Athletic Director Darrell Wilson pauses for a photo at a home football game.
In recent years, Harrisonburg High School has had many administrative changes. A new superintendent, principal, and two new assistant principals have all been have all been welcomed into the HHS family. But that is not the end of the line. Last spring athletic director Joe Carico announced that he would be stepping down from the job and resuming teaching as a government teacher, so the search for a new AD was on.
An athletic director needs to be involved in the school, able to commit many hours after school, and most importantly have a love for sports and students. Luckily, Darrell Wilson fits into all of these categories.
“I love the [sports] environment and working with students and coaches,” Wilson said. “Now that I am here I don’t want to do anything else.”
Wilson spent last year at HHS as a business teacher and an assistant coach of the girls basketball team. Wilson had only been a teacher for one year before he became the athletic director. But before his tenure at HHS, Wilson had worked in university recreation athletics at the University of Virginia, JMU, and Cornell.
“I had always wanted to do something with sports, but this came a lot faster than I thought,” Wilson said.
Wilson was appointed by the school board and given his background, he is an excellent man for the job. Virginia born and bred, Wilson grew up in Lee County and went to UVA and attended VCU for grad school. His experience working with university athletics will surely prove useful in the hectic life of an AD.
As the athletic director, Wilson coordinates all aspects of the athletic programs. This includes anything from scheduling to to working with coaches and athletes to representing athletics to the school board and administration. The athletic director even works with debate, forensics, theater, and scholastic bowl competitions. Anything dealing with VHSL is the responsibility of the AD.
Wilson looks forward most to our teams winning games and “seeing the joy in students faces” after they win and after putting in such hard effort to win.
“It is a thrill to see that euphoria,” said Wilson.
The hardest thing about the job so far has been the hundreds of minute details that must be covered and taken care of.
“Little details are important, they can make or break an event or a season,” said Wilson. “And someone on the outside might not see that.”
So far, Wilson has not made any drastic changes. He is not ‘trying to reinvent the wheel”. As there always are when a new administrator steps in, there is a new person and a new way of doing things. The only major difference is that an athlete must have a GPA of at least a 2.0 in order to compete. This was raised from the previous requisite of 1.5.
Wilson is spearheading this effort to raise grades.
“Coaches will work with teachers and teachers will then in turn work with students. Hopefully this more proactive approach will have a positive effect,” said Wilson.
Wilson has not been with HHS long but his hard work and love of athletics have already shown that he is the right man for the job.
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