For my informational interview I met with Drew Felton, the Athletic Administrator at Calvert Catholic High School. Mr. Felton grew up in Tiffin and actually went to Calvert himself, but growing up he did not expect to be where he is today. He went to Bowling Green and got his Bachelor’s in Finance and Business Administration. He later received his Masters from Findlay in Human Resources Development and Education for grades 4-9. After college, he worked as a teacher for two catholic schools and when he realized that it was not for him, he moved to a job at Heidelberg in Business Administration and the Human Resources Department. After a few years there, he decided to teach a few classes at Tiffin in Marketing. One year after joining Tiffin, the Athletic Administrator resigned, Mr. Felton applied, and received the position that he is in now. He has been in his new position for less than a year. From here, Mr. Felton is not going to settle. He said that he wants more than this and one day wants to be the statistician for a MLB team. He wants to work his way up through gaining connections; he said that even if it is volunteer work you are making contacts and getting experience to put on your resume. Mr. Felton said that for a while he was torn: “do what makes money or be happy.” Thankfully he was able to find a job that he enjoys very much.
Throughout the day, Mr. Felton deals with a lot of different tasks. At Calvert, he teaches two classes as well as the Athletic Administrator. He said that he would rather not have to teach anymore because, while teaching is fun to stay involved with, it is very time consuming. He is starting to stray away from his inner teacher and wants full-time athletics. In addition to teaching, some of Mr. Felton’s tasks include: checking e-mails, making sure that bills are being paid, checking for coaches’ certifications are updated, staying in contact with OHSAA as well as the Toledo Area Athletic Conference, the conference that Calvert is moving to next year, stay in contact with the athletic boosters, and maintains a statistics website that he created six years ago for Calvert athletics. He said that throughout the day, you feel like you did not get a lot done, but at the end of the day you do.
A positive to being the Athletic Administrator is that the position is very flexible. He comes in around 9/9:30AM every day and does not get home until later, especially for sporting events saying that he would rather work later than get up early. Also, while there are routine tasks, every day is different and he enjoys the fact that he is not doing the same thing day after day. A few challenges that he faces is the fact that he is not as outgoing as an Athletic Administrator is supposed to be. He is more laid back, but as a figure for the school’s athletics, he needs to go around and shake hands at games even though he would rather be watching and taking statistics. Another challenge is volunteers. He does not like asking people to do things such as give money or donate their time. He wants people at Calvert to want to be involved, but sometimes that is just not the case. Mr. Felton finds it awkward and uncomfortable to ask people to do things they do not want to do, but it is his job to do so.
When I asked Mr. Felton why athletics and what has prepared him for his position, he confessed that not much from his education has helped. He did admit that his organizational behavior class helped, but mostly his computer skills because he uses excel for almost everything to stay organized. Growing up, Mr. Felton was not the best athlete, but always like statistics and work behind the scenes. He would go to games, even today he takes statistics at football games for Calvert, and made connections. The way that he put it was that he was self-aught and created exposure for himself by constantly helping Calvert, even being a part of the athletic boosters. Some advice that Mr. Felton gave to me was to keep an open mind; take advantage of every opportunity and do not pass up something just because it is different than your original plan. He also told me to get involved even if it is volunteer work and make connections. He said that he wants to try and take statistics for the minor league baseball team that is coming to Tiffin. You can never know too many people or have too many experiences so take advantage of the ones that are offered to you.
Throughout the day, Mr. Felton deals with a lot of different tasks. At Calvert, he teaches two classes as well as the Athletic Administrator. He said that he would rather not have to teach anymore because, while teaching is fun to stay involved with, it is very time consuming. He is starting to stray away from his inner teacher and wants full-time athletics. In addition to teaching, some of Mr. Felton’s tasks include: checking e-mails, making sure that bills are being paid, checking for coaches’ certifications are updated, staying in contact with OHSAA as well as the Toledo Area Athletic Conference, the conference that Calvert is moving to next year, stay in contact with the athletic boosters, and maintains a statistics website that he created six years ago for Calvert athletics. He said that throughout the day, you feel like you did not get a lot done, but at the end of the day you do.
A positive to being the Athletic Administrator is that the position is very flexible. He comes in around 9/9:30AM every day and does not get home until later, especially for sporting events saying that he would rather work later than get up early. Also, while there are routine tasks, every day is different and he enjoys the fact that he is not doing the same thing day after day. A few challenges that he faces is the fact that he is not as outgoing as an Athletic Administrator is supposed to be. He is more laid back, but as a figure for the school’s athletics, he needs to go around and shake hands at games even though he would rather be watching and taking statistics. Another challenge is volunteers. He does not like asking people to do things such as give money or donate their time. He wants people at Calvert to want to be involved, but sometimes that is just not the case. Mr. Felton finds it awkward and uncomfortable to ask people to do things they do not want to do, but it is his job to do so.
When I asked Mr. Felton why athletics and what has prepared him for his position, he confessed that not much from his education has helped. He did admit that his organizational behavior class helped, but mostly his computer skills because he uses excel for almost everything to stay organized. Growing up, Mr. Felton was not the best athlete, but always like statistics and work behind the scenes. He would go to games, even today he takes statistics at football games for Calvert, and made connections. The way that he put it was that he was self-aught and created exposure for himself by constantly helping Calvert, even being a part of the athletic boosters. Some advice that Mr. Felton gave to me was to keep an open mind; take advantage of every opportunity and do not pass up something just because it is different than your original plan. He also told me to get involved even if it is volunteer work and make connections. He said that he wants to try and take statistics for the minor league baseball team that is coming to Tiffin. You can never know too many people or have too many experiences so take advantage of the ones that are offered to you.