What if the hardest part of running an athletic program isn't what happens on the scoreboard — it's the conversation that happens after, behind the desk? Derek Chirch is the Sports Information Director at The King's Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida, with more than 20 years of experience across athletic administration, coaching, and sports information roles. He's also the creator of Athletic Department HQ, an Instagram account for coaches and ADs that's already taken off just a couple of months after launch. We get into what it takes to get coaches to buy into new ideas like mental performance, why staying "mission-driven" matters more than winning, and how relationship-building with athletes and their families can prevent the hardest conversations before they start. We also dig into the marketing reality every private school athletic department faces, the story behind Derek's viral Netflix parody video, and why "not everything needs a response" when a parent is upset.
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Introduction
00:33 – Building Athletic Department HQ from scratch — and why it's already taken off
02:05 – The feedback from ADs and administrators already putting the content to use
04:07 – Getting coaches to buy in — the "old school" mindset and why excellence means continued evolution
06:06 – Why King's Academy leans into mental performance and staying ahead of the curve
07:56 – The marketing side of athletics — enrollment, visibility, and the reality of NIL
10:23 – Staying "on mission" while balancing competition and admissions
13:11 – Why athletics can't be the only reason a family chooses a school
14:58 – Relationship-building with athletes — avoiding pitfalls before the hard conversation arrives
18:12 – The value of assistant coaches — finding people who can fill the gaps you can't
19:24 – "Playing coach" vs. coaches who genuinely care — and the responsibilities that get in the way
21:57 – Having favorites — investment, effort, and earning a coach's attention
26:11 – Staying mission-driven as a team — and what happens when everyone's rowing the same direction
27:45 – Having his daughter under the same roof at King's Academy
29:49 – Derek's vision for the future of Athletic Department HQ
32:56 – Staying on-brand and resisting the urge to chase followers
35:59 – The story behind the viral Netflix parody video
37:44 – What that video reveals about empathy — seeing the other side of the desk
38:43 – Why "not everything needs a response" when handling upset parents
40:25 – "If your kid isn't in danger, it's gonna be okay" — advice for parents
40:42 – Derek's closing advice: be mission-driven, not scoreboard-driven
🤝 CONNECT WITH DEREK CHIRCH
📷 The Athletic Department Instagram
🎥 The Athletic Department YouTube Channel
📷 The King’s Academy Athletics
Mike Huber (00:00.56)
Hey Derek, how are you today?
Derek Chirch (00:02.668)
Hey Mike, I'm great. Thanks for thanks for having me on.
Mike Huber (00:05.714)
Yeah, it's my pleasure. Thanks for joining me. You know, and and just before I let Derek sort of lead the way here, you know, Derek has a great Insta Instagram account called the Athletic Department HQ. And I followed his stuff. He invited me to contribute recently. And so I thought it'd be really cool to have him on the podcast to learn more about what he's doing. So, you know, for those who are listening, Derek, can you talk a little bit about sort of the athletic department and sort of how you got started there?
Derek Chirch (00:33.761)
Yeah, so we were talking earlier, it's only been a couple months old and it's really kind of taken off. But the idea behind it was really just I I work I've I've been an athletic director for 20 plus years, working as sports information, AD, all different types of roles, coaching. And as someone who's on social media a lot for my career, I just felt like there was not a real great page for coaches and ADs to get resources. of course there's the big
the big organizations, the national organizations, but they don't do a lot of practical stuff. And so that was kind of where it came from. Just thought, hey, I I think I can do this and I think I can do it at a visually a pretty cool level that will be people will like, you know, they'll they'll get engaged with. And yeah, it's just kind of taking off. And it's it's really just a place to give resources to people, put a spotlight on people. I love putting a spotlight on other people and showing what they're doing because there's a lot of valuable resources out there that I think if p people knew about it would really
Make a difference for them.
Mike Huber (01:33.639)
I couldn't agree with you more. And like I said to you before we hit record, you know, when you told me that that the account is is two months old, I was sort of floored by that because if you visit the account, it's it's super polished, super sophisticated, the information's really, really good, just super impressive. So I I guess along the lines of, you know, getting the reason why you got into it, right? To sort of give a better resource to the people who might be interested.
Have you gotten any specific feedback from the ADs and administrators out there about what you're putting out?
