SPEAKER_02 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_03 0:17

Today we head back to the great state of Oklahoma and sit down with Amanda Snyder, who serves as the Deputy Director of Athletics at Broken Arrow High School in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. She spoke about the importance of always doing your best because you never know who's watching and the demands the AD position can place on both your work and home families. Let's learn from an AD in one of the largest high schools in this country as we settle in and get to know Amanda Snyder.

SPEAKER_04 0:57

Amanda, we're so glad to have you joining Don and me for this episode of Hanging with EAD. Glad to have you today. We have been to Broken Arrow before, but as we mentioned last time, Broken Arrow is a very unique school uh with size and the way you'll have athletics broken down. So we wanted to uh talk with you and just get your perspective on your leadership there at Broken Arrow.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Thank you all so much for having me.

SPEAKER_04 1:18

All right, Amanda, we have to preface this uh talk because we have to say Don has great editing skills. He edits all our podcasts. So don't worry if you say something the public doesn't need to hear about your director of athletics, the one that has all those funny sayings. Um don't worry about all that. We'll take care of it. We won't let them hear anything they don't need to hear that you say about him. So uh we just had yeah, we had to say that up front. But just to let everybody know who we're talking to today, Amanda Snyder is the deputy director of athletics at Broken Arrow High School in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. As we mentioned on the previous episode, Broken Arrow is the largest school in Oklahoma with over 5,500 students, grades 10 through 12, plus another ninth grade academy with a lot of students as well. Amanda is the sport administrator for cheerleading, women's basketball, volleyball, girls' wrestling, tennis, soccer, and golf. And she leads the student athlete leadership team there at BA. So a lot of things uh Amanda's in charge of. They have a collegiate uh style department and leadership hierarchy, I think is how that is. Uh, so that's why I wanted to point those um the sports that you administer out because it is a little different than a lot of us do. So before Broken Arrow, Amanda was a five-time state champ in in the sport of palm. She was a state champion choreographer and a five-time Oklahoma All-State Dance Team choreographer, I think. So uh a lot of cheerleading and dance and palm. You'll have to explain the differences to us, maybe we get into that. She served as director of spirit and head coach at University of Tulsa before coaching at Tulsa Union there. So uh the last thing I'll say about Amanda for the athletic directors in the high school space out there who are thinking of going through or are currently in the NIAA QPA process. Amanda has led Broken Arrow through that and they'll be receiving their award, or they will have received their award at the um National AD conference in Austin, Texas in December of 2024. So uh Amanda's an expert with QPA. If you want to get her insight on that, I know she'd uh love to uh mentor and help you out there. But we'll stop right there and let Amanda tell us a little bit more about her journey through athletics. Amanda, we call it the back of the baseball card bio. So tell us what the back of Amanda Snyder's baseball card would look like.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Well, you pretty much nailed it my whole life. Um, you know, I have a my degree is um in journalism. So my pathway to becoming an AD is uh very non-traditional. I've always been around sports my whole life. My my parents and grandparents and great-grandparents were all coaches and teachers and admin. They told me to stay away from being a coach and an admin, but it's just in my blood, I guess. And um, I knew I loved coaching when I was in high school. I was coaching a little seventh-grade palm team when I was in 11th grade. And I just kind of fell in love with it then. Um, went to college to be a journalist. I wanted to write um and and and work for either a magazine and advertising, um, thought I was gonna have a career in that. And so I, after graduating from the University of Oklahoma, where I was on a POM scholarship there and focusing on um advertising journalism, I I graduated and started working for a magazine company and you know, loved it, but I knew there was something missing. Um, and I knew my calling was to be coaching. So on the side, I started working with middle school and um it just blossomed and grew from there. Um, I was with Union for many, many years. And then I was I was with um Dr. Smith said hi. And then I was with the University of Um Tulsa for 13 years. Um, I've coached a pro team here in town called the 66ers D League. Um, I also taught in the schools for arts in the schools. Um, so my pathway was always kids. I love working with children. I love working with college-age kids. Um, and I knew it was my calling. So I always had four or five jobs because in coaching, you don't honestly make a ton of money. So um, whenever BA opened up, um, it was incredible because I thought, gosh, I finally get to have just one job. Well, little did I know that being an admin is it's very similar to having five jobs. And so, um, but I wanted to say that it goes back to you never know who's watching you or who is maybe seeing you um coach and how you're you know helping kids. And so how I even have an opportunity here at Broken Arrow is still a dream come true for me. And it's because my former AD at Union um just thought he saw something special in me. And I I don't say that to sound conceited, but just that you just never know who's watching who who might believe in you. And um, I've been learning a lot this year that um my pathway to becoming an admin is was paved by um great um male leaders who believed in me and um continue to help me grow. And so in 2019, when I came here, I was just the assistant. It's evolved so much over the years. I've been here six years. And on top of um the umbrella of sports that you mentioned earlier, I do compliance and eligibility, which is a lot of work here because we have so many kids. We have around 1,300 athletes. So as you can imagine, rank one is a full-time job, you know, in the summer months. Um, but I just really love this career path. Um, I miss coaching. And sometimes I'll go help our chair tai guettes when I can. Um, and that's what's interesting is while that was such a big part of my life, coaching and and cheer and palm and the difference, I can talk about that later. But now it's like such a small part and I miss it. Um, but I've also learned that coaching coaches is is harder sometimes than coaching teams. And so I'm continuing to evolve and grow in that area. And um, I just bottom line is for me, I would not do what I do unless I knew it was impacting um athletes' lives. And so I just um thankful to be here at Broken Arrow. It's um an incredible school, it's like a college. You're right. And um, we're there's always something going on every day. And so it's a blessing, and I can't imagine being anywhere else.

