Palladino takes over as Boyertown S.D. athletic director
The Birdsboro area resident has been on the job on an interim basis
Nick Palladino, a Birdsboro area resident, has been around sports his whole life, either play or coaching. So now, he wanted to take the next chronological step, and that was to go into the administrative role of things. He saw the opening of an athletic director on the Boyertown Area School District website, then applied for the job. Palladino served as the interim athletic director for the past year before officially being named to the job.
Palladino met with administration in his first interview. His second interview was with the school board, but he feels that he had a one year interview ass the interim athletic director because he was being evaluated on the job
Nick never looked as the interim title as a temporary thing, but performer his job as if he would be there per- manently. He was looking to get the experience from the job and move forward from the first day he took the job. Hewanted to get things done for the way things should be.
“I didn’t know if I would be here for a day or for a year,” said Palladino. “I took it one day at a time and acted like I would be here forever.”
His brother, Tony, was the athletic director at Boyertown before moving on to Phoenixville, and is currently at Norristown High School, which is a great support system for Nick. However, he also has the support of the other athletic directors that he can bounce ideas off of or ask them questions. According to Nick, the other athletic directors have helped him as well. He notes that they are a close-nit group, and they help each other out.
“The league looks out for each other no doubt,” said Palladino.
When asked if there were times if he wondered why he took this job, he replied, “yes, at times.” But on the whole, he loves his job. It’s a time consuming job, but he’s ready for it. The athletic director’s job is a 24/7 job. He’ll admit that it took time to get use to, he has help from Karen Girton (his athletic secretary).
“She’s a great resource to have, but she’s a teammate,” saidPalladino. “If Idon’tknow the answer she knows it.”
It’s a time consuming job, so it’s tough to juggle time with his job and time with his family. He has some help him, so he doesn’t miss too much of his children’s activities. There is some stuff that he does miss, but he notes that the schedule is flexible enough that he can get to a big family gathering if he needs to be there.
“It’s more of the regular night time stuff, not just the dance recitals, I can schedule around that stuff,” said Palladino. “Being there for your kids every night tuck-
Girls Bowling
ing them in, especially in the winter, that’s when I’m here mostly at night. It wasn’t just mine but it was a family decision. Mywife (Karen) takes care of everything at home. If she couldn’t do that, or wouldn’t be able to do that, I wouldn’t be able to do this job. It’s a team there also.”.”
He’ll admit that he does miss being there at night tucking his children in, but he knows that they’re getting to the age where they understand, and the older two comewith him on weekends when there’s an athletic event. That’s something that they enjoy.
“If we do the schedule right, I don’t miss out on that much,” said Palladino.
Palladiono os a sports guy, he likes being around sports, which is one thing that he likes about his new job. He also likes the business side of things. The job is half running the business, and the other half is dealing with the student-athletes and coaches. He also likes seeing his athletes have on and off of the field. It means a lot to him to see a former student who went off to college and became successful, or moved on to success in the business world.
Like most athletic directors, they all have short term goals for the athletic department, and Palladino is no different.
“I want to get the studentathletes what they need to have continued success,” said Palladino.
Phil Haddad is a free lance writer for the Times. You can follow him on Twitter @writersprtsBT