DREW GREENWOOD

MORRISTOWN – There’s a new director in charge of the athletic department at Union Local High School, but he is no stranger to Jets fans.

Drew Greenwood, a former head coach of the girls’ basketball program for 5 years, was named Athletic Director during a Union Local School District Board of Education meeting last Thursday. He takes over for Nick Nardo who had served in that capacity for the last nine years.

“We are thrilled to welcome Drew Greenwood as our new Athletic Director. As a veteran educator in our district, he has a proven track record, most recently exemplified by his work growing our Career Tech Shop Program,” Union Local Schools Superintendent Zak Shulter said. “He has a unique ability to instill invaluable life lessons like responsibility, integrity, self-discipline, kindness and teamwork. I am confident that he will not only help our coaches and student-athletes succeed on the field but, more importantly, empower them to reach their full potential as individuals.

“Having known Drew for many years, I have immense respect for his unwavering work ethic and his dedication to developing both people and programs. I am looking forward to collaborating with him to continue advancing our athletic mission and fostering a positive environment for all our coaches and students.”

Greenwood graduated from Barnesville in 1998 after attending Union Local until his sophomore year.

“It’s exciting. I am honored to be given the opportunity to be part and to help contribute to a very important learning aspect for our athletes,” Greenwood said. “We’ve got a lot of good coaches here at Union Local and I am anxious and excited to be working with all of them.

“I’ve been around Union Local sports for a long time from the days of being a manager for Coach O (Jake Olsavsky) to playing ball here. I coached girls basketball, but now I am wearing a different hat.”

He said there are a lot of coaches at Union Local that give a lot of time to their respective programs.

“Kids need time with their families, as well as with their respective athletic teams, and I think our coaches need to know that,” Greenwood stressed. “I don’t want our coaches to get too consumed with coaching.”

Greenwood said there aren’t any major changes coming down the road.

“We, in a sense, share the kids between our different coaches. I think our head coaches need to get closer together,” he said. “I think our head coaches need to slip into a practice of another sport just to see what is going on in those other sports.”

“Being a parent was the reason I got away from coaching basketball. I’m glad I made that decision at that time,” Greenwood admitted. “Now my daughters are getting into athletics and I was given the opportunity to coach girls basketball at the Junior High level. It was humbling. There were so many fundamentals that needed to be taught, but I’ve got to learn a lot from (current girls basketball) Coach (Scooter) Tolzda, and I’m still learning a lot from him. I was honored to be a part of the program he has going on now.”

He added that being a parent of a student-athlete is tough, as well.

“Parents are actually giving their kids to us for 2-3 or sometimes 4 hours a day, on top of school work,” he continued. “That’s tough to do. Our goal here is to produce an environment where we earn the trust of our parents because we are supplementing the morals and values that they have taught their kids. We are here to further that by using sports as tools.”

Shutler was also highly praiseful of the job Nardo performed.

“We are incredibly grateful for Nick Nardo’s nine years of service leading our athletic programs at Union Local. It’s a demanding role, and the logistical complexities of running high school events are often underestimated,” Shutler said. “We truly appreciate him taking on that challenge for nearly a decade and are happy he will continue to contribute to our district as a teacher.”

Greenwood said Nardo will still be involved in some way.

“Nick has spent an awful lot of time helping me get acclimated in this new role,” Greenwood noted. “He’s already told me he is still in this role with me, and that means a lot to me.”

Greenwood, who will also serve as Dean of Students at the high school and part-time at the middle school, and his wife, Lexi, reside south of Bethesda with their three daughters, Ella (10th grade), Molly (7th grade) and Josie (5th grade).