More than 100 first-time athletic directors are officially starting their tenures at Michigan High School Athletic Association member schools this year, and the MHSAA has launched a first-of-its-kind mentorship program to help them adjust to the job.
According to a report compiled by Manistee News Advocate sports editor McLain Moberg, the “AD Connection Program” has matched those first-year high school athletic directors with one of eight mentors who have recently retired from the field.
Athletic director turnover at MHSAA high schools has reached 10 percent or more annually over the last few years, and the 102 first-year athletic directors for 2023-24 translates to a new athletic administrator taking over at nearly 14 percent of the 750 MHSAA member high schools , Moberg reported.
“When you crystalize it, the AD Connection Program is an attempt for us to give a true year long in-service to new athletic directors with people who have done it,” said program coordinator Brad Bush, who joined the MHSAA staff in January after more than two decades as an athletic administrator at Chelsea High School. “This also connects new ADs with a larger professional group, and it will culminate in March at the annual MIAAA conference, where there will be several face-to-face meetings with all ADs.
“These mentors are meant to become that first-year AD’s go-to person.”
Mentors will conduct frequent meetings with their cohorts and meet with each first-time athletic director individually at least once a month via Zoom and at least once during the academic year face-to-face at the mentee’s school.
Karen Leinaar, one of the eight mentors, will also serve as the AD Connection Program’s liaison to the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, where she serves as executive director.
The AD Connection Program was approved by the MHSAA representative council during its annual winter meeting on March 24, Moberg reported.