SPEAKER_04 7:46

Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

That was a long back of a baseball card.

SPEAKER_04 7:50

That was that's a big baseball card, but that's okay. We uh we know who you are, and that's great to hear your story. Um I do know that uh, you know, obviously being buddies with Dustin and hearing him talk about making that movie a year ago, you were a big part of why he wanted to go to Broken Arrow. He had seen, you know, when you talk about people see what you do from afar, uh, I know that you had made that impression on him as well as the others who have gotten you uh to where you're at today that you mentioned. So that's really cool testimony to how you do your job and who you are as a person. So hey, sticking with your background, uh, let's talk about that for a little bit. Um, I have a sister-in-law who's a chair coach here in Georgia, uh, really good, like you, has big leadership skills. I've told her she's gonna make a great athletic administrator when she's ready. Uh, she's uh not there yet. But quite frankly, we don't see a lot of ADs, athletic administrators, coming from the chair coach ranks. We have one that's very prominent here in Georgia, and she does a great job. She's uh working at the national state level and does a great job. But maybe I just live in a bubble, or maybe it's it's and it is more common outside of our bubble, but it just doesn't seem like a lot of chair coaches, palm coaches are in that athletic administration um industry or make their weight that way. So, how did being a cheer coach prepare you to be an athletic administrator overseeing that athletic department as you you kind of alluded to, you went from coaching cheerleading to now coaching coaches? So, how did that help you, uh your background there?

SPEAKER_01 9:25

I think it's, you know, you're you're the AD over your program. So when you're doing it the right way and you you're truly invested from top to bottom. Um, at TU, University of Tulsa, that's where I think I gained the most experience and knowledge um that I could take to becoming an AD because I worked in the athletic department. So I was part of the marketing team for game day, which is what I do here. Um, and that's a whole other beast in and of itself. But so I was working um Division I marketing. Also, I was in charge of their community service, which served all of the athletes, not just the cheer and palm. So TU really allowed me to broaden um the opportunity, the scope of the job. Yes, it's just cheer and palm, but people, it it is a it is a difficult sport and you have to teach proper technique. And so, you know, that was the fun part was coaching and choreographing and all that stuff. But, you know, when you do it the right way, it's you're doing the fundraising, you're doing scheduling, you're training, you're finding, you know, you're working them out. And so it was it was a lot of work, but really just getting experience with other head coaches at Tu, working on programs for um, we did a Tulsa Plays program, which was a sports initiative to lead healthy and active lifestyles. We would, I was in charge of hospital visits for um St. Francis Children's Hospital and um had a little opportunity to use my journalism with PR and community service. So that really helped, I think allow me to go. Okay, she's had coaching experience, but also a little bit of Division I knowledge. So um I think that really helped. And um I would just say that while it is not the norm to come from the cheer palm background, I think it it just goes back to showing that if you love kids, you you your teams are run well, um, you're doing, you know, the best you can with what you've got. And I've always had multiple jobs, like I said, because you had to have like five jobs to equal one. So it just showed that I think you can juggle a lot. And in this role, um, that really helped me because I was like, okay, I mean, you're literally juggling many different jobs, many issues. And you have to show up every day for every one of your teams, swim, girls' wrestling, volleyball. And when they come to you, it's it's a big deal to them. And you, and so for me, it was you have to compartmentalize a little bit. And so I got really good at that with having multiple teams. Um, and so I think that's what prepared me to even have a chance at this job.

SPEAKER_04 12:10

Yeah, I was gonna ask a follow-up question. I think you summed it up, but maybe the best definition of a head coach that we've ever heard, Don talks about it a lot. The dream is the journey, right? When you ask to be a head coach, everybody wants the title, but now you got the journey. You got you got your dream and you got your journey, right? You got to do it. But you just said, uh, and I just wrote it down head coach equals AD of your program. You're that head coach is a lot more than that. Do you coach you you mentioned, hey, the fun part is coaching the skill, right? Right, coaching the coaching the game, doing all that other stuff. So if you could, and maybe you'll say the exact same thing you just said, but I think it's important for any coach listening or any AD who wants to share this with a coach. You basically said being a head coach is being the AD of your program. So tell head coaches what being an AD of their program is all about, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 13:05

