Mirror Q&A: Stephen Traister

As the winter sports season begins, the Mirror sat down with our school's Athletic Director to find out what it's like to walk in his shoes.

Mirror: What does the average day of an AD look like?

Traister: I don't know if there's an average day. There is in-season stuff that I take care of, while also preparing for the next season and the season after that. For example, we had our winter coaches meeting last night and tonight and I am working on getting the fall banquet things done. We are also working on the spring schedules because we have the winter done. There's also scheduling, hiring coaches, paying bills for equipment, paying the referees.

M: What is the most challenging part of your job?

T: Sometimes it's the budget, but the biggest challenge is probably getting the parents, athletes and coaches to all work together.

M: What surprised you most about the fall sports season?

T: I would say the success of the boys soccer team. They’ve been a little down, but they had a really good season this year. They went 10-6-3. Girls soccer has normally been strong, field hockey has normally been strong. We got three wins in volleyball, which has been great. That's more wins then they have had in the past 7 years combined.

M: Which sports teams are the most challenging to work with?

T: None in particular. There are different issues that come up with different sports, such as trying to get kids to go out for a particular sports and scheduling for others.

M: What are some things that you discuss with other town athletic directors?

T: We talk about fan behavior, student athlete behavior, scheduling, participation, trouble with getting enough officials. At TVL meetings, there is always an agenda. Each one of us is in charge of a sport per season. I am in charge of indoor track. So any issues that come up with those, it could be rules, it could be getting the officials on the same page, or scheduling.

M: In hindsight, do you think the move to the TVL has benefitted DHS?

T: Absolutely! We are now in a league with schools about our size. We fit right in the middle with about 720 kids. There's six schools above us and four below us, so we're right in the middle, where as in the Bay State League, some schools had three times the size of us with 2100 or 2200. I think it's helped. The kids think they have a better chance every week. When we unfortunately do loose, our games are closer because we're playing teams our size. Some of the sports that really struggled in Bay State like track, cross country, football, teams with bigger numbers are excelling in TVL. Girls track really struggled and now they won a championship. So I think it's benefited us not only in wins and losses but in moral. Even the games we lose are more competitive, we have a chance almost everyday.

M: How do you feel about the 8th grade waiver to the girls ice hockey team?

T: We’ve gotten it the last couple years. We actually have a waiver for co-ed swimming as well, and for hockey. It's more of a safety issue. They're not supposed to be hitting in girls hockey, so we don't have an issue with having 13 or 14 year-olds play with them. It would be different if they were boys, because they're allowed to hit, and there's a big difference between an 18 year-old and 14 year-olds. But with injury and sickness during the winter and playing multiple lines, I think we need that. We should have about 20 players with the eighth graders. Without them we would only have about 14 or 15. We're one in three schools that has our own girls hockey program. Everyone else uses a co-ed with other teams. So getting 8th graders definitely helps.

M: What changes do you have to make once a team makes tournament? Why must you watch their games now?

T: I try to get to as many games as I can during the regular season. I don't get to go to away games because we have games going on at home, so I can hardly ever make it to away games during the regular season. At a tournament, I'm there to support. There's not a ton of changes that have to be made. Sometimes we adjust the rosters a little bit, but there's no big changes once a team makes it. We do have to have school representatives at some tournament games, but other then that there's not of things that go into it. The MIAA mandates a certain amount of administrator presence for each round of tournament to monitor student behavior.

M: What is one change you think our athletic department needs?

T: Our participation is good, but I would like more. I'd like more kids to go to each other's game. Everyone says, "Well, how do you get them to?" It's the kids that encourage their peers to support. They aren't going to listen to me, but it's you guys that have to get your friends to come to other games. Unfortunately, sometimes students are practicing or playing at the same time.

M: What is the procedure when an athlete gets injured? Do you have to do anything specific?

T: Yes, our trainor, Megan, does most of that. It depends on the level of the injury, but she does most of the communication with that--especially concussion protocol. If there's a concussion, she will deal with our school nurses, parents, and the athlete. The school committee and district have a procedure in place if student gets concussed. There's a protocol to follow.

M: How do you correspond with other schools to create the sports schedule? How long does this process take? What happens if a game is cancelled?

T: We're already working on next fall's schedules. We will probably approve the schedules for next year at our next meeting. Winter is already done. We have someone in our league that kind of sets the schedules and we go through everything and adjust times in the spring for when all the AP exams are, so we deal with all those issues. If a game is cancelled I contact the other team's athletic director, so we can find another date. We have to call the officials and the person who assigns the officials, as well as anyone who works the game like ticket tackers, clock operators, our trainor, the park and rec if were using those fields, the custodians, and busses. For football and hockey, we have an EMT at those games, so we have to contact them, too. It's just more communication with everybody. Luckily there's not that many cancellations because of turf fields.

M: Is there anything that you are currently working on to improve the athletic department?

T: I'm always trying to improve. I receive feedback from the coaches on what we can do to improve and how we can work better with the student athletes and their parents. We spent a couple years trying to get into the TVL, and a couple years working on the budget and getting uniforms paid for by the school. Together with the town, I think we are doing a very decent job.

M: How do you decide when a team needs new uniforms? What is the process like when you order them?

T: We follow a rotation. I work with Mr Crisp, who handles all of the equipment, and we try and have a rotation because we can't buy everything every year. They're usually on a 4-5 year rotation. Volleyball got new ones this year. Girls and boys hockey got white ones. The white we usually go with first. Boys lacrosse got new maroon ones. Girls lacrosse got new white ones. Boys basketball got new grey ones. Next year we're looking at getting new white uniforms for boys and girls soccer and golf bags for the golf team. For funding, we used to do the decal drive, but now Dedham Public Schools pays for them. Football and cheerleading are normally the most expensive. We don't buy anything that doesn't come back like socks or baseball hats or swimsuits. We don't buy much for the swim team, we bought them swim parkas, which they can wear to and from their meets.

M: Do you have any advice for current student athletes?

T: Play as many sports as possible.and enjoy them because you don’t get to play sports the rest of your life. Some of your teammates could become your best friends forever.