It’s been a busy few years for Glenn Doulette.
The South Deerfield resident and former Turners Falls High School Athletic Director recently wrapped up a big milestone in his career, as the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) recognized Doulette as a Certified Master Athletic Administrator.
To earn the distinction, Doulette had to “demonstrate exemplary knowledge, contributions and on-going professional development in the field of interscholastic athletic administration.” The voluntary certification process included a thorough evaluation of the candidate’s educational background, experience, NIAAA Leadership courses and professional contributions. It culminated with a practical written project.
Doulette, currently the AD at West Springfield High School, said the designation is another step forward in his career. He’s been at West Springfield since 2014.
“Professional growth,” said Doulette of the decision to embark on the designation. “It’s about challenging yourself, trying to learn more in areas that you’re unfamiliar. What are the national trends in our field, what types of pursuits are important as an athletic director?”
Doulette said he began taking courses toward the degree some 10 years ago when he was the athletic director at Smith Vocational.
“All the boards you sit on, the community services aspects, they want you to document everything,” he said. “The final project was a little daunting. I wrote an emergency action plan for my facilities, then you send it in and wonder what you’ll get for feedback. I felt like I was back in grad school.”
Moving from a smaller school like Turners to a Division 1 program at West Side offers different challenges, according to Doulette. The enrollment at his current school is around 1,250 students.
“I do miss the small community feel,” he admitted. “I miss knowing everyone in the stands. I like having a full-time AD position but there are certainly pros and cons to where I am now compared to the places in the past.”
Doulette admitted that his current gig allows him to focus on the administrative side of the profession. Along with that, he said he has even more respect for part-time ADs, which is mostly the norm throughout Franklin County.
“Having the perspective of coming from a small school to a little bigger one to an even bigger one, you realize the crazy hours people are putting in,” Doulette explained. “The Adam Graves’ (Turners Falls AD) of the world, the Mike Kuchieski’s (Greenfield AD), they do a helluva lot as an AD and also the teaching aspect of their jobs.”
Doulette acknowledged that the athletic administration field is getting more and more competitive, with young and hungry men and women seeking AD positions as their professions directly out of college.
“You see a lot of young kids going into athletic administration, getting their master’s degree in it and being prepared immediately,” he offered. “That’s their foot into it. Gone are the days of people backing into the job. It’s a very competitive field right now.”
West Springfield’s hockey team will play for the Western Mass. Division 3 championship against Longmeadow on Thursday night. The team follows the Greenfield-Wahconah Div. 3A final as the nightcap of a doubleheader at Olympia Ice Center in West Springfield.
The NIAAA is a national professional organization consisting of all 50 state athletic administrator associations and more than 12,000 individual members. It is dedicated to promoting the professional growth of high school athletic administrators and preserving the educational nature of interscholastic athletics and the place of these programs in the secondary school curriculum.