I would say, head coaches, that your job, when I say AD over your program, it means that you are the communicator, you are the visionary, and you are going to be the one that in Loco Prentice, there, these are your kids when the parents aren't there. And so how you organize your practices, your paperwork, um, you know, how you how the kids come into practice, how you are receiving them, uh, making sure you're the last one to leave, um, it truly is your thoroughness and the fact that you are every day, no matter what you might be going through, you're gonna give it your all for these kids. And um, it's also about their experience. And so we just encourage our coaches that if they're the AD over their program, we know they're an extension of us. And so if they're host, if we're hosting an event or perhaps we're not able to be at 10 different events at one time, we know our head coach is gonna represent um broken arrow in the right manner. They're gonna be professional. Um, they walk the walk, talk the talk, and they're always gonna know, you know, how to solve problems. And whenever perhaps a problem becomes too big, they can call us. But um I had a conversation yesterday with our um T's, which is Palm Adance, and then I had our cheer coach in here as well, and they're going to nationals this year. And um I'm having anxiety because our cheer program is huge and they're state, they win state pretty much every other year. They're amazing, and so is our Tiget program. But Sheer is taking junior high, seventh grade through 12th graders to Orlando, Florida. And so I had this meeting with them yesterday, and it's huge because there's like 70 plus kids going. And so we talked yesterday just about the structure of this. And I told them you're the AD of your program. I said that yesterday, and um that we went through itinerary, we went through bag checks, we went through what-to-do scenarios, um, rooming plans, um, food, mental health. Um, and then I just um tried to encourage them because I've been in their shoes before. I was like, I remember being so stressed out. I said, so don't forget to fill your cup before you go because you're over that entire program. The assistant coaches, the kids, the parents, and um we're not perfect by any means, but I just want our kids to have the best experience. And it all starts now leading up to going to Orlando. So it's a lot. Um, but we really trust our head coaches to prepare and do the right thing. And that's why we're here to help encourage them to I want them to feel confident that we're confident in them by saying, you are the AD of your program and we trust you, but knowing you've got to, you know, dot your I's cross your T's, so to speak.

SPEAKER_03 16:01

That's really good. That's a that's a lot. You just made me anxious and I don't even have anything to do with it. Kind of leading into that. Let me, and again, this is kind of a personal question and see if you can personally help me out. I have two teenagers. I have a 14 and a 16-year-old. Both of them play athletics both for their school and on the club level. Uh, so it's a thousand miles an hour. And my assistant, she has associated to almost like life on a train, right? You get married and you're on a train and you guys are just kind of cruising along, then you have a kid and it kind of speeds up a little bit. And then I I'm a bullet train right now, right? Like, I mean, it is moving so fast, and we don't feel like we know if we're coming or going. There's a philosophy about leadership out there that is summed up in this statement. The speed of the leader is the speed of the pack. And you are part of the leadership of one of the largest interscholastic athletic departments in the country, and you also have a growing family at home. How do you gauge your leadership speed and how do you sustain and increase it? I I I'm really I'm asking for help.

SPEAKER_01 17:11

Okay. So I will tell you that um that's a great question. And this year has really been challenging because you just nailed it. I have a 10-year-old and a 10-month-old, actually, a 10-year-old and 11-month-old. And my 10-year-olds like club. And then my husband coaches his football and baseball and basketball. So I rarely see my husband. I will say that trying to fill my cup has has fallen short a lot of times this year. I try to truly be aware of who I'm committing to, what I'm what I'm able to commit to, because I am an overcommitter. I am an over-achiever, not in a good way. And I, but I want to give it my all to everybody. And as you know, as a father, you're wearing several hats. And one of those hats is going to not be as good as it used to be. I personally feel that um this year has been hard for me to be the best AD. I took on, you know, a different role here as deputy, and it, and with that came more challenges. And I've learned to give myself grace. It is so hard because I'm mad at myself. I'm like, I should have done this. I should have been better about this. But for me, it's just sometimes it's just getting up, get your, get out of bed, go sh get ready, go to work, and say a prayer and just take a deep breath because sometimes that is your best. And I know how leadership is you set the thermometer of the room, right? Or the temperature of the room. And I have to remind myself of that, that um my attitude, my vibe, my energy, it impacts our team up here. My job is to help Dr. Smith so he can be the A D and go and do and dream. And I'm gonna help facilitate our team. And I mean, I'm sure I fall short on that, but it's attitude is a choice. And I have had to learn to have a good attitude when I really didn't feel like it. I've had to learn to give myself grace, which is really hard for me because nothing's, I don't know if you guys are the same way, but I'm nothing's ever good enough. And that's my competitive probably person that, and I'm learning this year a lot about the positive self-talk. Um, I'm trying to tell kids uh the other month we had a leadership council meeting, and I'm put, I put together this whole presentation on positive self-talk and how you are your own worst enemy. Listen, I would never talk to my best friend the way I talk to myself. So why am I telling myself I'm not doing well, I'm not good enough, I'm not a good mom right now. And my husband is so great, he'll remind me, he's like, I'm like, I don't, I'm a horrible mom. He's like, you are not. And so I think you have to surround yourself with people that will lift you up. And with leadership comes um a lot's immersed on your shoulder. And uh you have to really take time to understand that no one's perfect, but you have such a big job. And here at BA, it's it's an incredible job. It's very hard and difficult, but I but I know that there's a reason why I'm here. And so every day, the reason is to make our athletes better, to help our coaches um, help them succeed um so that our kids succeed. And we want families to move here, to be here. Um, and it's okay if you're not perfect. And that's for me, you know, that's just doing the best I can. I keep saying that. I told Dr. Smith, I was like, I'm just doing the best I can. And he's like, that's good enough. And so it's just um, I guess if that answers your question, pretty much.

