably called Kirk 30 times since I got the job,” Rickert said. “He probably wants to change his phone number by now.
“Kirk was a great AD. It helps to have people you can learn from and lean on.”
Across town, Mansfield Senior’s Skip Fulton can relate. Fulton took over for Laurie Romano, who retired after last school year.
“Laurie spent 34 years in education. She deserves to move on to the next phase of her life,” said Fulton, who has been on the job for five weeks after serving as Romano’s assistant for the past two years. “Watching how she handled the job the last couple of years has made the transition a little easier. Things are still hectic, but I feel like I’m settling in nicely.”
Like Rickert, Fulton has been overwhelmed by all the administrative house keeping responsibilities.
“Doug is absolutely right. There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to this job,” said Fulton, who was a social studies teacher at the high school for 13 years. “I was an assistant for two years and I still didn’t realize how much time and effort goes into it.
“You have to schedule officials and line up bus drivers and volunteers. If something gets rained out, you have to not only find a make-up date, but you have to reschedule those officials and bus drivers and volunteers. And we’re talking about a lot of sports at all levels.”
The fall athletic season is the busiest of the school year. Both Madison and Senior High offer football, volleyball, boys and girls golf, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls cross country and girls tennis.
“When you look at the winter, you’ve got boys and girls basketball, boys and girls swimming and wrestling,” Fulton said. “There is so much going on in the fall. Then you have kids coming back to school.”
Rickert has the added responsibility of overseeing one of the biggest athletic projects in school history. STARTEK Stadium, with its new artificial playing surface, will be unveiled when Madison hosts Galion in football on Sept. 5.
“There’s a lot going on right now,” Rickert said as he offered a tour of the almost completed stadium. “We’ve still got a lot of things to finish up before we open, but it’s an exciting time.”
Rickert knew all the extra work would be worthwhile when he watched the conclusion of last week’s county cross country meet.
“We had a guy, John Marhefka, who used to play baseball for us,” Rickert said. “He is a great kid and he decided cross country running was more his speed. John finished fifth at the county meet and I couldn’t be any happier for him.
“I don’t mind staying at events until 10:30 at night. I love watching Madison kids compete and succeed.”
“You have to schedule officials and line up bus drivers and volunteers. If something gets rained out, you have to not only find a make-up date, but you have to reschedule those officials and bus drivers and volunteers. And we’re talking about a lot of sports at all levels,” said Fulton.
