Greg Lily

Greg Lily is the Athletic Director for Mohawk Trail Regional School District . Without him the school athletics would be nowhere near the way they are now. Jen Pease, who has been a part of the athletic community for many years, agrees with this “Greg Lilly has brought back something to the Mohawk Athletic Programs that had been missing for many years. He has brought back a sense of pride to each program and has worked tirelessly on our campus to make sure it looks tip top for each game and meet. To sum it up Greg is the heart of athletics in our K-12 schools”. He does everything from making sure we have clean towels, to getting into Western Mass tournaments. The volleyball team in fact just won their Western Mass tournament this past weekend which is the first in Mohawk history. When asked about how he contributed he said “I drove them there that's about all I had to do with it, they earned that on their own, that's all theirs.” He paints the fields, mows the lawns, gets the uniforms, and coaches field hockey and basketball.

“I think Greg is a great coach because he pushes us to be our very best,” said Jayda, a 9th grader on the field hockey team.

Most of his days are spent getting ready for different games for all of the sports that are going on. The games that day take priority of everything, “for example, we have a soccer game today so my main priorities were that the field is prepped for the game, making sure the lights work because it’s a night game, and making sure all the administrators are lined up for the game. I also have to make sure I check in with the athletic directors from the opposing teams and make sure they have everything they need to play and make sure the officials for the game are all set.” Greg has a checklist for each individual game. He likes to think about a week ahead. To keep himself organized, he has a schedule telling him what he has to plan for in the week and which games are home so he has time to prepare and to find transportation for players. If he has gaps in between his days, he will do things like billing, purchase orders, make phone calls, and start planning for the next sports season. Something that Greg says surprises most people about being an athletic director is that the responsibilities are different from school to school. There is no common position, “like an English teacher that only teaches English.” He has a lot of odd little jobs he has to do, like restocking the vending machine, or mowing the football field. Greg also works with kids coaching a basketball team at an elementary school, between the jobs he has here. Greg is not a teacher but he does try to answer questions the students may have.

Greg is at school all day. His hours run from 7:30 am till about 8:00 pm, but the work doesn’t stop there. To add to Greg’s work days he also owns Hill-town tents, a small business that rents out tents. Before arriving at school, he meets with his workers to let them know what they are doing for the day. I asked him what it's like. “It's hectic.” Greg is able to handle all of this because he has reliable staff, “I don't have to micromanage them.” He has some people working one job while another group is working a different job, and guys getting deliveries and things like that. If they have questions they text him. Greg loves that the community has changed for the better. “It's improved a lot since I was in your shoes.” He loves the dedication to the kids and how much people spend their time doing what they can to make it a better place.“ That's what's most important, that's why we all do this.”

In the first 3 months that Greg worked at Mohawk he had an interaction with a kid that made him change his perspective. For Greg, a lot of what he does is understand that everyone is incredibly different in their own situations. “ There is a kid that we had here a couple years ago that had come from a group home and it was ten o'clock at night and they didn't send anyone to pick him up. He was essentially a 14 year old kid with no parents waiting for a ride and hadn't been fed. It really helps put things into perspective. No matter how bad my days are, I'm very fortunate to be in the position I'm in because I know there are kids dealing with much bigger problems.” It's frustrating for Greg to see kids in these positions that are 100 percent out of their control, it makes him sad but he states, “It really helps you when you are having a crappy day to say you know, it could be a lot worse.”

Greg overall has been a big help and benefit to the MTRSD community. He is a teacher, coach and mentor to everyone.