SPEAKER_03 20:49

It does, it does. And I think that I'm real quick to say yes to. Uh Josh and I have been going back and forth. We're getting ready to go to the NADC. And I have said yes to everything, it seems like. And I'm doing like six different things there. I don't know how I'm gonna pull it all off, but I tell people all the time most people are doing the best they can do. I I really, I really believe that. I regardless on what level of productivity that may be, most of the time I think people are doing the best job that they can do, but I never will tell myself that. And you and you brought up a really good point, that idea of talking to yourself. John A. Cuff has a book called Soundtracks, and it is a it was a game changer for me because it talks about that. It talks about that inner soundtrack that you tell yourself in those moments. I don't recommend having a conversation with yourself because I think that makes you crazy, but there's nothing wrong with talking to yourself, you know, with with speaking to yourself to say, I am okay and I am qualified to do this job and I can manage, you know, all of these things. And is everything gonna be 100%? Probably not, right? But the only person that's probably gonna realize that is you. Right. You know, my my kids, they know that I'm at their practices. They know that I'm at their games. Regardless if when I'm there, I may my mind may be somewhere else or thinking about something else. They don't care. They just know that I'm there. And so focusing on that, I think, has helped me a lot. But no, you you you crushed it. So that was that was exactly what I needed to hear. Good stuff.

SPEAKER_04 22:20

All right, let's change gears a little bit, Amanda. Let's talk about community service. I know it's a big deal to you. You've already mentioned a couple things at Tulsa that you started Tulsa Plays. Uh, you talked about that briefly, and then at BA leading your student leadership team and the community service efforts that they have there. Why is community service so important to you to push through the athletic department?

SPEAKER_01 22:43

That's a great question. Our Tiger Stripes uh medallion acronym is service, trust, respect, integrity, positive attitude, and self-discipline. We are promoting our kids to do something that's bigger than themselves. And so right now we we're actually um we put a program together called Broken Air Athletics Gives Back. And we did three different opportunities for all of our teams. So it went, this email went out to about 160 coaches, and we are doing a tiger, it's Tigers for Tigers food pantry, which is located at the high school. And this is what's wild is you never even realize that it's right happening right under your own roof, that there are families in Broken Arrow that truly have no food. And so we're preparing holiday baskets for them to have meal for the whole couple weeks that we're gone for Christmas break. Um, and our teams showed up, like our leadership council promoted it. And I've I would show you my office is full of um canned food and a lot of just holiday food that will get them through the season. Um, secondly, we did we adopted a middle school here in town, and we have five middle schools here in Broken Arrow, and one of them um really had a desperate need for just little gifts to give a lot of their kids. And so we've we've received a ton of donations, and these are just coming from our teams. So it's amazing how these kids have just all come together to give back to the BA community. Um, and then the last thing, um, because of TU, I had a relationship with the children's hospital. And so every year they do a toy snack drive and they give um a lot of, you know, they pass out toys to the children who are in the hospital over Christmas break. And so we've just, I mean, our I just wrote down on my sticky note over here all the teams that donated, and I was gonna send them a thank you. And it again, it's all the kids. They're the reasons why, because they go home and they make that's exciting to them to be a part of something that's greater than themselves. And it reminds us that winning is vital, but it also this is bigger than that. And um, helping people out that are less fortunate is is bigger than what we do on a daily basis. And I think it's humbling. And I I love that our coaches are on board with it and that they give back.

