By Stephen Greene, Pine Whispers
The start of a new school year always brings changes. Reynolds High School, in particular, had an exciting change to announce with the naming of Brad Fisher as athletic director. Fisher replaced Jim Spivey, who retired after the 2011-2012 school year.
“From the very beginning I wanted to be an athletic director, and now I’m very excited to be fulfilling that role,” Fisher said.
Fisher is highly qualified. He attended Guilford College and Appalachian State University, receiving his bachelor’s degree in sports management from Guilford and his master’s degree in sports administration from Appalachian. He has served as assistant athletic director at Reynolds for two full years while also coaching football, women’s tennis and men’s tennis during his eight years at the school.
After just one month in his new position, Fisher is having a blast.
“It’s been great,” he said. “Surprisingly, it’s been much slower compared to all I was doing this summer, with meetings and classroom work.”
In a short span of time, Fisher has already made significant changes to some of Reynolds’ athletic programs, including moving the women’s field hockey team to Bolton Field due to better lighting and crowd capacity. Also, he has overseen the replacement of the old, creaky steps and bleachers in Bryson Gym.
Most important, however, is the surprise he has in store for Bryson, which will be unveiled at the start of basketball season: “I’m a big fan of tradition,” Fisher said. “But that doesn’t mean that our school’s equipment, facilities and media interaction should be second-rate. I want people to know that I want what’s best for RJR, and while I might not make everyone happy, I am determined to help us move forward.”
This eagerness and determination to help students succeed is one of the main reasons why interim Principal David Small hired Fisher.
“He’s very current with the happenings of the school,” Small said. “Most of all, I like his vision for the future of our athletic programs.”
With the addition of his athletic director duties, Fisher will not return as head coach of the men’s tennis team. The decision to step aside from a team with three straight NCHSAA 4-A championships was difficult but necessary.
“It’s bittersweet, and while being head coach was very special, this is the position that I’ve wanted for a while,” Fisher said. “But don’t worry – I’ll be around!”
A new coach has not been hired, but Fisher said he plans on finding the best coach possible to continue the tennis team’s legacy.
“Coach Fisher has been a great coach to me and I know he will do well in his new role,” sophomore tennis player Nate Rowell said.
In addition to being athletic director, Fisher will continue to teach sports marketing. Fisher will be busy balancing these two jobs, but as always, he has a plan.
“I’ve added some hands-on activities this year for the (sports marketing) students such as promotional work at our home games,” Fisher said.
Applying these classroom concepts in real-world situations will benefit Fisher’s students. Meanwhile, Fisher will be doing a little promotional work himself, helping lead the way in the quest for a home stadium for Reynolds.
“Our attendance (at sports games) is lower than most schools our size and I believe that the main reason for this is due to transportation issues and other difficulties of having a stadium off-campus,” he said. “If we have our own stadium, it will allow both students and citizens to enjoy a true home game and will raise our financial income, which in turn will give us a stronger budget in the upcoming years.”