By James Claussen
When I sat down to interview new athletic director Roney Eford at the Cafe, he’d just been meeting with some Upper School students about a project they were interested in doing that would involve collaboration “between the middle school and the high school.”
Considering he is the new athletic director, I asked him how it has been at Lovett so far. He said it has “been fantastic.” He is “super excited” to be a part of a place where he can “build on the fantastic foundation that’s already here and also to help build on opportunities and things in the future here at Lovett as well.”
Before coming to Lovett, he worked in athletic departments in “multiple independent schools, high schools, independent day schools,” and he also “went to an independent school as well.”
Prior to working in schools, he played collegiate basketball for Marquette and then played professionally overseas. While he loved playing basketball at Marquette, he also valued the friendships and being able to see “how we had the community just rally around the one team, especially going to the Sweet 16.” He said many of the lessons he learned “helped shape who I am today.”
His basketball career also impacted both his philosophy as an athletic director and his understanding of athletes. He said that his experience taught him that “being a part of a team is so critical and so important to success.” The team camaraderie set him to be able to collaborate with multiple departments as well as with families.
As athletic director, he wants to improve the student-athlete experience at Lovett, which is “really, really powerful and really rewarding on a daily basis.”
Mr. Eford said being an athletic director comes with many responsibilities, “ones that I welcome with open arms and ones that I cherish and ones that quite frankly I truly, truly enjoy.”
He said that as an athletic director, you are “working and supporting coaches, you are working and collaborating with various departments on campus, facilities, maintenance,” but at the core of what they do every day is on the athletic office wall: “student first mentality.”
Mr. Eford said it’s important for him to give his attention to all of the teams and “view every sport as the same,” giving the individual athletes and the teams the resources they need.
I wondered what was the hardest part of his role as athletic director. He said that there are “situations that become a little more challenging, but I wouldn’t say it’s hard.” He said that there are “different ebbs and flows” and that sometimes the transitions between seasons are a little busier than normal.”
As for the best part of being athletic director, he said that it’s knowing he can make a student smile or elevate their self-esteem. He said that there is no better feeling than knowing “you had a direct impact on a student’s experience while they’re here at Lovett.”
As we wrapped up, I asked him what he’d be doing next. Mr. Eford said that he had his “normal check-ins with my staff, my weekly meetings.” He would be attending the playoff softball game and then continuing to prepare for the busy weekend ahead. “Friday games…Saturday…and then we have our media day on Sunday,” he said.
Great job james!