Athletic Director Mock Interview

Master 35 Athletic Director interview questions covering budget management, compliance, and program leadership.

Question 29 of 35

Your tennis team’s players and parents complain to you about being under-funded and having to pay for their own gear while the football team seems to be over-funded and receives special treatment. How do you handle this?

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Kevin Downey
Kevin Downey

Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.

"It isn't uncommon. Situations like this can happen in any job - someone forms a cursory judgment drawn from speculative assumptions. All that's required is to enhance communication, offer transparency, and then paint the full picture for them. You can invite them to help you come up with some creative solutions. For example, I once had two sets of parents from our track and field team complain that they thought we were allocating a greater portion of our budget to our football team. I explained that the attendance at the games and the resulting ticket sales funded the gear and travel expenses. Once they realized how it worked, I immediately engaged them to help with our fundraising efforts or get them involved in a booster club. Sadly, on that occasion, the parents didn't want to participate in helping their children, saying they were too busy, and instead pulled their kids from the team."