Wednesday, July 29, 2015
By SARAH LEHR
CAMPBELL
Ron Aulet, the new athletic director for Campbell City Schools, has spent more than a decade working for collegiate athletic departments.
But he still cites playing Little League when he was growing up in Warren as one of his most-formative athletic experiences.
“My coach, a guy named Dave Gozur, took so much extra time with me to develop the skills I needed to continue on,” Aulet said.
Aulet, a graduate of Hiram College with a master’s degree from Kent State University, previously worked as the associate athletic director for operations and facilities at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Before that, he had equipment-manager positions at the University of Kansas and Hiram College.
Aulet said he’s eager to transition to working with younger athletes.
“The junior high and high-school level is where you can really make an impact,” he said. “Here I am an old man, and I still remember seventh-grade baseball.”
Aulet spoke positively about the people he met when he worked for collegiate athletic departments, but said college sports programs are “vastly changing” as schools channel their resources to keep up with sports powerhouses such as Ohio State University and the University of Texas.
“The big are getting bigger and the small are getting smaller,” Aulet said.
Schools are cutting so-called Olympic or “minor” sports, such as baseball, wrestling and track to focus on revenue-generating sports such as football and basketball, Aulet said. The University of Akron, for instance, announced this summer it will eliminate its baseball program.
Aulet described college sports as a “results-driven” industry that prioritizes wins. “In my personal opinion, college athletics has lost a lot of its amateurism,” Aulet said. “It’s year-round and kids don’t really get a break. They can’t really be students as much as they need to be.”
As athletic director for Campbell City Schools, Aulet said he aims to use athletics as a way to enhance the educational experience.
“Here, we’re going to focus on being competitively successful, but that’s not the be all and end all,” he said. “Your coaches, your teammates your relationships, those are the things you can’t mark on a scorecard, but those are the things that were most beneficial to me at least.”
Superintendant Matthew Bowen expressed confidence in Aulet’s abilities.
“Being from this area, [Aulet] understands the importance of hard work and discipline,” Bowen said. “What some may see as failures, we see as opportunities to become better.”