AD Hardy Hands Off After Memorable Run
April 11, 2017
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
TRAVERSE CITY – It all came into focus last Monday morning for Sophia Hardy.
With school about to resume after spring break, the fifth-grader looked at her father and asked, “You’re done with all the night events, right?”
Tom Hardy had a ready response.
“Yep,” he said. “I’m ready for softball in the front yard, or whatever you want to do.”
Life is changing for the 46-year-old Hardy, who stepped down as athletic director/director of transportation at Traverse City St. Francis after the winter sports season.
Hardy, a St. Francis graduate, led one of the state’s most successful athletic programs for 17 years.
“It was a tough decision because of the relationships you build, the sense of family you have here,” he said. “It took a lot of thought, a lot of prayer. Ultimately, it boiled down to me putting my family first.”
Hardy and his wife, Betsy, have five children – Olivia, a junior at Michigan State; Julia, a freshman at Hope College; Thomas, a sophomore at St. Francis; Andrew, a sixth-grader; and Sophia.
“It was time for a change, time for something different that would allow me the flexibility to make sure I’m available for all my kids,” he said.
Hardy is now an information technology job recruiter for Genoa. He has an office near downtown Traverse City, but one of the perks of the job is that he’s able to work almost anywhere – as long as there’s wireless internet and phone service.
So in March, he was able to watch Julia, a softball player at Hope, and her teammates compete in Florida without taking time off and without the worry of preparing for spring sports.
Typically this week, Hardy would be in full throttle trying to cover all his bases for eight varsity teams plus more at lower levels.
“How many games do we have? Are the fields ready? Are they too wet? Do they need to be mowed? Can we even practice outside? If not, what about gym times? Do we have the concessions set up? Do we have ticket takers? It would be all the stress of walking back in and getting the season ready,” he said. “It’s definitely a different day today.”
Hardy was recognized for his efforts at a basketball game near the end of the season.
“The athletic director’s job is a very busy and often thankless one,” Superintendent Mike Buell told the crowd. “Nights and weekends are the norm. Changes are constant. Details are endless.
“For 17 years, Tom juggled a lot of things, big and small, on our behalf – game schedules, practice times, physicals, securing game day officials, transportation and logistics, concessions, athletes’ eligibility, special events, milestone celebrations, awards banquets. It’s a huge job at any school, and during Tom’s tenure, it became even bigger because since 2000 the variety of sports at our school has grown from 13 to 20 to include things like soccer, hockey, equestrian and sailing.
“He was the champion behind new sports even though a lot of people thought that was going to dilute the talent pool,” Buell added.
St. Francis, which has an enrollment of 341, just added lacrosse as a varsity sport this spring.
Despite the expansion, St. Francis continues to excel in nearly all sports. During Hardy’s tenure, the Gladiators won 17 MHSAA team championships and were runners-up 14 times. The success was across the board. The 2015-16 season was one for the ages. St. Francis won MHSAA Finals titles in girls cross country and girls skiing (a co-op); finished second in girls basketball, girls tennis and boys skiing (a co-op); third in boys tennis and girls track; and reached the Semifinals in football and volleyball.
“All the stars aligned – great kids, great parents, great coaches,” Hardy said. “It was awesome to be a part of it.”
The key to the success starts with the participation numbers.
“We’re at a plus 90 percent,” Buell said.
And most play more than one sport.
“I know one of the concerns of the MHSAA is that more and more kids are specializing today,” Hardy said. “I think that’s one of our successes – we’re pushing our kids to be multi-sport athletes. With specialization comes burnout, (an increased) injury rate. To me, it doesn’t make the well-rounded athlete college coaches want.
“Take (senior) Juliana Phillips. She’s going (to St. Louis University) on a volleyball scholarship, but she could easily be going on a basketball scholarship. She’s a great athlete. More importantly, though, she’s a great kid. Her basketball team loses in the District and the next day she’s leading the student section for the boys game.
