Facilities Director Mr. Eli Schiff  has taken over as head of the Athletic Department for the 2012-2013 school year. He will continue to hold the facilities position and hopes to carry over some of those skills to his current expanded role at the school.

“Part of the concern last year was the organization of the Athletics [department],” said Mr. Schiff, whose office has moved to what used to be the registrar’s office.  “I tend to be more organized.”

The job of Athletic Director has changed hands often in recent years. All have been challenged by Shalhevet’s lack of its own sports field and the late afternoon class schedule, which means having to rent both fields and buses and playing as late as possible in the day. Last year school ended at 4:45, after many years at 5 p.m.

Games were forfeited when a field was suddenly not available, and last-minute changes were hard to communicate to students and parents with complicated schedules of their own.

“It could be frustrating, not having rides to our games, bad practice schedules, and miscommunication,” said alumnus Yossi Halpert, ’12.

Some Shalhevet athletes worry about how Mr. Schiff will prioritize his two positions.

“I’ve been lucky that I’ve had a really great facilities team,” Mr. Schiff said, “so I feel comfortable leaving certain tasks in the hands of [maintenance staffers] José and Reuben while I do focus on the athletics.

“That doesn’t mean I’ll let one fall by the wayside,” he added.

But longstanding concerns remain.

“[I want to know] If we will have practice facilities and fields to play on for games,” asked a concerned senior who didn’t want his name to be used.

Mr. Schiff can’t allay all concerns but he did promise a little more reliability than has been provided in past years. So far he has hired new coaches, brought back the Boys Soccer team, and is considering expanding the department, both to include more teams and to provide fair attention to all sports, he said.

“This year will be a sort of learning experience for me but I do hope that next year I will be able to balance,” Mr. Schiff said.  “I do plan to give 100 percent to the athletics department.“