As we move into a new year in the athletics department, AD Jeff Dunbar, in his second year at WF, eyes facilities improvements as an area of important focus.
Equipment purchases, upgrading playing facilities and improving the overall ascetics of the WF athletics sites play an important role in improving the student-athlete and fan experience.
During his first year as AD, Dunbar helped the wrestling program and the cheerleading program to each receive new mats for practice and competition. Each mat cost over $10 thousand.
With the renovation of Trentini stadium complete, Dunbar wanted to improve the appearance of the equally historic Lindsey Gymnasium.
Improvements include new Cougar-themed graphics on the gymnasium doors, new signage above the doors and all new banners recognizing conference championships and playoff achievements of our teams.
“When you travel to another school’s gymnasium to watch a match or game, their walls are adorned with all the banners highlighting significant accomplishments by the sports teams,” former Assistant Athletic Director Geoff Belcher said. “That has long been missing in Lindsey Gymnasium, and with WF’s rich athletics history, it is great to see our school updated and looking as good as the school’s I have visited.”
Dunbar is also working to add a video display board to honor the WF Athletics Hall of Fame inductees. Guests in the gym will be able to scroll through pages that share the biography and achievements of WF’s past athletic heroes.
Video boards, like the one Dunbar envisions, are expensive, so this will be a multi-year effort.
“Lindsey Gymnasium houses more than just basketball. In addition to our volleyball, wrestling and stunt programs, it houses four athletic parent meetings each year, the annual Hall of Fame induction, the Senior Awards ceremony and more,” Belcher said. “The video board will be an excellent opportunity for people visiting the gym to learn more about and celebrate our athletic heroes.”
Outside, new banners grace the parking lot areas around Trentini stadium, another recent addition made by Dunbar.
Additional upgrades to the softball and baseball fields have begun as well.
Concrete has been poured at the baseball field to accommodate much needed visitor bleachers. Meetings to help fund a new scoreboard at the baseball field are in the works as well.
The Town of Wake Forest is also working to improve the facilities for the Lady Cougars softball team, which boasts a rich history of success. Improvements to the dugouts and batting cages are among these new changes.
While improving the student, parent and fan experience drives Dunbar, his love of WFHS athletic history and his desire to see it preserved and enriched motivate his decisions.
Early in his career, Dunbar began his teaching and coaching journey at WF.
“I was here for over a decade. Saw a lot of the past; I’m tied to the past, so this is home. This is where my family was raised, and like I said, where I started out my teaching career, so yes, it’s personal, and I wanna make sure before I leave, that everything from the past is displayed, and we’re caught up,” Dunbar said. “That way, the next AD–he’s not so much looking at the past. That’s already been described, you know, with all the banners and all that. Everything is up to date to where he can concentrate on just the future.”
While there have been many successes in our sports over the past year, Dunbar is the one who needs to figure out a way to continue that. There is always room for improvement.
“We want to continue that winning way, but we also want to provide a vision. You know, my motto is to honor and respect the past, but provide a vision for the future. That is my role,” Dunbar said.
Dunbar looks for growth in his other areas of focus during his second year at the helm.
“My role is multi-faced. It’s not just sports. It’s like a centerpiece for everything from community, to the sports, to finances,” Dunbar said. “To keep it all straight, I kinda keep things into three areas: those are budgeting, finances and personnel.”
One of the main issues to deal with as Athletic Director is generating revenue to support the teams. Dunbar believes this to be a yearly concern.
“You want to make sure you can financially support our programs. It takes roughly $200,000 for the year. The state does not provide money for athletics,” Dunbar said.
Out of every sport, football proves to be the biggest financial challenge.
“Football has certain rules, and the biggest one is helmets. Helmets cost anywhere between $300-500 a piece, and they must be reconditioned yearly,” Dunbar said. “It’s $12 to $15,000 to do that, but basically, that’s just one of numerous things that are yearly expenses.”
Yearly, Dunbar seeks to come up with a plan to fund them.
“If you get on our website, and you go to athletics, and pull up the Athletics Boosters Club, that’s the key is to get the Booster Club involved and get your parents involved,” Dunbar said.
Finances are not Dunbar’s only role. He is also responsible for promoting the teams, and some are publicized less than others.
“It’s hard for some sports if their coach is not on campus or their practice facility is not on campus,” Dunbar said. “The first one I think of is gymnastics; neither the coach nor the facility is here. We have to promote that a little bit more.”
It’s not all about the team as a whole when it comes to promoting. Parents have complained about their children not getting enough playing time on their teams. Dunbar shares his perspective on this.
“I don’t fault parents. I’m a father of four. When they were young, you know, you fight for your children. I don’t fault it in any way. I don’t consider it a complaint. I consider it a discussion to do what our job is and that’s to promote the child,” Dunbar said.
