RE Log Fall 2018

36 Ransom Everglades LOG )$// RE Sp ts $ /LIHORQJ 3DVVLRQ 5(ȆV QHZ $' OLYHV RXW KLV GUHDP RI VKDSLQJ yRXQJ DWKOHWHV &RUH\ *Rɣ JUHZ XS LQ D WRZQ ZLWK more cows, he says with a laugh, than people. Montrose, a city with a popula- tion under 2,000 in the northeast corner RI 3HQQV\OYDQLD RɣHUV LWV GHQL]HQV D quiet life, an annual blueberry festival, a decades-old Dairy Princess Pageant, and a culture invested in youth sports. *Rɣ ZKR DUULYHG WR 5DQVRP Everglades in the spring of 2018 as the Director of Athletics and Physical Education, recalls years of Little League baseball and Pop Warner football under the tutelage of his late father. A state transportation agency worker who grew XS RQ D GDLU\ IDUP :LOOLDP -HUU\ *Rɣ -U lacked a college degree but loved to train young athletes. Nearly every day after ZRUN WKH HOGHU *Rɣ FRDFKHG HOHPHQWDU\ and junior high students, including all three of his sons. Inspired by his father’s de- votion and his own passion for athletics, &RUH\ *Rɣ decided by age nine to take a simi- lar path. As a high school DWKOHWH *Rɣ won all-league recognition in football and baseball and went on to play both sports at Susquehanna 3D 8QLYHUVLW\ $IWHU JUDGXDWLQJ ZLWK D bachelor’s degree in biology and second- DU\ HGXFDWLRQ *Rɣ ODQGHG D MRE DV DQ assistant football and baseball coach at 6XVTXHKDQQD 2QH RI KLV ¿UVW UHFUXLWV was his younger brother Casey – now the head football coach at The College of New Jersey. $IWHU D \HDU DW 6XVTXHKDQQD *Rɣ FRDFKHG DQG WDXJKW DW WKH 8QLYHUVLW\ RI Albany (where he earned a master’s in educational psychology), Dartmouth College and two independent schools: The Westminster Schools in Atlanta and Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, Pa. ,Q ɳɱɱɱ DIWHU KDYLQJ ZRUNHG ¿YH MREV LQ ¿YH \HDUV KH DFFHSWHG D MRE FRDFK- ing football at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa. “My wife and I laugh about it now, because we thought we would be there IRU D \HDU RU WZR DQG PRYH RQ ´ *Rɣ said. A year or two turned into 18. $V WKH \HDUV WLFNHG RQ *Rɣ earned increasing responsibilities on the administrative side of the athletics department. Twelve years after starting his tenure at Muhlenberg, he received a promotion to Director of Athletics and Recreation – a title later changed to Executive Director of Athletics and Recreation. In that role, he oversaw 22 NCAA Division III sports teams and PDQDJHG D VWDɣ RI ɸɶ As the top administrator in the DWKOHWLFV GHSDUWPHQW *Rɣ QR ORQJHU spent his time traveling around the East Coast on recruiting trips, but he did not forget prior visits to Ransom Everglades School. He had personally recruited Stephen Montalto ’03 , a soccer and football star at RE. (Montalto attended Muhlenberg and now runs his own law ¿UP LQ 0LDPL ³, UHÀHFWHG RQ WKLV SODFH TXLWH RIWHQ DV , ZDV UHFUXLWLQJ ´ *Rɣ VDLG ³7KH PL[ of strong academics, the potential for strength in athletics and the historical VXFFHVV WKDW 5DQVRP (YHUJODGHV RɣHUHG was very, very appealing to me.” :KHQ *Rɣ KHDUG DERXW WKH RSHQ- ing for Director of Athletics at Ransom Everglades School, he was immediately LQWHUHVWHG +LV ZLIH /DXUHQ *Rɣ DQ DW- torney, has family in the area; her sister and brother-in-law teach at Miami &RXQWU\ 'D\ 7KH *Rɣ¶V VRQ Collin Goff ’24 entered RE’s seventh grade this fall. Their youngest, Michael, is in WKH ¿IWK JUDGH )RU *Rɣ 5DQVRP (YHUJODGHV KHOG personal appeal and presented an entic- ing career challenge. “Having students interested in pur- suing excellence in both academics and DWKOHWLFV RɣHUV WKH W\SH RI DWPRVSKHUH I was interested in working in,” he said. “My goal is to help students excel both in our physical education curriculum and also in the athletics program. 5DQVRP (YHUJODGHV RɣHUV D WHUUL¿F RS- portunity for that. I’m very excited.”