SPEAKER_03 25:08

So good. Now, let's kind of again, as we're I know it seems like we're kind of bouncing all over the place, uh, but uh as we did our homework, and I don't know if it is the background that you have in cheer, because one of our counterparts here in Georgia, who also has a background in cheer, I feel crushes this space. But one thing that you seem to play a large role in is the college signing day ceremonies there at Broken Arrow. Maybe talk a little bit about that. Uh, what are you trying to accomplish? But more than that, what are some little things that an AD could think about doing to maybe spruce up that signing day ceremony? I know that that national letter of intent has kind of gone away, but it doesn't mean that you can't have you know a good ceremony. I know Josh does a really good job at his school. Maybe talk about that for a minute.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Yeah, we started, so we had a signing day, what was it, November 12th, I believe, or November 13th, and we started planning back in September for it. Um, didn't have anybody on the list, um, but we we send out a an ex a Google sheet, you know, for each sport, and we start communicating with the coaches on the plan. And how many we have, it kind of depends on where we have it. So we just built a beautiful new varsity club here at Broken Arrow, and it was a perfect venue. Um, we had 10 um athletes sign. And so we we had a little small committee just up here with um a couple people that are gonna be key players in that. So myself, uh Logan Hawk, who does our social media graphics, um, hype videos, and we also included um our finance and our secretary that they do so much work, you know, behind the scenes. But basically, we knew with 10 kids, that is a lot of kids. So we wanted to allow parents to have each get a little table to decorate. Um, so it just started with the idea of okay, how are we gonna promote this? What can we do that makes it big time? And obviously that starts with um, number one, knowing what athletes are gonna sign. And then secondly, Logan, our um, he's our graphic designer. He put together um graphics that we put on our video board on the football field. So it just scrolled all day long. And then he took photos of family, one with the team and one with coaches. And so we just shared those and it really came down to it sharing good news, making this is big time for them. This is them going to the next level and whatever their sport is. Um, we had several basketball, I think softball, we had a rowing, uh lacrosse, and soccer. And for me, this is the fun part because we're bragging on our kids. We're bragging on how hard they've worked since they were little kids. And it also is a time that I mean, the parents, because I know if I'm sitting there as a parent, this is their moment. This is the one of the biggest moments in their life that they're getting um to showcase all that hard work. And the parents to hear from us, thank you. Because we know without them, they wouldn't have this the support and love and you know, car rides to and from. And they're the reason why. And the coaches, thank you for all that you've done to service them well beyond BA. You know, the skills are important, but it's the life skills that have mattered most. Um, the pride that we see is why we make it a big deal. We go above and beyond. Um, and that's my goal is just that everybody has the a great experience, that it's professional, that it is D1. So we're always trying to outdo ourselves on what we can do. Um sometimes less is more. Um, but I feel like we at BA, we really want to make everything shine. And uh we did a live broadcast. So if if people live stream, if people couldn't be there, they could watch it. So just little things like that that we printed little cards that had the names and you know this the signing day so that they keep sake. Um we frame um their name with their college that they're going to and just make everything um next level.

SPEAKER_03 29:16

I think that there's so much that you just said right there. Number one, the intentional effort months ahead before you even had a name. You already started planning it. Okay. I think that's that's number one. Number two, this idea of sharing good news. If we don't tell our story, then somebody else is and it ain't gonna be good. Um you know, the idea of the recognizing you said everybody has a great experience. Everybody's not just the people in your building, right? I mean, it's those families that have that have frozen on fields and have, you know, have gotten them up early and have fed them and you know, all that kind of stuff. So to make it just the the totality of what that kid's experience has been, I think is I think that that is a home run. Uh, and that was always uh my my favorite days of the years. I love it uh a hundred percent. Now, in his book, uh The Games Leaders Play, author Brian Dodd, when talking about championship coaches and programs, the he says the best of the best look for unique skills. And I'm saying that in quotation marks, unique skills when filling their roster. And so the conversation was about coaches, like college coaches filling a roster. And he said in this coach that he was talking about, he said, number one, the best player is my most selfless player. Number two, everyone knows their role. Number three, we don't care who scores as long as we win the game. And so that's in the context of a coach talking about players. What do you think are those quote unquote unique skills that are needed to be successful with today's student athlete when you're talking about either an athletic director or a coach?