“Those kind of stories are there – parents and kids who understand what it means to be part of a team instead of (playing as) individuals, and coaches knowing that the athletes are going to be shared. Our coaches revel in the success the kids have in other sports because they know it’s going to help their teams.”
In addition to strong participation numbers, St. Francis has had its share of talented athletes come through the system, too, including Phillips.
One family, the Bulloughs, had four family members that starred for the Gladiators. Hardy said their success was no accident.
“I remember driving by Thirlby Field three years ago (during the summer) and I see a bunch of people on the field,” he said. “I turned around so I could find out why they were there. I go in and at the 50-yard line there’s Shane Bullough blowing a whistle while Holly, Byron, Riley, Max and Lee Ann (Shane’s wife) are all running 50-yard sprints. Max is in a full sweat suit trying to get ready for the Texas heat (as a member of the NFL Houston Texans). That’s an example of the work ethic and dedication they had to succeed, not only at the high school level but beyond. They have one in the NFL, one hoping to be drafted (later this month), one on the Michigan State football team, and one running cross country and track at Michigan State and doing very well. People don’t see those kind of things, what it takes to be a great athlete. And they were not just one-sport kids. They played other sports, too.”
When Hardy reflects back on the “oh, my!” moments during his tenure, one immediately comes to mind. It was Gabe Callery’s half-court shot at the buzzer that toppled previously-unbeaten East Jordan last January, a shot that made ESPN’s plays of the day segment.
“It was awesome to watch,” Hardy said. “The backstory is that (coach) Keith Haske ends every basketball practice with a game-winner half-court shot. That’s a practiced moment because you know it’s going to happen at some point. And when they make it, they celebrate. So to know that backstory and then to see Gabe nail that shot in a huge moment, in a packed gym, and then for it to make ESPN, that’s every player’s dream, right?”
On a more personal note, there was the day Hardy was able to hand daughters Olivia and Julia Regional medals in softball. It’s a day he will not forget.
“That’s a memory you can’t replace,” he said.
Then there’s Molly Maxbauer.
“She was trying out for the girls basketball team back when the season was in the fall,” Hardy recalled. “She was a junior and wasn’t sure where she fit. The basketball team went out to run a mile for conditioning and I happened to be standing in front of the gym when they were coming back. She was three blocks in front of all the other players. I said, ‘Have you ever thought about running cross country?’ Well, she made that transition. This was a girl who loved to play basketball, grew up playing basketball. She went on to run in college.”
Hardy took a tremendous amount of pride in that type of success, watching kids thrive.
“One of Tom’s strengths has been his enthusiasm for all sports and the lessons that they could teach beyond the classroom,” Buell said. “His sports teams were like his kids. He loved them all and experienced their joys and sorrows right along with them.
“Tom also had a knack for diffusing contentious situations with humor and helping people find common ground in their disagreements.”
Football coach Josh Sellers agreed.
“First and foremost, as an AD you have to have a thick skin,” he said. “It’s a job where you don’t hear a lot of the good; you hear a lot of the bad. Tom had the right temperament for that gig.”
In football, Sellers was always appreciative that Hardy stressed safety.
“When it came to reconditioning helmets or buying safety equipment, he was like, ‘Josh, do what you need to do to keep our kids safe,’” Sellers said. “That’s all any parent or coach wants to hear. Player safety is a big part of his legacy.”
Buell said Hardy also did things behind the scenes to help people.
“Asked to describe Tom Hardy in one word, people say things like efficient, joyful, loyal, tireless, encouraging and crazy,” he said. “But I would add one word, and that is compassionate. When there was a tragedy in the athletics community – the Grayling golf team’s car accident is one example – Tom always found ways for us, as a school system, to provide meaningful support. On a personal level, he often went above and beyond to help our students, volunteers, coaches and teams.”
Hardy leaves in good company. The senior class that will be departing soon will be remembered for a long time, too.
The 84-member class includes four National Merit scholars, two students who posted perfect ACT scores and two who are bound for military academies (Air Force and Navy).
“And all those kids play sports,” Buell said. “That class got it done everywhere. They’re good role models for the classes behind them.”
