VHCS work to create strategic plan for athletic department

In an effort to improve the athletic department at the high school and middle school levels, leaders within the Vestavia Hills school system are working to create a strategic plan.

Assistant Superintendent Patrick Martin said he has identified several key stakeholders in the community to serve on a steering committee and said while there are mission and vision statements for middle school and high school athletic departments, the strategic plan will determine if those meet the expectations of the community.

The school system also has contracted with a facilitator, Strategic Edge, based in Lawrence, Kansas, who will lead meetings. Martin said Strategic Edge is made up of two consultants who have done similar work with NCAA programs.

The desire for a strategic plan came after Martin and the high school’s athletic director, Jeff Segars, saw how the schoolwide strategic plan benefited the system as a whole, and they decided they needed one for athletics. There wasn’t a portion of the school system that was not touched by the plan, and athletic leaders wanted to do the same and gather community input and prepare for the future, Martin said.

The plan will focus on capital plans and supporting student-athletes in their health and well being, as well as staffing needs, professional growth and short-term and long-term facility needs.

Prior plans to develop a new strength and conditioning facility would fall into the strategic plan and be vetted through that, Martin said. The search for a new high school football coach following the retirement of longtime coach Buddy Anderson is a separate process, he said.

In order to create a plan, Martin said leaders will gather info, hold focus group sessions and gather feedback from stakeholders to help them know what is expected of them and to help them set goals. Strategic Edge will then provide a written plan and bring it all together.

Martin said this work is vital because Vestavia student-athletes embody what it means to be both a student and an athlete.

“When you think of the student-athlete … you think of Vestavia Hills,” Martin said.

It’s important to care for student-athletes and ensure all of their needs are met, he said. In 2020, that has changed from decades past, he said.

“When you look at the demand on a student-athlete’s time in 2020 … there seems to be more expected of the 2020 student-athlete,” Martin said.

It’s up to system leaders to find those supports that help them be successful, and to help them achieve their goals both on and off the field, he said.

The plan is also vital because while Vestavia athletics may be in good shape, there is always room for improvement, he said.

“If we don’t grow and improve, we become stagnant.”

The expectation is for the plan to kick off in December and January and be presented to the Board of Education in September or October 2021, Martin said.