Lexington Athletic Director Trying to Avoid Sophomore Slump

Just like the athletes heading out onto the practice fields for the first time this week, Lexington High School athletic director Naomi Martin is ready to get started on the new season and the new school year.

This will be Martin's second year leading LHS's athletics programs. After a rookie year that saw some highs, some lows and a whole lot of learning, Martin is looking forward to the year ahead.

"I feel kind of the same as the kids, just really excited to get started," Martin said from her office just inside the high school's Worthen Road entrance. "Last year was a long year getting my feet wet and understanding the district. There was a lot of learning, so now I'm hoping I've seen some of the lessons and now I can really start to get more comfortable and really feel what's coming.

"Start of the season is when I get to sit back and kind of watch what did we change, what new focus our kids and our coaches come in with. So I'm excited. I'm excited to get back."

Her office is littered with all that occupies an athletic administrator's busy schedule. There's paperwork to go over, notes to prepare for this week's coaches' meeting and Minutemen uniforms slung over one chair.

On her desk, Martin has the trophy from the annual Thanksgiving Day football game against Burlington. It's being sent out to correct a score for a game played in the 1970s, which is listed on the trophy as a tie, but the game was actually won by the Minutemen.

Martin feels she is better equipped to do her job this year, having two summers (her tenure officially began July 1, 2009) and a school year to get to know coaches and student-athletes alike. Still, there's much to be learned, she said.

"After four years of doing this do you know it all? Do you shut the lights off for the summer and say, 'Nope, don't have to come back until the first day of school?' Absolutely not," Martin said.

A notepad and pen are always close by, just in case something is worthy of a jotted-down reminder. Even during an interview on Tuesday, Martin sat with paper and pen at the ready, though both went unused.

Perhaps the most the learning Martin did was at the end of the 2009-10 school year, when several coaching personnel decisions were made. Not all were popular.

At the forefront was the resignation of longtime boys' basketball coach Bob Farias in late May. Farias left his post voluntarily after more than 40 years, but many Minutemen fans viewed the departure as handed down from above after the coach learned his contract would not be recommended to the school board for renewal.

That came shortly after boys' ice hockey coach John Coughlin had resigned after he too learned his contract would not be recommended for renewal.

Martin did not directly address either case when asked about the coaching decisions, but did insist she learned from the experience and that the Lexington athletes' best interest were at the forefront of the decisions.

"The heart of the matter is that you keep the kids at the crux of all your decision making," Martin said. "In education, you really never stop learning. I hope it's like that with every job. It takes a confidence, it takes self esteem, to be able to look and say, 'Yeah, I did that really well,' or 'I didn't do that so well and I want to build on that.'"

That's how Martin says she approaches all decisions, asking what is best for the athletes. Whether it's a coaching change, game cancellation or bus scheduling, Martin insists she puts the athletes first.

Many of her goals for the department in the upcoming school year center on Lexington's athletes. Enriching the experience of each Minuteman player is No. 1.

"Sportsmanship and respect are always at the top of my list," Martin said. "[And] leadership development of our captains.  … For me, it's that whole building block toward a much bigger picture than Lexington High School.

"My biggest goal is that every single [student] that plays a sport here has fun," she continued.

Martin made the move to Lexington last year after spending two years as the AD at Division 3 Ashland High School. Think of the move as going from the minors to the major leagues. Lexington has a larger student population, more expansive athletic department and lofty goals across the board, built up through years of academic and athletic accomplishments.

Martin – a former girls' basketball coach at her alma mater Acton-Boxborough High, assistant coach at Tufts University and head coach at Nashoba Regional High – admits it all took some getting used to.

"I'm definitely glad to be done with my rookie year here in Lexington," she said. "And I feel like I can contribute more to the team now. Just like any rookie, you finish, you look at the lessons you learned and you come back with more confidence."

Now, with the summer winding down and the start of school about a week away, Martin is eager for a successful sophomore season.