RAYLAND — Buckeye Local baseball coach Jeff Patrick grew up surrounded by sports.

Whether it was football, baseball, basketball or wrestling, Patrick was involved.

He’ll get the chance to be fully engulfed in all sports once again as he was named the athletic director at Buckeye Local High School on Tuesday morning.

At the young age of 25 years old, Patrick will also continue to coach the baseball team while taking on his new role.

“I’m pretty excited,” Patrick said. “It’s been kind of in the works for a while. I’ve talked to the principal (Lucas) Parsons and things just aligned well. I love being at Buckeye Local and I think good things will happen here. Anytime you can get paid to be around sports, that’s a plus. I know there is more that goes into being the AD than just being around sports but I’ve been around sports my entire life and I’m thankful for that. It almost doesn’t feel like a job because it’s fun.”

Patrick becomes the fourth athletic director in the last four years at Buckeye Local but he believes he can bring some consistency to the school.

“That’s one advantage of me being so young,” Patrick said. “I can do this for a good while. I hope I do a good enough job that they’ll want to bring me back.”

Juggling both the athletic director job and coaching the baseball team can be a demanding task but Patrick simply believes there is more to achieve on the diamond.

“Time management is an important part of doing both,” Patrick said. “I still have a lot to give to the game of baseball and I’m not ready to give that up yet.”

“We won seven or eight more games last year than we did the year before and that is a good step in the right direction,” Patrick continued. “I enjoy these kids and baseball has given me a lot. I played baseball in college and it’s important to me to be able to give back to the game. For that to keep happening is important.”

Every coaching job is currently filled at Buckeye Local and Patrick hopes that together the coaches can build a solid foundation for sports within the school.

“There is not a single new head coach at the varsity level for boys or girls and I think that is really exciting and good for the program,” Patrick said. “It speaks volumes about what we are trying to build at our school. It shows consistency and I hope to be a part of that consistency.”

He also won’t be alone on this journey as his wife Alyssa has had his back from the start of his coaching career.

“My wife is my most important supporter,” Patrick said. “I know it will be time consuming but she said, ‘You’ll do great.’ I have two little brothers, too. One graduated a couple of years ago and the other is still a junior in high school so I’ll try to balance things to watch him play, as well, but I have a great support system.”