Derek Chirch (02:05.279)
Yeah, I think I I've had several ADs tell me that they're using this stuff already in their orientation, they're in service because it is really practical, you know, especially like the we do like these coaching lists where it's five things you can do with your team today or whatever, and those things are just things you can put into practice immediately. So I think that's been helpful. I think like the the video you were on and some other compilation videos I've done getting some experts to talk about areas that I think are a little underserved, like mental performance. I mean, I think people are catching on to it, but I think it's still
i it it's so underserved right now. And so yeah, I've gotten a lot of good feedback and of course you look at the analytics, you see people saving things and you're like, okay, there's obviously some value because there there's a lot of saves and a lot of shares and and so probably more than what I'm even even hearing.
Mike Huber (02:51.228)
Yeah, and I'm learning more about that. And I don't want to sort of bog the conversation down and that, but I could go in that direction. But but I I will say this. I think it's I think I'm really fascinated by the athletic director role. And from my perspective, right? So recently I was asked to speak to a bunch of coaches, a group of coaches at a at a private high school here in New Jersey where I am, about a topic. And I'm fascinated as an athletic director how
How challenging that it must be to get people on board, right? Because the AD came to me and said, hey, I think this is a topic that all of my coaches need to know about. And he was proactive in bringing in someone to talk about, like in this case, it was about like communication between the coaches and the athletes and how important that could be to performance. But, you know, as I'm the guy standing in front of that group of coaches, you know, some people are lean leaning in trying to get information, and some are just sort of like, you know, rolling their eyes or just checked out. So like
From your own experience as an A D, like, how challenging is that, right? When you put out all this great information, some people probably love it and some people probably go, I don't need this or leave me alone, right? So like what what's your experience with that in terms of getting people to buy in?
Derek Chirch (04:07.504)
Well, I think you're gonna always have those old school guys that think that they've already kind of, you know, they don't need to reinvent the wheel. They've been doing this for however long. And those are those are gonna be challenging people, I think, to deal with a little bit. Like at our school, people like that don't last very long because you know, we're we're setting a bar of excellence. And so like excellence means continued evolution, continued improvement. And so if you're not willing to to continue to grow.
I don't know how you can teach anybody or coach anybody if you're not willing to learn something yourself. So that's kind of a standard for us is that we're gonna keep improving, we're gonna keep raising the bar. in terms of buy-in, I think it just depends. Like when you give people cool drills and things like that, they love that. They're all about it. Like this, but when you start talking about mental performance or you start talking about things that are like a little outside of their comfort zone, it's a little harder to get that buy-in, you know. And
Mike Huber (04:38.012)
Mm.
Derek Chirch (04:58.907)
And I think a lot of it comes down to modeling it and just saying, like, this is what we're gonna be about and we're gonna keep pushing it forward and you're either gonna get on board or you're not. but that's yeah, I think it depends on the topic a little bit on in terms of buy in.
Mike Huber (05:12.028)
Yeah, and and I'll and I'll just I'll just you know I'll just speak from my own perspective. I think mental performance definitely falls into that bucket of there's a generational gap. The younger coaches tend to really embrace it because they're like they can relate to it. Maybe they're not that far removed from their athletic past, right? But they just have a more awareness about the importance of that element of performance. Whereas you might see some older coaches be like, I know what I'm doing, I don't need this, right?
And I think you're right. There's always going to be some element of that. But I think it's I I think it's cool that you're in an environment where the leadership at your school, and obviously I don't know much about it, but it sounds like they really do, you know, they value sort of kind of coming up to speed in terms of the where where the world is and sort of making those resources available to the students and and to the and to the staff members.
Derek Chirch (06:06.617)
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think that that's part of I we wanna win. We wanna be excellent. You know, we want the best for the kids, but like if there's something that can give us an edge, we wanna be on the forefront of that. We don't wanna be five years behind where a lot of schools are. We wanna be right at the beginning of it and saying, like, let's let's get this edge here where we can. And and I I you know, in in terms of the mental performance space, especially with what you're doing, like I I'm very thankful that I think the conversation with mental health in general has changed over the last ten years or so. It's
There's much more transparency around mental health. Like things you couldn't have talked about twenty years ago, I feel like are are much more acceptable. And now that that door's open, it's a little easier to talk about this with athletes as well. the tough guy persona is a little bit, you know, we don't we don't have to deal with that quite as much anymore. Like athletes wanna be the best, they want to win and and they're a little more open to that kind of thing. So but yeah, our school has done a great job of just saying like whatever we think is gonna be good for our kids, we're gonna try to do.
