SPEAKER_01 0:04

You're listening to the Hanging with the AD podcast, where we break down hot topics in athletic administration and lessons learned through leadership. Now, here are your hosts, Josh Matthews and Don Baker.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

We want to welcome you all to another special edition of the Hanging with the AD podcast. Today we're sitting down with Amanda Waters, who is the athletic director at Carlsbad High School in California. Amanda, thank you for joining us today.

SPEAKER_03 0:29

Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

With the closure of schools and the suspension of athletics across the country and across all levels of competition, quite frankly, we as athletic leaders are looking for ways to spend this time both reflecting but also getting better. And Josh and I stumbled upon the AD collaboration that you and Ira Childress of Gulliver High School in Miami have started and have found it to be extremely beneficial during this challenging time for athletes and coaches and athletic administrators. First of all, thank you for doing that. And secondly, I think that it's it's awesome that two ADs from opposite sides of the country can pull something like this off and quite frankly give us uh some background on why you all started this and what it's all about.

SPEAKER_03 1:15

You know, um Ira and I linked together on LinkedIn about I guess four or five years ago. He published a book. I had some questions about it. So we kind of went back and forth. Um so he and I have kind of been following each other for a while. And a few weeks ago, I kept getting some questions from a lot of ADs. You know, Amanda, what are you doing? What can we do to really connect with athletes, coaches that were super frustrated, even coaches from other schools uh in California, and I'm from Maine, so there's people that I know from Maine that were reaching out. And then Ira texted me and said, Hey, are you getting a lot of people reaching out to you about questions? And I said, Well, yeah, a lot. And he said, You know, all right, well, do you want to do something together? And I said, That sounds great. So we started with Zoom, we started with 46 ADs the first time, and our topics were gonna be how to support your coaches, how to support your kids, what can you do to maintain some type of normalcy through this? And then all of a sudden it turned into now everything started getting canceled, and then ADs were like concerned about their jobs and concerned about how to reach out to coaches and kids virtually and how to do those things. So I think for he and I, one, we just wanted to get information out there, and two, we wanted to hear information. So I think for us it was kind of a multitude of let's just get everybody together in the same room and really see who has what questions, learn from each other, the resources that I have, the resources that Ira has. We can throw them all into a website, put everything in there for free. Um, many people have reached out that want to sponsor or sell things, and and we've really kind of said that's not what we're here for. You know, we really just want to help and collaborate and and try to help people get through it.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Well, it's been great. I've enjoyed the two weeks I've been on and look forward to uh to Wednesday at uh one o'clock Eastern, 10 o'clock Pacific to be on with everyone. I I would hope that maybe Zoom could expand your uh capacity there. I don't know if anybody from Zoom's listening, maybe they can up that because I know getting on to being one of the top 100 has kind of gotten hard to do over the last two weeks.

SPEAKER_03 3:18

So well, we have 300 this week. We have a max of three, so we did up that. So it should be pretty good. I I we try to mute everyone, obviously, and then we're trying to do the safeguards to make sure that people aren't coming in again that shouldn't be there. But it's been really great, and the feedback's been really good, and just trying to get information out to people for sure.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

And and I'll tell you, I was very honored to be called upon last week. You actually, I had a question and you let me ask it, and and it was fantastic. So I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 3:47

Yes, for sure. No, I I think that's the thing is I want anybody to ask questions, you know, have those because having that resource is invaluable right now. And I think our jobs as ADs are more important now than they probably ever have been. You know, the kids want leadership and they want someone that can direct and help.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

Yeah, the format's fantastic. And I would even say to athletic directors who are getting on this collaboration on Wednesday, just by looking at the chat and reading the chat and also seeing the connections of other names, you can connect and network without even speaking, without even asking a question, because obviously there's not enough time to let everyone speak and uh not everyone has something to say, but the format is fantastic. So thanks for doing that. Thanks for being a leader all the way across the country. Uh, one of the things y'all did last week was very exciting, uh very entertaining, was you had Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly on at the beginning, and he spent 10 or 15 minutes talking about what this coronavirus quarantine has done for not just college football coaches. I thought he was very well at just talking leadership in general. He could have he could have sat in the college football world and not gotten out of that, but you can tell he is the leader he is because he's very well-rounded and he talked about recruiting and he made it personable to the high school athletic directors on this call and really enjoyed having Coach Kelly on. How were you able to get him on? And secondly, can we get a heads up? Are there any other big names coming out? Can we get the secret? No pressure, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:23

Well, we're working on it for sure. You know, I think it really helps because Ira, well, Ira used to work in the college arena, so I think that really helps. He's got some good connections, and then I have some West Coast connections as well that we can kind of try to work on to get um, yes, I do think he's got a couple good people in mind. I know for us, we're looking for some pretty big names out here as well. Honestly, it's gonna be the more popular this becomes, the easier that becomes. Um, I think having Coach Kelly on definitely helps with that. Uh, he was so forthcoming with information and he was absolutely you know, he didn't seem rushed or hurried. He was totally into helping. Uh because I think everybody knows at college coaches and college ADs, even, which would be another great person to have, it just a different perspective, you know, and it's always nice to hear those different perspectives. Right. We did set the bar a little high though, I'm not gonna lie.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

That was true. That was true. Now, could you maybe share some highlights of so far of the collaboration? I know that you you guys always have an agenda and we go through those topics, and maybe you could touch on some of those topics that have generated the most discussion or maybe some feedback or some ideas that you have gained uh from this.