Aaron Biggar, an elementary school principal and assistant football coach, has succeeded Hardy.
“I graduated with Aaron,” Sellers said. “We played on the offensive line next to one another in high school. The bad news is I lose a position coach. The good news is that he’ll be able to impact more people beyond the football program now. We’re in good hands.”
Biggar will take over an athletic program that’s a major player on the state level, thanks in part to Hardy.
As for the former athletic director, Hardy was looking to fill 10 IT job openings across the country Monday.
“It’s a fun thing,” he said, “to call people each day and say, ‘Hey, are you open to new opportunities?”
It was that type of call that Hardy received a few months ago.
“While we’re sad to see Tom leave,” Buell said, “we wish him the very best because we know he will always be a Gladiator at heart.”
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Outgoing St. Francis athletic director Tom Hardy is honored during a halftime ceremony at a boys basketball game this season. (Middle) Gladiators Katelyn Duffing (1650), Holly Bullough (1649) and Emmalyne Tarsa leave the Michigan International Speedway chute together after leading their team to the 2015 Lower Peninsula Division 3 cross country title. (Below) Hardy, left, with wife Betsy and son Thomas. (Top and below photos by Julie English, middle photo by RunMichigan.com.)
Jack Roberts, on Tom Rashid: One More Call
By
John E. (Jack) Roberts
MHSAA Executive Director, 1986-2018
December 9, 2021
More than a decade ago, with his knowledge, I placed in my “Will & Instructions Upon Death” that Tom Rashid was to be the one and only person to speak at my funeral or memorial service. A short number of years later, Tom told me that I was to do the same for him. Obviously, we knew that we could not both keep our promise to the other. But I must say, if Tom does not actually show up for my funeral, that will be the first time he has not kept a promise to me.
I understand there will be a time in the future, when the weather warms and COVID wanes, when school administrators across Michigan can gather in force to show their respects to Tom, and when I will provide the eulogy that Tom asked of me. But Tom’s recent death reminds us how uncertain life can be and suggests that I say some things now, before it’s too late.
Tom was the unparalleled master of award presentations; and for more than a dozen years he wrote and delivered polished praise on award recipients at the annual conference of the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. My tribute now isn’t an awards presentation or hall-of-fame induction, so I won’t recount the particulars of Tom’s career; but what you will see here is the importance of Tom’s life … the themes that distinguish him from any other person I’ve known.
Tom comes from a large, complicated and compassionate family of parents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces who mourn his loss at levels few of us can fathom. Over the years, and for many years, he was the caretaker for several family members; and he was generous with all of them. My hope for each family member now – and for many days, weeks and months to come – is that you are at peace. Tom’s pain is over; and his place in eternity is secure. Tom purchased a reserved seat.
Tom often joked that his only good habit was prayer. That’s not really true, of course. But for as long as I’ve known Tom, he talked to God many times a day; and I’ve always had the feeling that he talked to God the same way he talked to us: bluntly, forcefully, passionately, honestly, loudly, making very plain what he had on his mind.
Tom was a rigorous practitioner of his devout Catholic faith; and, the God whom Tom believed in is a big God … the president, general manager and head coach of a huge, diverse team whose game plan is a large, loving Gospel of limitless parameters and possibilities. I have no doubt that, both in times of need and not, members of the Roberts family – including both my parents, my sister, my wife and our children and grandchildren – have been specific in his petitions to God. I have no doubt that Tom’s daily prayers included many of you, and your loved ones as well.
In addition to Tom’s immediate family is the even larger and even more complicated family Tom developed through a long, illustrious career in Michigan school sports administration: a full 25 years with the Archdiocese of Detroit, until 2003, when I invited him to join me at the MHSAA office in East Lansing.
During my 32 years as the executive director of the MHSAA, I never saw another like Tom … never, anywhere. He talked to anybody, anytime of the day or night, about any question or problem they might have. Usually, Tom didn’t need to give me notes reviewing his telephone conversations. From my adjacent office, and given his forceful voice, I could hear Tom’s every word, very clearly.
