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Monday Morning Quarterback: Volleyball Dinos earn split with No. 2 Bobcats
Throughout the 2017-18 season, U SPORTS sits down with one key athlete, coach, and staff member of each U SPORTS athletic program in our new interview series “Getting to know…”
Name: Kevin Dickie
School: Acadia University
Position: Executive director of athletics
Seniority: Seven years
Previous job/position: Director of athletics - UNB
Hometown: Shaunavon, Sask.
1. How did you get to your current position, and what do you enjoy most about our job?
I was previously a hockey coach for the Saskatoon Blades (WHL). One year later, I decided I was finished coaching and I knew that my family’s sense of security was my priority and continuing to move was not an option. I wanted to stay in sports, so when UNB approached me about the athletic director position in 2005, I chose to pursue it.
I love being at Acadia. I believe it’s unique to all other universities. Being connected to such hard-working student-athletes keeps me young.
2. Who has had the most influence on your career?
The athletic director at Acadia during the time I served as head coach of Acadia’s men’s hockey team, Don Wells. Although I’m not the same AD as Don, as times change and people need to adapt, I believe Don’s values were so strong and admirable. I often catch myself thinking, “What would Don do in this situation?”
Another big influence of mine coming to Acadia University was former President, Ray Ivany. He quickly became a close friend, and I’ve learned a lot about personal development from Ivany.
3. What is your greatest sporting moment or achievement?
It’s strange. I’ve competed in the world championships and national championships, and won championships at these levels. But, I’ll always remember my first championship as a coach at the provincial AA level in Saskatoon. This experience hooked me on coaching.
4. How would you define an Acadia University student-athlete?
Our environment fosters the pursuit of winning, never compromising academics, and complete immersion with our community. You hear about schools down south – college towns – and we’re one of the few in Canada where our student-athletes wear invisible jerseys every day.
5. What does success look like for the Acadia University athletics program?
Winning at regional and national levels, which draws from the last question. This is measured by our number of Academic All-Canadians, but also our improvement and academics and graduation rates among athletes.
And finally, connection with our community, which can be measured by hours volunteering, servant leadership and numbers like attendance at our sporting events, i.e. hosting over 70,000 fans in 2017 at various sporting events.
6. What’s the biggest challenge you face in today’s sports world?
I would say there are two main things:
- Financial sustainability in running the athletics department. Our ability to let our resources meet activities, let alone meeting the pursuit of excellence I touched on earlier.
- Risk management. Things have greatly changed in 13 years as an athletic director. Lots of things and situations give us sweaty palms as athletic directors.
7. Where would you like to see Canadian university sport in the next three to five years?
That one is easy for me. I’d like to see us carve out a space that’s transparent, obvious and different than the perception of the NCAA and everywhere Canadian university sport is right now. And that is where athletics, academics and integration with the communities is crystal clear for a student-athlete that cares about all three of these pillars. It’s not just about sports, it’s not just about the classroom, and it’s not about the profession that follows after graduation. It’s about all three of those inter-wound in a very tight varsity package.
8. If you could sit down for dinner with one person in the sports industry (athlete, coach or manager), who would it be? Why? What would you talk about?
I’ve been fortunate where I’ve been able to do that at times. For example, I’ve forged a relationship with Mark Shapiro of the Toronto Blue Jays and have always admired how back in his days in Cleveland, he’s found ways to do more with less, which is often what people like us have to do in Canadian university sports.
As a bucket list point, if there was one person I got the opportunity to play a round of golf with, it would be Barack Obama. I admired him while he was the President, and maybe more so now that he isn’t. One of the things I think I’m better at than when I began as an athletic director 13 years ago, is understanding that you have to make decisions that can’t make everybody happy. With that comes criticism at times, and even some battle scars along the way. I would love to know how he dealt with that at the very highest level.
9. What would you say to a sports fan who’s never watched a U SPORTS game/tournament/competition?
It depends where it is. If it’s at Acadia, I would tell them they’re going to have a game-day experience that rivals any small college environment anywhere in North America. If it was just a general U SPORTS event, I would tell them to look forward to watching, for the most part, the best amateur sport and student athletes anywhere in our country.
10. What do you enjoy doing when you’re away from work?
I wish that it wasn’t as shallow as this, but I could golf 365 days a year. Without question, though, the most important thing in my life, even throughout my coaching career, is my family. Spending time when we can with all four of us is the thing I look forward to the most.