Arlee’s new athletic director opens up about sports season
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ARLEE – Bill Stockton, Arlee School District’s new athletic director, is excited to get the ball rolling on the next school year.
“Cross country, volleyball and football start first,” he said of fall sports. “We have a midnight kickoff for football before school even gets started. The kids can’t wait.”
Teaching high school science is another thing he is juggling with the new position.
“There are going to be times when I am exhausted,” he said. “I felt like someone needed to step up to make sure we are following policies and creating good programs.”
He sees sports not only as a physical challenge but also as an important teaching tool.
“I think sports are ultimately an extension of the classroom,” he said. “We should get rid of (the word) extracurricular and call sports co-curricular.”
Stockton outlined the benefits of participating in sports.
“Sports teach kids that if you put in x amount of hours then you will see x amount of results,” he said. “That is true of what you put into any job. You get back what you put into it. It’s important for kids to see that. They also learn teamwork and dedication.”
He expects students to meet the new 2.0 grade average requirement to participate in sports.
“If you give kids things to reach for, they’ll step up,” he said.
Stockton believes goals will help develop the school’s sports programs. Improving communication between coaches, players and parents was the first goal he put on his list.
“Everyone needs to be on the same page,” he said. “Things go well when everyone knows what is going on and what the expectations are.”
He hopes to update communication tools, including the school’s website.
His second goal is to get every coach to create a coaching philosophy to anchor the team’s ideals. He doesn’t give himself an exemption from that goal.
“My philosophy is team focused,” he said. “No one person is bigger than the whole program. If you win or lose, it’s a team effort. It’s about being better people.”
His third goal focuses on involvement.
“I’d like to get more kids involved in things outside the classroom,” he said. “The data shows that when kids get involved they do better. When kids are busier, they have less time to stray.”
Stockton’s job gets challenging during basketball season when he also coaches high school girls’ basketball. He says he is getting help from former athletic director Jim Taylor.
“I can’t be my own supervisor,” Stockton said. “Taylor will step in and help out.”
Developing the basketball program as a head coach was important to Stockton. In addition to teaching at Arlee since 2010, Stockton coached football and track as an assistant coach in the past few years.
“It’s fun to see your program develop,” he said. “I was the assistant coach to the other programs. As head coach, it’s your program and you get to see what you can do with it, but it’s going to be a juggle. I can handle it. It isn’t much different than all the time I put into coaching.”