SPEAKER_03 6:37

You know, I think the uh the understanding that this is going to be our new norm for now, I think that hit home with a lot of people. I think having those virtual meetings with your teams, having workouts and stuff virtually where kids can still connect and see each other has been huge. Uh the virtual banquets, I posted one of our basketball coaches' banquet, and everybody can do things differently, but I think actually being able to see one and say, okay, you can actually do that is helpful to a lot. So I know for us, we try really hard, if it's a the main subject of the conversation during the con during what we're talking about, to get more information out. I know recruiting is another big one, right? Now that everybody's kind of understanding this is the new norm and doing those virtual things. Now it's okay, these kids that really want to get recruited that are missing their spring season, how does that happen? And I think that's where even that Coach Kelly interview can really help. Like you have to be more of an advocate. This is going to show those kids that really, like I said earlier, kind of want to eat dirt and just go at it, self-motivated, being able to contact those college coaches. And that's the website we have. When ADs or everybody emails me things, I try to add it on there. It's not an ego thing, it's a collaborative thing. Like, let's get as much information as we can.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

Coach, one of the things you talked about just now with that collaboration was the virtual athletic department, the virtual banquet. And I believe your basketball, your boys' basketball coach just did a virtual banquet. Can you describe what that looked like and maybe some other virtual events uh that you see happening, senior nights, signing days? What are those kind of going to look like in real time?

SPEAKER_03 8:19

You know, I think it'll be very similar to sort of the Zoom meetings we have. So it'll be the head coach having the main conversations of speech, and then they'll go coach to coach. So I know my basketball coach did sort of an introductory. Um it was really funny because he was in front of his fireplace looking all fancy. Um then he went to his next coach, who is our freshman coach, who's a kid, great kid. But it was it was funny to see it, doesn't have to be perfect, you know. And so coaches talking about those kids like they would if they were standing up at the podium and understanding that they care and hearing that in their voices, uh, rather than just, you know, right writing it down is important. But it's been it was great for him. It was about an hour long, and I think it just depends on which sport, you know. I think you could do a virtual live one like Zoom, as long as you mute everybody uh and do it live and record it. Uh, he did more of a movie and did it through iMovie and edited things. So I think there's many different ways, and I think you'll see the same with signing days. I think your signing days will be done via Zoom, virtual, uh, where you'll still have the table and all of that, maybe even taking a picture and using that as your backdrop rather than it actually being where you are, um, could be pretty something pretty easy to do. But I think it's a lot of it's gonna be hopefully, if you do get some big signees to some big schools, you can reach out for those colleges and maybe get them on that call too.

SPEAKER_02 9:43

Yeah, I know that's one of the things one of our schools is doing, or I imagine that others will kind of follow suit. They have an actual image of the backdrop that they typically use whenever they set it up in the media center or wherever they set it up, they have a digital image of that background that they are sending to parents so that they can have that as the background when they do that signing day. So I think you know you're you're right on in regards to that.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

Yeah, and I actually just participated in one this Saturday that the parents set up uh for a track athlete, and they did a table in front of their fireplace, and they had different trophies and poke gear on the table and behind, and uh it was really neat. They actually, I wasn't prepared for this because I got last-minute invite, but they had they let the two track coaches and actually myself say a couple words, which made it a little more meaningful than what we have to do if we're in a you know library or or in our gym when we do it there. So it was really neat to see how we actually made it a little bit better doing it virtually. So that's good. And if someone wants to see your coach's banquet, I believe you put it out on social media, right?

SPEAKER_03 10:49

I did. I asked him first, but yes.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

Right, right. So if you want to use that as a format or a or a model, you could check out at Carlsbad AD underscore AD, right?

SPEAKER_03 10:59

No, just at Carlsbad AD.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

All right, at Carlsbad A D, and just scroll and find uh their boys basketball banquet there. So, coach, looking for a silver lining in this new age, this new normal, as you said, there's a lot of negativity that could surround it, a lot of disappointment, frustration, whatever word you want to use. But we can find positives if we look hard enough. And one of the questions we ask a lot of athletic directors on this uh podcast, where do you see the role of athletic director going over the next decade? That's kind of one of our common questions. So, asking that question in relation to this collaboration and this new normal, what do you see happening with the role of athletic director and the ability to collaborate after this COVID-19 episode?

