Dr. Christopher Gaddis, a Certified Athletic Administrator and the District Athletic Administrator for Owensboro Public Schools, will receive the 2019 NIAAA State Award of Merit during the Kentucky High School Athletic Directors Association (KHSADA) state conference April 25 in Louisville.
Gaddis is being recognized for his meritorious dedication to high school and middle school athletics by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA), the professional organization for athletic administrators in the US.
The award is typically given to someone who has senior-level experience and an athletic director who has a “personal claim to fame” in the industry, Gaddis said.
“It is an honor to be recognized for this award by the NIAAA,” Gaddis said. “I am fortunate to be surrounded by hard-working people both in the 3rd Region and in our district who truly care for the well-being of student-athletes, and we strive to continue the rich tradition of Owensboro Red Devils athletics.”
Gaddis said that his area of expertise in his administrative role is the finance side. At the end of each season, he likes to finish “in the black.”
“I enjoy the logistics and organization of the job, not just the events,” Gaddis said. “When we are in one season, we are actually planning for the next season, and I love the manipulation of multitasking simultaneously.”
In addition to his numerous roles in the Owensboro Public Schools district throughout the past 29 years, Gaddis has also served as an athletic administrator in the district for the past 16 years.
Gaddis said one that the greatest changes to have happened during those years is the number of participants, saying that over 7 million students participate in interscholastic athletics in the U.S., and the number is increasing.
Another change is the gender equity compliance under Title IX. This has also increased the number of sports being added that are reaching out to the non-traditional athlete, such as schools offering bowling, archery and fishing.
Athlete protection is also at its height with new concussion rules for football and also heat index for participation.
“In 1993, when I started doing this, we were not concerned with either of those,” Gaddis said.
Gaddis said that he became interested in pursuing a doctorate in Educational Leadership when he looked at his future retirement and what options would be available. His degree allows him to teach at the college level, which he has done for the last 13 semesters online through Western Kentucky University.
He used his dissertation to focus on the credentials in athletic department administration, something that has changed since he has been in the role as well.
“It used to be that a retired coach, who had been in for 15 to 20 years, was given a Master key and took the job,” Gaddis said. “And now there is a 25 percent turnover annually in high school athletic directors.”
Gaddis is focused on educating and retaining athletic directors and uses his position on the KHSADA board to help mentor other athletic directors to give them the tools to stay in the position.
“We [KHSADA] want them to stay,” Gaddis said. “When we find out why they are leaving, we realize it is like being a lost pup in tall grass — they were just given the keys without the education.”
Hugh McReynolds, KHSAA Executive Director, said that because of the value Gaddis holds regarding professional development through the KHSADA and NIAAA, he has been extremely instrumental in the development of a mentoring program for new Athletic Administrators and has played a vital role in the development of the 3rd Region Athletic Administrators Association.
In 2017, Gaddis was named the 3rd Region Athletic Director of the year, but he said that the 3rd Region is lucky because of the camaraderie between the athletic coaches and directors.
“Other regions are envious of the way our region gets along and has a relationship,” Gaddis said.
Gaddis believes that it has been easy for him to turn the OPS athletic director position into a true administration position because he has always had the support of the superintendent and the board.
“It’s easy to do great things when you are around great people,” Gaddis said.