Tom had the ability to anticipate what I might need and take care of it without my asking. It is no exaggeration to say that Tom would do anything for me. For example, Tom’s reluctance to travel and his fear of flying are well known to many of you. I believe the one and only time that Tom flew in an airplane was in 2003, when I ordered him to fly to Texas so that he might receive the highest award of the National High School Coaches Association. He had never flown before; he has never flown since.
Most remarkable was not merely Tom’s unselfish, unlimited, legendary availability to athletic administrators at any hour of the day or night, nor his experienced, learned grasp of the subject matter in answering their calls. What was more remarkable was his effort to help school administrators through their hard times. On many occasions these callers had made an error of commission or omission. They had made a mistake or an oversight; and Tom was supremely compassionate in guiding them through the local fallout from disappointed athletes and disgruntled adults. Secure in himself and our mission to be servant-leaders, Tom very often shared or completely shouldered unjustified blame so others would not. He gave cover to countless local school administrators every year of his MHSAA career so that those administrators might survive and even thrive in their careers.
Among my remarkably loyal MHSAA staff, Tom still stands out. And he earned the enduring loyalty of those with whom he worked. I think especially of his successor at the Archdiocese of Detroit, Vic Michaels: I doubt that more than two days ever passed between their almost daily telephone conversations … usually in the morning … for the full 15 years that my office was next to Tom’s at the MHSAA. I have never, ever been witness to anything like that; and I know there is no one in our good work who misses our dear colleague more than Vic.
But most remarkable of all was Tom’s ability to turn an adversary into an ally. He could have a knock-down, drag-out argument with a person one day, and by the next day, and for years to come, that person was Tom’s greatest advocate and admirer.
Well … maybe second-greatest advocate and admirer. Because no one in athletic administration – no one – loved Tom more than I. And no one in our work told him this more than I did.
I have written often about my admiration and affection for Tom. I have spoken both publicly and privately of it, on many occasions. But let me say it one more time, here, as we celebrate his life, and mourn our loss …
Tom and I provide proof that opposites attract, and we tag-teamed MHSAA’s leadership. One of us was very outgoing and vocal, the other more reserved and reticent. One of us was loud, the other more subdued. One of us was more comfortable on the phone, the other with the pen. One of us had no idea what to do with apostrophes, while the other would put them in the correct places. One of us was more spontaneous and extemporaneous, the other a more detailed planner and measurer of consequences. One of us hated to travel, the other sent messages to him from distant oceans and continents every year on Christmas or New Year’s Day to thank him for his life and service. But in our hearts, where one’s core values are harbored, we were almost identical twins.
I doubt that any two people who were side-by-side in the workplace for 15 years expressed their gratitude for each other more than we did, nor any two co-workers who said “I love you” to one another as often as we did. We each felt in deep debt to the other for myriad gifts and gestures that improved our careers and our lives.
Over the years, Tom and I developed the strategy of making one more telephone call before we made a final decision in a difficult matter … making one more call that sometimes made a difference in the controversial decision we had to make or in how that decision was accepted by those it affected. Tom loved to be the one to make those calls. And, sometimes, that “one more call” made all the difference.
Throughout my adult life, whenever I’ve attended a funeral or memorial service, I’ve found myself asking what it is I should learn and try to emulate from the life of the deceased. If you should find your mind and heart doing anything like that now, may I suggest these two answers.
First, Tom’s life and death remind us that we should not delay a single day in telling those with whom we work that we appreciate them and are grateful for what they do. And, if it is true and you are able, say you love them. Tom did this more often than anyone I’ve known.
And the second message is this. Tom’s life stands for faithfulness … faithfulness to his God, faithfulness to his family, faithfulness to his colleagues and friends, and faithfulness to his work and the mission of not just amateur athletics, but particularly school-operated, educational athletics. His was a steadfast faithfulness, never-a-day-off faithfulness, you-come-first faithfulness.
So Tom, my dear friend, once again I say, “I love you.”
And, “Rest in peace, Tom. God knows, you rarely rested in life.”
I would give anything for just one more call.