Lee DeRouin
Title: School Athletic Director
Job site: 몰로카이 고등학교
Years in the HIDOE: 30
Years in the position: 12
Q: What are your primary duties?
A: Being the athletic director for Molokai High School comes with many hats each day. You become the ultimate utility player for the school along with being a travel agent by morning, overseeing daily operations of practices, covering athletic trainer duties until the position is filled, student athlete eligibility, updating physicals, managing athletic facilities and many more tasks that keep you busy each day and ready to pivot at any time.
Q: How did you get into this role?
A: My career path started growing up at the Boys & Girls Club in Pawtucket, R.I., as a young kid, playing all the youth sports they offered and activities provided after school to eventually working there as a student counselor and lifeguard. These experiences motivated me to attend college at North Adams State College in Western Massachusetts to play basketball and earn a teaching degree in science with a concentration in sports medicine. I joined the Army National Guard during this time to help pay for college, and upon graduation from college applied for a teaching position in Hawai‘i and was so very fortunate to receive a phone call to work at 몰로카이 고등학교 and also be part of the Hawai‘i Army National Guard on Molokai!
Q: Favorite part about the job?
A: My most favorite part of the job is going through all the ups and downs that a season brings with the student-athletes and coaches. I enjoy building those lifelong relationships and seeing everyone grow and develop from these experiences to become the best version of themselves. I also enjoy running into former student-athletes who reflect back to me after they graduate and talk about the times they spent in the different athletic programs with a big smile.
Q: Most challenging part about your position?
A: All athletic director jobs are challenging; however, being on Molokai and isolated from the other schools in the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) requires us to plan travel that is unique to many other schools not only in Hawai‘i but nationally. We operate actually like a small college athletic program, finding lodging and transportation to arrange for away games, as well as for opponents that need to stay on Molokai for weekend games or MIL tournaments hosted on Molokai.
Q: How does your role support students?
A: The Athletic Department is a crucial part to every school, especially here on Molokai where we have a high participation of girls and boys playing sports. It is a way to instill discipline, time management, and resilience—essential qualities for academic and future success. The kids are able to face challenges, victories, handle setbacks but gain confidence and learn to navigate obstacles to help them to prepare and excel in life.
Q: What advice do you have for people considering this position?
A: You need to really care a lot about the school and the students, build true relationships with the kids and coaches to connect with them, so everyone will work together 100%. Be a good teammate, respect the game and have fun achieving your goals.
Q: Fun fact?
A: I enjoy catching Samoan crabs with my wife, Arlene.