SPEAKER_01 30:57

Well, in terms of unique skills with being a player in today's world, um, you can't just be it honestly, I think you need versatility. So I think you need a willing heart. You you may play two sports and you've got to be able to, you know, commit to both of those. Um the the the players that we have that are are playing multiple sports are doing are they amazing. Um now, if you're just a football guy, if you're just a football athlete, that's incredible too. And there's hundreds of kids on that roster. And I can tell you that it matters, you know, how your depth and it matters how you act in the locker room. It matters about locker room leaders, it's sideline leaders. So you may not be starting or you may not be going out there first string, but by golly, you're gonna be the best sideline athlete that you can be. Um, you're gonna outwork everybody. Now, if you're somebody that's a top-tier athlete, you need to outwork everybody every day. And you need to prepare. So just showing up for practice. I like athletes that go above and beyond that they that they're pushing the weight after practice, that they're showing up early. Um I think players that are trustworthy, players that maybe don't say a lot, they're silent leaders. Um, I love those type of leaders when I was coaching. They're gonna do you're they're gonna stay in their role. And they may not say a lot, but they're gonna, their effort is gonna speak for itself. Um, there's so many things. I mean, just kids that, you know, we have our leadership council. And so I get to work with all of the athletes and and getting to know them as a coach. I mean, it's like I would go back and do it so different. I would spend more one-on-one time just getting to know these kids. They're so smart. Um, I think we forget that every kid is they're all they're we need to value kids more. We need to value their thoughts, their um, their impact that they want to make and that they are that their opinion sometimes does matter. Um, so we talk a lot about don't be scared to say, give your ideas, you know, feel confident to speak up. And so I've been really encouraging these senior leaders because they're on their way out, you know, some of them, their seasons end ended. I encourage them to take those juniors, sophomores, freshmen under your wing and be there for them. Because we all know what it's like to be on teams that maybe the seniors were negative. Seniors didn't help you, they were out to get you, they just want to put you down. And we don't encourage that at all. We actually we're encouraging you to who's the next senior leader to come up, right? And it doesn't mean you're the best player. Um, you might be the alternate on your team. If it's sheer, you might not ever make the map, but um, those people need those kids need to be valued just as much. So, and then as a coach, um, seems like the coaches that have the most success that I've seen, um they number one, they are truly passionate about people, building people first and foremost. So when you have have the structure of, okay, we're gonna build a culture, which doesn't happen overnight, takes a long time. And then we're gonna help instill these values in these kids. And so doing the community service, staying after practice to clean up, hey, instilling that the locker room behavior matters. Um, we're going to help other go cheer on other teams and support each other. Um, those teams seem to do the best and um recognize that we're so fortunate at VA to have all these things just given to us, um, budgets, um, you know, nice facilities. Could they be better? Some of them, sure. But we all we really tried to be equitable to all of our teams and to our coaches. Um, and then I think our job as admin is to what are we doing to help our coaches? And I think we're still trying to figure out how we can better that process, kind of the onboarding um process of getting maybe a new head coach, but it just goes back to pouring into people. So we're constantly as a coach, you're pouring into the kids. As an AD, you're pouring into your coaches. And little things matter. Just a mint, just a check-in text matters sometimes, just to say, I'm here, don't need anything, just checking in on you. That we're human. We're we're not just um, you're not a number to us, you know, because it can get lost. People can get lost in this facility. It's so big. But um kind of feel like I went off on a little tangent there. But there's just so many things to be unique, and I believe that uh comes from your heart, comes from passion and being genuine.

SPEAKER_04 35:37

That's good right there. Three words to sum it up. And you did uh, yeah, that's I I think you hit the player part, you hit the coach part, you even took it further and hit the AD part. So yeah, you gave us a way to uh make sure that we are um exercising and fostering those unique skills. That's really, really good. Okay, man. I'm gonna finish up with this last question. It's kind of a common question. We're asking all of our guests this year. It comes um from a statement in a book that we've recently uh recently read called The Five Graces of Life and Leadership. It's a really good book on grace and and how to apply that in leadership. Uh, the author is Gary Burnison. Uh, it's a it's an interesting book because when you look at it, it looks like a coffee table book, but then it's it's actually got some really good depth to it, not just pictures and stuff like that, but great illustrations, both verbally and uh pictorially. But uh the statement is leadership, it starts with the leader, but it's not about the leader. How do you respond to that statement on leadership?

SPEAKER_01 36:39

Leadership, you know, you you're uh you're held to a higher standard, but none of what we do matters if it's not impacting kids. Um, that's that's how I get through hard times. If I'm dealing with an issue, I know if I make a decision that is gonna benefit our kids, then I've done the right thing. So again, it goes back to being selfless. It goes back to holding yourself accountable that you're not gonna get a pat on the back every time you do something great. That that's why we get to do what we do. Um, you know, the athletes that I meet with monthly for leadership, they don't really, they didn't even really know who I was. And so it's we're behind the scenes. And that's what I love about this is that we're gonna make it happen. It but it doesn't matter who, like our leadership or our signing day, that is wonderful that I was able to help facilitate that. But guess what? It doesn't matter. It's not about me, it's about our kids shining. Um, when we get a new facility or new, you know, equipment. It's wonderful that I was able to help maybe bring that to light, but it's never about yourself. And I think that just goes back to you can't be selfish in this position as a coach. I mean, I never did it for the money. It was just, I just loved it. I don't know. I wish I didn't love it, but I just really did. And so it goes back to just doing follow find your calling, whatever that is, and believe in it and um enjoy it because you're impacting people's lives as a coach. You're impacting future generation coaches. And that was always my job was whenever, or what I loved is whenever I had former cheerleaders that became coaches or palm girls that became coaches, that was amazing because they loved it. They thought what I did was so amazing. And, you know, so now being in this position, there have been several females, um, female athletes that have reached out and they've said, I want to do what you do. How do I do that? And, you know, it's I tell them the same story I told you all. Well, I certainly didn't go about this the traditional route. I'm in grad school right now. Like I didn't, I'm like backwards, you know. And so um it's just never give up on yourself and just continue to instill positive values in other people and it will come back to you, is what I think.

