NRHS Athletic Director
By EVA HANEGRAAFF
NORTH READING — North Reading athletics, this year especially, continues to impress. With nearly all fall sports teams being named CAL Champs and the impressive record of all NRHS sports, there is one person who has been a critical part of every game: Dave Johnson, the high school’s athletic director for the past 18 years, who has recently announced his retirement.
Before coming to North Reading, he held athletic director positions at both Arlington High School and at Austin Prep, however his proximity to North Reading made the position too difficult to pass up when he was offered it by the then principal, Jon Bernard. Before taking the position, he knew about North Reading’s sports teams from playing against them during his tenure at Austin Prep. “I had a relationship with several of the coaches and the previous athletic director at North Reading so being at Austin Prep I was familiar with it,” Johnson explains.
While many people know Johnson and the vital position he has within the school, many do not know what it is that he does in the day to day. Johnson explains, “I think that the biggest job that I do is making sure that the staff is of a high quality which I think we really have had that at North Reading.”
He is responsible for hiring all the coaches and athletic trainers and ensuring that all sports are equally treated. He adds, “I’m in charge of contest management, and transportation is a big piece of it.” More behind the scenes, Johnson also takes care of maintaining compliance with the state regulations and conducting coaches’ evaluations throughout the season.
For Johnson, being the athletic director is more than all the formal responsibilities. “My job has been just instilling a sense of spirit which kind of gets the ball rolling,” he said. He does this by looking for coaches who “have the ability to inspire kids to be better than they are.” He adds, “We have been incredibly lucky at North Reading to have teachers that wanted to coach and really brought on that dynamic.”
In becoming an athletic director, it is clear that Johnson always felt connected to sports. “Athletics has always been a big part of myself and my family growing up,” he said, adding, “I think it’s always been being part of a team that has been important to me and I always wanted to be able to promote that atmosphere of camaraderie.”
Now, after a long and successful career, Johnson embraces the idea of retirement. “I think it’s time to hand the reins over,” he believes. While sports will always be a part of his life, Johnson explains, “I look forward to just being a retired grandfather!”
That being said, Johnson still plans to keep busy, traveling and spending time with his family and attending games at the high school every once in a while. “I think I’ll always have a passion for high school sports and I want to bow out gracefully but not leave anything behind.”
While Johnson never revealed who was in the running to take on the position for next year, he did say, “I know there are some in-house people who are interested in it and my support is for whoever Dr. Daly and Mr. Loprete chose.”
For Johnson, while he is ready for this next step in his life, he admits, “I think I will miss the game days and the preparation, whether it’s the first kick-off or the tip, or whatever it may be.” While he loves what he does now, he is ready to enter into retirement, ending by saying, “if everyone’s had the career I’ve had I think they’re pretty lucky.”