Always a 'kid at heart'

The retiring athletic director at Canfield High will be missed for more than his contribution to sports.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CANFIELD -- Nancy Vince could wait no longer.
Curious of her chances to be hired as secretary in the Canfield High athletic office, Vince called the man who has been a fixture there, the veteran athletic director who makes everyone around him laugh and believe.
His name is Dick Weiss.
"I really wanted this job," Vince said of her opportunity five years ago that was later fulfilled. "I remember calling him."
Vince didn't want to be "a pest," but she had to know where she stood against the competing applicants.
"I am sitting on pins and needles, and it's really starting to hurt," Vince told Weiss.
"You know," Weiss responded, "we have something in this office for that."
Lasting tenure: Mention Weiss' name and expect a smile. That's the way it has been at Canfield for the last 40 years.
"Mr. Weiss is a kid at heart," Vince said. "I don't care how old he is or how old he will be, he will be a kid at heart forever."
However, that admirable trait, along with his strong work ethic and likable persona, will soon be missed throughout the halls of Canfield High.
Weiss, who will turn 65 on April 11, is in his 31st and final year as athletic director at the high school.
"It is going to be an adjustment that I'm really not looking forward to," Vince said. "He's been a mentor, a friend. You don't look at him as a boss."
Lee Frey, named as Weiss' successor, said, "I'm replacing somebody who has given his life to athletics. I don't think he can be replaced.
"You can't put into words what he's done, especially behind the scenes."
From the beginning: Weiss grew up in Millersburg, a rural community in Holmes County and one of the largest Amish settlements in the world.
"Geez, since fifth grade I've been involved in athletics," said Weiss, the son of a sheriff, whose home adjoined the Holmes County jail.
With Weiss having five brothers and one sister and living in the center of town where neighborhood kids could gather, sports became a natural hobby.
"Really, they're the reason I was involved in sports," Weiss said of his siblings and friends. "It was a great life."
Weiss graduated from Millersburg High in 1954 and went to the College of Wooster, where he played football and majored in biology with a minor in German and chemistry.
He had his mind set on a career in medicine, for which he laid the groundwork as a graduate student at Ohio State in 1959.
But he had a change of heart.
"I've always liked people, I've always been around people, I liked coaching and I liked sports," Weiss said, "so I decided to go into teaching."
While at Ohio State, Weiss changed his major to education.
His next opportunity came at Ohio Northern in 1960. It was there that Weiss received his teaching certificate and was given an opportunity to coach football.
That was his stepping stone to Canfield, where he started teaching and coaching in 1961. Nine years later, Weiss began his journey as an athletic director, replacing Francis J. "Spike" McLaughlin.
"When I took over for Spike, I said, 'Spike, I need all of your materials,' " Weiss laughed. "He handed me three manilla folders. I said, 'Where is the rest of the stuff?' "
Impact: Over the next three decades, Weiss made invaluable contributions to high school athletics, organizing schedules and tournaments, conducting workshops, making policy and enforcing sportsmanship.
"Athletics is for kids, and the more we can provide for kids the better," Weiss said. "That's been my goal -- trying to provide more opportunities for kids."
Vince said, "He has a natural love for kids. He loves to tease them. When they come in and ask him a question, his reply is so humorous and it's a sarcastic answer. They're not really sure what his answer is, but he has them laughing by the time they leave."
Weiss knows that he'll soon have plenty of free time.
On the horizon is more world traveling with his wife, Gail, with whom he has already toured Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark.
"I'm a person who's goal oriented, I'm a planner," said Weiss, who enjoys gardening and building. "So I've got to do something that's going to fill my time, something that's meaningful."
Staying active: Weiss won't be absent from athletic administration.
He'll continue his involvement with the Athletic Administrators Association, and he hopes to teach a college course in athletic administration.
No one expects Weiss to continue in his career field, but that's just his nature.
"I've always tried to do the best I can," Weiss said.
"You should always try to do more than what's expected of you," he said. "If you go that extra mile, you're going to come out successful."