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What does an athletic director actually do when the Friday night lights are off? Jim Harris, CMAA, Director of Student Activities at Freedom High School in Woodbridge, Virginia, joins Morgan to pull back the curtain on athletic administration, the value of NIAAA certification, and the lessons he's written into his own AD playbook.

Jim's career has taken him through five Northern Virginia schools, from an admin internship at Briar Woods to rebuilding TC Williams High School during COVID. His CMAA project came out of that work. He talks about coaching the coaches, why he stepped away from the job for his family, what brought him back to Freedom, and the three pillars behind every decision he makes: communication, education, and maximum participation.

His best advice for new and aspiring ADs is simple. Know your pillars, get involved with your state association, and hire good people so you don't have to carry the whole load yourself.

Mentioned in this episode: NIAAA Leadership Training Institute (LTI) courses and CMAA certification, the NIAAA Executive Leadership cohort, the Virginia Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (VIAAA), and Jim's podcast, On the Road with the VIAAA.

Talkin' with the AD is a podcast for athletic directors, school leaders, coaches, parents, and athletes - built around education-based athletics and the people who make it work. Hosted by Morgan J. Sullivan - athletic director, coach, and author of Coach on Leadership.

LEAD · TEACH · GROW

Website: betteryouthcoaching.com

Subscribe for new episodes every Monday Mailbag: Send your question at betteryouthcoaching.com and click "Ask the AD" Rate & review wherever you listen

Books: Coach on Leadership · MS Education Based Athletics · Before the First Snap

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#TalkinWithTheAD · #Sports · #Athletics · #AthleticDirector · #CoachonLeadership · #ADLevelLogistics

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Better Youth Coaching
Mission is to improve amateur sports through education of parents, coaches, and athletes

Better Youth Coaching
Mission is to improve amateur sports through education of parents, coaches, and athletes

Support the show

Visit betteryouthcoaching.com - information for parents, coaches, and athletes.

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Should playing time in youth sports be equal, or should the best players play? In this impromptu solo episode, athletic director and longtime youth coach Morgan Sullivan answers a new parent's honest question about youth sports playing time and makes the case for long-term athlete development over winning at 8, 10, or 12 years old.

A first-time sports parent asked the question the right way on Instagram. The comments answered it the wrong way: "you play the game to win." Morgan explains why that mindset does real damage at the youth and middle school level, and what coaches should be doing instead: keep athletes safe, teach them, and above all keep them in the game.

He shares two real stories (including the middle schooler "ranked 13th on a 12-player team" who became an all-conference Division II player), explains why a youth coach's win-loss record truly does not matter, and pushes back on the idea that rec and travel should be handled differently, drawing on his own top-tier 11U team that rotated every player and had 11 of 12 pitch. If you want stronger high school rosters, it starts years earlier by giving every kid a good experience and a reason to stay.

—

Talkin' with the AD is a podcast for athletic directors, school leaders, coaches, parents, and athletes, built around education-based athletics and the people who make it work. Hosted by Morgan J. Sullivan, athletic director, coach, and author of Coach on Leadership.

LEAD · TEACH · GROW

• Website & free resources: betteryouthcoaching.com
• Subscribe for a new episode every Monday
• Ask the AD (mailbag): betteryouthcoaching.com
• Please rate and review the show
• Books: Coach on Leadership · MS Education Based Athletics · Before the First Snap

Recorded with Riverside: https://riverside.partnerlinks.io/ltacqatxw6ac

#TalkinWithTheAD #Sports #Athletics #AthleticDirector #CoachonLeadership #ParentEducation

Welcome to Talkin' with the AD!

LET'S GO!!

Better Youth Coaching
Mission is to improve amateur sports through education of parents, coaches, and athletes

Better Youth Coaching
Mission is to improve amateur sports through education of parents, coaches, and athletes

Support the show

Visit betteryouthcoaching.com - information for parents, coaches, and athletes.

SOCIALS

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Athletic directors spend all day taking care of everyone else: coaches, athletes, parents, facilities. So who takes care of the AD? This week, host Morgan Sullivan sits down with Dr. Kiristen Robinson, CMAA, Student Activities Coordinator at Harrisonburg High School in Virginia, for an honest conversation about mental health and wellness on both sides of the whistle.

Dr. K brings a rare résumé to the chair: former college basketball player, longtime teacher and coach, a PhD in Health and Human Performance, and a dissertation that became her CMAA project studying stress management and well-being for high school athletic directors. She teaches an NIAAA course on student-athlete mental health, led a workshop on AD wellness at the National Athletic Directors Conference, serves on the board of NOMAD (the National Organization for Minority Athletic Directors), and still found the time to write a children's book.

In this episode:

• Support vs. help, and why the difference hits different once you're the one in the seat
• What her research revealed about AD stress, and the simple strategies that actually move the needle (yes, even breathing)
• Building a genuine "safe space" for student-athletes: what to watch for, and where your role stops
• Boundaries that stick, so you can protect your time, your family, and your peace
• Why no one knows this job like another AD, and how to build that circle before you need it
• The two or three pages of her playbook she'd hand every new athletic director

Whether you're a first-year AD still finding your footing or a veteran running low, this one's your reminder: you're not the only one who thinks like you, and you were never meant to do this alone.

Connect with Dr. K: her children's book It's the Twins for Me (Amazon) · Instagram @twinsforme · NOMAD · reach her by email: Robinsonkiristen@gmail.com

Talkin' with the AD is a podcast for athletic directors, school leaders, coaches, parents, and athletes, built around education-based athletics and the people who make it work. Hosted by Morgan J. Sullivan, athletic director, coach, and author of Coach on Leadership.

LEAD · TEACH · GROW

🌐 Website: betteryouthcoaching.com
🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode
📬 Got a question? "Ask the AD" at betteryouthcoaching.com. Your question might headline a future mailbag.
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📚 Books by Morgan J. Sullivan: Coach on Leadership · MS Education Based Athletics · Before the First Snap

🎙️ The show is recorded on Riverside. Try it here: https://riverside.partnerlinks.io/ltacqatxw6ac

#TalkinWithTheAD · #Sports · #Athletics · #AthleticDirector · #CoachonLeadership · #MentalHealth

Welcome to Talkin' with the AD!

LET'S GO!!

Better Youth Coaching
Mission is to improve amateur sports through education of parents, coaches, and athletes

Better Youth Coaching
Mission is to improve amateur sports through education of parents, coaches, and athletes

Support the show

Visit betteryouthcoaching.com - information for parents, coaches, and athletes.

SOCIALS

Facebook - talkinwiththead

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