AUSTINTOWN Fitch athletic director begins his final year

For Dick Kenney, the good has outweighed the bad in a challenging position.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
AUSTINTOWN -- Dick Kenney squatted down next to a stereo inside a small closet in the Fitch High gymnasium on Friday, trying to find a radio station for the hundreds of fans stuck inside waiting for the thunderstorms to stop.
A reporter walked up and asked, "Hey, you got five minutes?"
Kenney laughed.
"I'll give you one minute," he said.
In about nine months, Kenney will retire from Fitch after 15 years as the athletic director and 14 more as a coach. But on a night like Friday's, that day seems a long way off.
"Busy night," he said. "It's a little crazy."
Balancing act
No kidding. As thunderstorms traveled overhead, Kenney was in the center of his own storm, trying to take care of the Chaney and Fitch coaches and players hoping to play, the fans hoping to watch and, yes, the reporters hoping to talk.
As always, he succeeded.
"I've been fortunate," he said. "All of my years here have been great. Anyone will tell you, this job is a lot of hard work, but that's OK. Not a lot of people get an opportunity to do what they love."
Kenney, a former All-Steel Valley Conference football player at Fitch, came back to Austintown 29 years ago after four years of college at Kent State and one year at Bedford.
He's loved every minute.
"The people here are wonderful," he said. "We have a great administration. They're so supportive. And we have so many people willing to give their time and to help out and we couldn't do what we do without them.
"We do a lot of things here, but that's because we have the facilities and the people to do it."
In addition to overseeing Austintown's 70 athletic programs in the middle school and high school, Kenney also directs several postseason tournaments -- in track and girls basketball, especially.
Outside the classroom
He spent most of his years at Fitch in the classroom as a math teacher, but had to give that up a few years ago to focus on athletics full time.
He wanted to retire with little fanfare, but he also wanted to give Fitch plenty of time for a smooth transition. The school board accepted his retirement at a meeting last week.
"I hope to leave on good terms," he said. "I made the decision early so that it will be old news by spring time."
Kenney's wife, Barb, still teaches at Austintown's Woodside Elementary and their three kids all graduated from Fitch.
The oldest, Brenda, and the youngest, Allison, were valedictorians. Brenda graduated from Ohio State and is an engineer in Columbus. Allison graduated from Fitch last June and will start at OSU in a few weeks.
The middle child, Colleen, was not a valedictorian at Fitch.
"Yeah, she graduated with a lowly 3.8 or something," Kenney quipped. "Her sisters let her know about it."
Colleen graduated from OSU last Sunday with a degree in exercise science and already has a job in Milwaukee. She also helped paint the AF in the middle of Fitch's football field a few days ago.