Art Kabelowsky : The Wisconsin State Journal
Tim Rockhold has been named interim athletic director at Madison La Follette High School and will begin his new duties on June 29.
Rockhold, who had been teaching the last four years at Cunningham Intermediate School in Beloit, replaces Mark Krall, who served in the athletic director’s role on an interim basis for the 2019-2020 school year.
According to a news release sent Monday morning by La Follette assistant principal Cullen Haskins, Rockhold “has served as a coach, school administrator and athletic director over the course of 25 years in education and looks to bring this experience to bear on a successful partnership at La Follette.
“(Rockhold) is already setting up ways to communicate his vision and processes to La Follette student-athletes, the student body, coaches, staff and the greater community."
A native of the Illinois side of the Quad Cities, Rockhold competed in athletics at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, from 1986 to 1990, and studied education at Western Illinois University in Macomb. He has served as a coach and athletic director at Orion (Illinois) High School and Kewanee (Illinois) Central High School and served as the overseeing administrator for athletics at Rockford (Ill.) West.
Rockhold also has extensive experience as a principal, assistant principal and dean of students at some of his previous stops.
"I've kind of gotten back into the idea of doing what's fun to do," Rockhold said when asked why he was interested in an athletic director's position. "It's a fun aspect of school. ... Like throwing a concert or party, you're supposed to be invisible if you're doing a good job. I don't miss the coaching as much, but I do miss the games."
In the news release, Rockhold said: “As we enter the 2020 school year, the challenges we face will provide the opportunity to show our students what adapting to adversity with success is really about. The door to my office is open, but more importantly, so is my mind. I believe that through teamwork and effort, the future has no limits. I will be listening and learning every day, because it’s a core belief that a community is stronger than one individual.”
Rockhold said his title carries the "interim" tag because the hire was made so close to the start of the school year.
"As an administrator, that made sense to me. With the urgency of the matter because of these uncertain times we live in, they're bringing a fresh face in," he said. "I don't mind it because it's an opportunity for me to come and present what my capabilities are. If you look at it one way, we're all interim."
Rockhold will be joined in Madison by his wife, Jennifer, a Wisconsin native; their 18-year-old daughter, Kelly, and their 13-year-old son, Cash.
This article was originally published by the Wisconsin State Journal on June 23, 2020. To view the full story on their website, please visit: https://madison.com/wsj/sports/high-school/prep-sports-la-follette-names-tim-rockhold-as-interim-athletic-director/article_6ff8b74b-1fbb-538a-ab58-605e69dbce03.html
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