SPEAKER_03 11:51

You know, I think you're right. I think you have to find the positives in a situation, and I think the positives for ADs are I think we're going to leave this entire situation, and the schools are going to realize how actually important we are. And I think they're gonna understand that because of the connections we've had with these coaches and kids, it is what will help bring us through these times. You know, I think the collaboration with other ADs is something that's been needed for a long time. And what I'm hoping, and I know Ira started the same when we started it, is that it will continue. And it doesn't necessarily always have to be through our platform or but with IRA and I, ADs in different states can now connect with each other. And, you know, I've had ADs reach out to me about getting a contact list. And though I won't share contacts just because people put a lot of their information in there, um, I can always reach out to the people they want to connect with and connect them individually, you know. So I think that is something that will take with us for a long time. And I think the virtual and all of the social media and all of those things that people have now had to add is just gonna add more things to our athletic departments that we already have. So, you know, I think the A D job and AD role will be even more important coming out of this during for sure, but coming out of it for sure.

SPEAKER_02 13:04

Yeah, I think that too many times I think ADs, and especially young ADs in the profession, you know, they're drinking out of a fire hose most of the time. And they do feel like they're they're on an island. And that's why something like this, I think, is just so refreshing to be able to really knock down those walls, not just it within a state, but from coast to coast uh and share a lot of similar problems and a lot of similar solutions. So beside the AD collaboration, you know, right now, what are you trying to improve upon or or learn during this time? How are you doing that? Are you reading? Are you listening to podcasts? Are you doing it all? You're obviously a guest on podcast. What resources would you recommend to athletic leaders? What should they explore during this time, away from their normal jobs, away from their normal lifestyles?

SPEAKER_03 13:46

I I, you know, I think the National Uh Federation of High School, the NFHS, is a good site they could go on. I also think the NIAA, the courses that they offer are great. Uh, I know that I've done a lot of those courses myself. I I think just getting more prepared. I think being aware of rules and laws and doing those things right now will really help. But I also think, you know, caring for your players and your coaches, but your family, you know, and I think all of those things are important. So I'm trying to take the time to, well, move to the online learning with my children, which has been interesting. Yeah, you know, and I'm sure, and I think that some people forget that as a teacher, we have children too. So we are trying to move to online learning with our teaching and then also with our children. So I think that it's it's gonna, we're gonna all leave here having done more with our kids, having done more with our families, having done more, um, hopefully with our other ADs and really kind of improving on ourselves, even just ourselves, you know, mentally as well.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

Well, Amanda, we failed to prepare you adequately. You were supposed to say, listen to hanging with the AD podcast. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_03 14:59

Hanging with the AD podcast is fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

Uh just kidding, just kidding. No, uh, that's great. Yeah, I do think the family aspect is, you know, maybe we needed this. Maybe we needed to uh have something to connect us back and slow us down a little bit for sure. So thank you so much for joining us today for this special episode of Hanging with the AD. I know there's athletic directors all across the country that will listen to this hopefully in the next day or so and will get interested in the AD collaboration. So we'd like to kind of finish it off by you giving us how we can connect with this collaboration. You mentioned a website. Uh, how do they get access to the collaboration? I know you've had to tighten that down a little bit. So just leave us with this AD collaboration, the contact, how they can get in touch with you and uh get more resources.

SPEAKER_03 15:47

So if they go to the website nationaladresource.com and they can click on there's a contact us form. Uh, there's also a Google form on there that you can add your school name and your name and your email. Uh, we send out links the night before of our meetings, uh, the night before went along with an agenda. And if anybody has hot topics they want us to bring up at the end, we try to bring those up as well. They can also contact me via Twitter at Carlsbad A D. That's also a helpful way. Or they can email me at awaters cbad at gmail.com. So those are all ways that you guys can get a hold of us. And we'd love to have everybody again. The more the better. And hopefully we can all help each other through all of this stuff.

SPEAKER_00 16:28

And additionally to that, when they contact you via email or Twitter, is there specific stuff you'd like to have from them?

SPEAKER_03 16:34

The biggest thing is their email and where they teach or where they're where they're in the AD at. Um, I think we're trying to really limit, you know, the salespeople on the call and really kind of keep it to athletic directors. Uh so usually a school email is probably the best so that we can verify that. Nothing's perfect, like I said, but it's been great so far. So, you know, I look forward to having it every Wednesday from here on until whenever we can.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Absolutely. Well, we've enjoyed our time today, but more than that, we enjoy the Wednesdays and we look forward to seeing you again Wednesday at 10 o'clock Pacific, 1 o'clock Eastern.

SPEAKER_03 17:07

Got it. Thank you guys so much. I appreciate you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

Thank you. It was great to catch up with a leader who is bringing positive value during this uncertain time of change. Amanda Waters, AD at Carlsbad High School, has teamed up with Ira Childress all the way over in Miami to support athletic directors with a weekly nationwide AD collaboration. We cannot recommend enough that you make every attempt to connect on this call each week. As Amanda mentioned, if you are interested, you can visit www.nationaladresource.com or connect with her via Twitter or email. All of these links will be in the show notes. Amanda, thank you for your time today and for helping ADs across the country develop during this new normal. We look forward to another insightful AD collaboration this Wednesday and all the Wednesdays following. Thank you. Before we go, we would appreciate you leaving us a review on the platform you're listening from or connecting with us on social media. We can be found on Twitter or Instagram at hangin with the AD. And until next time, thank you for spending your time hanging with the AD.