SPEAKER_04 39:01

Really, really good stuff right there. Um, I think it's very clear why um broken arrow is so successful because of uh your time there, your leadership there. Um, you know, I think you just said something there that I thought about and I think about a lot is when those former athletes, whether it's ones we coached or ones that came through here while we've been AD, uh they want to get in education. It seems like there's a a lot more pride that swells up in you when those kids want to get into teaching and coaching. And one of the funnest parts, I won't say the funnest, but one of the funnest parts is get helping those kids get jobs and education, especially when they're with us, right? I mean, when we can bring back our own and make us better, yeah, that's really, really uh satisfying and gratifying. And um, like I said, I don't know if that's the most fun, but it's it's up there, right? So that's really cool that you mentioned that. Now, one question that I have throughout this whole interview since you started, I'll ask it, but you don't have to answer it. You you were and you mentioned being a journalism major. How in the world does a professionally trained journalism person reconcile all the DSisms that come out of that other guy's office right beside you there? I I don't, I mean, I hopefully you don't have to like decipher and write press uh press uh releases and things like that based on his uh lingo.

SPEAKER_01 40:30

Communication is his skill and his background. So together we're the perfect match.

SPEAKER_04 40:36

I'll edit his letters and it may be a skill, but he's got his own language that hey uh that you have to you have to really understand, I guess, and be around it a little while. You know, the one that comes to mind is something about Nell and Jello to a wall or something. I don't know how you put that in a professional uh press release, but I bet you can do it for sure.

SPEAKER_00 40:55

We can figure it out.

SPEAKER_04 40:56

That's right, that's right. No, Amanda, thanks for making us better today. This is great to hear your heart and passion for athletic administration and leadership of kids and uh coaches. Uh, you really made us better, and we're gonna enjoy listening to this again. And we're gonna finish this episode. I don't know if Dustin prepped you, you said he did, but uh, we're gonna finish it with our two-minute drill, and we're gonna ask you some fun questions here.

SPEAKER_01 41:18

Okay, I didn't know about this.

SPEAKER_03 41:19

Okay, so Amanda, we're gonna hit you with some rapid fire questions. You just tell us the first thing that comes to your mind, okay?

SPEAKER_01 41:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 41:25

What was the first job you ever had ever in your life?

SPEAKER_01 41:29

AMC Movie Theaters Ticket Seller.

unknown 41:33

Nice.

SPEAKER_04 41:33

There you go. First of all, I think that's the first movie ticket seller we've had. Uh, what is the best tip you could give to an AD to make doing the job easier or that would make them more efficient?

SPEAKER_01 41:46

I would give them the advice that you may have your agenda, but just every day prepare that it won't be your agenda. It won't be your to-do list. It will the day kind of dictates what will happen.

SPEAKER_03 41:59

Oh, that's so good. It's so true.

SPEAKER_01 42:05

That just went off the door. It'll happen tomorrow.

SPEAKER_03 42:08

Yep. Nope. That's I've done that before, and then something happens and I'm like, you're so cute. You you've you had a list and you were gonna do some stuff. Okay, so let's play a game of hot or not. So these are things that are either considered a hot take or not. So an unpopular opinion that a person feels strongly about. So if you say that it's hot, you agree with it. If you say it's not, then you don't.

SPEAKER_01 42:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 42:30

NFL football is better than college football.

SPEAKER_01 42:33

Not.

SPEAKER_04 42:34

There you go. Totally agree. Oh, you graduate.

SPEAKER_01 42:38

Until and if Dr. Smith ever listens to this, I'm gonna say it boomer sooner.

SPEAKER_04 42:42

There you go. Um all right. Uh, hot or not, putting soy sauce and sriracha on Roma noodles is better than just the flavor packet.

SPEAKER_01 42:55

Not.

unknown 42:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:56

My son's into Roma noodles, Roma noodles, I can say Roma noodles. Uh yeah, uh, no, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 43:02

That's my my son's he he stoops about. That was his question. Uh so uh he he he says that that is a hot take because he puts all the very popular, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Uh all right, hot or not. If your coffee order is more than four words, you're ordering a milkshake.

SPEAKER_04 43:19

Hot deal with that. All right. Uh hot or not, last one. Hop tarts are overrated.

SPEAKER_01 43:29

Not.

SPEAKER_03 43:31

I agree with that. All right. What is something that you lost sleep over early in your career at athletics that you've realized really wasn't worth the stress?

SPEAKER_01 43:41

A disgruntled parent um used to shake me to the core when I because I am a people pleaser by nature, and I want everybody to love me and like me, and I've learned that that is not going to happen in this role, and you just have to keep the the lens of the athlete and do process if you need. And just professionalism, and sometimes it's the 20% that speak the loudest, and I've learned that it's not worth losing sleep over. So that you know, I've learned over the years to have a tougher skin. It definitely has made me stronger.

SPEAKER_04 44:19

And if you're a first to five-year AD, first to three-year AD, if you are by nature a people pleaser, you need to rewind that like 10 times and listen to it every time. So that's a great, that's great advice right there. What's the best lesson you've learned from the last decade of your life? So your teens.

SPEAKER_01 45:09

And so now, you know, I'm in grad school and I'm I just figured finished the CMAA and the QPA, and you just you're never you're never done. And so just never give up on yourself and and keep believing that it might take a little time, but it's okay. You've we have more time.

SPEAKER_03 45:28

That's that's that's a great line. Uh, what was something that you did as a kid that when you did it, you felt super cool, but look at looking back, it probably wasn't as cool as you thought it was.

SPEAKER_01 45:39

Um, I played soccer um and growing up club soccer and school soccer, and so I remember I wore a white Nike bandana, made my hair tight like this, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. And I looked back at pictures and I'm like, that was not cool. You did not look cool.

SPEAKER_03 45:58

That's funny, but my daughter just made she made the switch for the exact same reason. She wore a band or whatever, she saw a picture, and she was like, oh my gosh. And so she doesn't do that anymore. That's funny you said that.

SPEAKER_04 46:10

You're supposed to wear the pre-wrap, right? Didn't know what this soccer was. Pre-rap, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:13

Oh, that was like a basketball thing when I was in high school.

SPEAKER_04 46:16

Yeah, we buy pre-wrap around here to supply the soccer team for head fans.

SPEAKER_01 46:20

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 46:21

I thought it was supposed to be for something else, but I learned differently.

SPEAKER_01 46:24

Not for rapping.

SPEAKER_04 46:25

No, that's right. All right, I'm gonna call an Audible Don. I got I gotta ask. I kind of mentioned it earlier, but I'm gonna put it on the spot. Craziest thing, funniest thing, whatever word you want to use that Dustin Smith has ever said.

SPEAKER_01 46:39

Uh hotter than a witch's toenail or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 46:44

Hotter than a witch's toenail.

SPEAKER_03 46:46

Yeah, that's probably correct. Yeah. Yeah, he said.

SPEAKER_00 46:48

He said something funny every day. Um I could say one right now, but I better not. Understood.

SPEAKER_01 46:57

Yeah, off the cusp, but yeah, he he I can't come up with them. I don't know how he comes up with them. He just has the the right thing to say every time.

SPEAKER_04 47:07

Yeah, he has something to say every time, right?

SPEAKER_00 47:09

I know.

SPEAKER_04 47:10

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 47:10

He's good at that.

SPEAKER_04 47:11

Yes, he is. All right, let's finish with this. It's our trademark question. Today, Amanda Snyder has been you've been hanging with the ADs, but let's say you can hang out with anyone, who would that be and why?

SPEAKER_01 47:21

Who would I hang out with in the AD world?

SPEAKER_04 47:24

Anywhere. No, just about anywhere, live, alive or dead.

SPEAKER_01 47:28

Oh. If I could hang out with anyone, it would be my grandpa. Um, he was a World War II veteran. Um, I get choked up every time I think about him. He was just the most incredible person. And, you know, I always my son asked me if I could bring back anybody to back to life, who would it be? And it would be my grandpa, and just to visit with him and and just uh he was salt of the earth. So just a good person that I loved so very much. And my not to go back too far, but my grandparents raised me, so we were very, very close.

SPEAKER_03 48:02

That's awesome. Uh, Manda, thank you so much for the time today. You've helped us and our listeners get better. Uh, we're so very grateful for the opportunity uh to get to know what makes you tick, and you are clearly overcoming your director of athletics, very difficult personality in Dustin Smith. So uh we we we thank you so much for the time.

SPEAKER_01 48:19

Thank you for the opportunity. I really appreciate it. I had so much fun visiting with y'all. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_04 48:26

Well, we hope you enjoyed this episode with Amanda Snyder, Deputy Director of Athletics at Broken Arrow High School in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, as much as we did. Uh, when we stopped recording, Don and I just talked about how much we got from this conversation with Amanda, and we were blown away. Uh, not that we weren't expecting it because we know the uh caliber of leadership that they have there in Broken Arrow from the top down, and Amanda's right there leading the charge, and we appreciate her uh sharing with us today, making us better. For me, the one point was uh challenging our head coaches uh to be the AD of their program. That's uh kind of a definition she shared. What is a head coach? You are the AD of that sports program, and she gave a lot of specific descriptors of what that requires of a coach. Really exhausting, but being a head coach is a tough job, but it's a super rewarding job, as she mentioned as well. She mentioned several times it's about the kids, right? It's about impacting kids and coaches as the AD and as coach, it's about impacting kids in the community. And uh, you can tell that she has that impact there in Broken Arrow. Amanda, thanks for joining us. Thanks for sharing so much knowledge, so many um attributes, so many um new lessons and thoughts for us to take and apply in our own athletic department. So we appreciate that today. Thanks for making us better. And now, as a listener, we would love for you to leave us a rating, a review, hit the star rating, man. That is really appreciated. We love when we go in there and see that you interacted with us on your social media platform and your podcast platform. So thank you for that. And as always, thank you for spending your time hanging with the ADs.