Mike Huber (07:03.078)
Yeah, and and having spent a little bit of time at a private school when I was doing my training, I I worked at an old boys' Catholic high school here in New Jersey and I was a volunteer mental performance coach. I kind of faced some of these things from my my own perspective, but I also got to see some of the realities of what it's like to operate a private school. Now I was sort of away removed from that, but enrollment, right? Getting the athletes that you need to win to keep the doors open.
Right. Like it it at some level, even though it's a school, it's an educational institution, there's a marketing element to it. So like can you talk about that and maybe some of it's sort of tied into what we see in college sports? But it sounds like that's sort of where you guys are going, which is hey, we gotta be we gotta be out there on the front to to be able to attract people into our school, whether it's athletes or frankly, just ed regular student enrollment.
Derek Chirch (07:56.065)
Yeah, yeah. I mean it's it's absolutely the marketing is a huge part of it from from the school perspective, but also from the athletic perspective. you know, athletics is one of the the glimpses people get into your school more than any other thing. You know, it's in the newspaper, it's on the news. It's just it's just a platform where you can talk about your school. And so we're down here in Palm Beach County, which is very competitive in terms of affluence and the level of athletes that are here and just what we're competing with. So yeah, there's definitely an an element of
Mike Huber (08:03.964)
Mm-hmm.
Derek Chirch (08:26.263)
You know, we need to t tell people what we're doing right. People need to see what's, you know, what King's Academy's doing well. we we have really we're big believers in build our program from the ground up. So we we like to look at this like a seven year journey. We we hope our kids come in sixth grade and then they're here through the rest of high school. We're not big on going out trying to recruit. We're not trying to we we wanna create a product that is so good that people want their kids there from the beginning to the end. And but you gotta market that. And it's just that's
That's athletics in general now. It's such a competitive space in terms of with NIL and just all the different things that are ha we have kids with NIL deals now. It's just it's a crazy landscape shift, but it is part of the reality now.
Mike Huber (09:01.084)
Mm-hmm.
Mike Huber (09:08.71)
Yeah, but but I think, you know, when I think about what you just said there about six through twelve and keep bringing them in at sixth grade and keeping them for seven years, you know, that's not for everybody, right? And that's marketing, right? Like finding the audience that you want to attract, like that's a very sophisticated way of thinking about it from an educational institution standpoint of, hey, this is who we serve, this is our value proposition, and we need to articulate that in a very
21st century way to try to get to those people that we want to bring into the doors. And I think that that's I think it's really cool. And it's like one of those things where if you don't, if you don't keep up, if you don't evolve, you're gonna, you're gonna burn out, right? So it sounds like you're you're learning how to do that. I guess a question I have, and I don't know, you know, how how you would answer it, but I'm definitely curious about it is because I I think that kind of in my mind speaks to the balance between winning on the field and doing things the quote unquote
Derek Chirch (09:50.275)
Yeah.
Mike Huber (10:07.162)
right way, whatever that is, whatever your right way is, right? So balancing that like, hey, we want to win and be as competitive as possible, but we want to do it within the framework of our culture. Can you talk about how, you know, we're at Kings, just say where you're at, like how you do that as a as a school?
Derek Chirch (10:23.699)
Yeah, well, I think we are always trying to stay on mission, which I think really any good organization's got to figure out what they're about and then say this is what you know what we're about and this is where the direction we're gonna go. I I think the school's helpful to us in terms of staying on mission in the sense of like,
admissions are are strict. They're they're very they're very detailed in who comes in and who doesn't come in. And so, you know, we're making sure that the kids that are coming are kids who are, first of all, great kids that are, you know, here to like be a part of what we're doing. kids who are gonna get the grades, kids who are going to, you know, behavior-wise are gonna fit our our profile. And so that helps a lot. We're starting off with a good group of kids to begin with.
But yeah, you're always balancing it. Like, you know, you have you're gonna have new students that come in every year and those kids who have been there for four or five years, guess what? Like there's a new talented athlete that's here that's competing with you. And that's just part of it. You know, that's part of competitive athletics. And as much as we'd love to see the sixth grader go all the way to the senior year and be and you know, evolve into like a star player, it doesn't always happen that way. But we do feel like when you build a family atmosphere where people feel like this is part of like their family,
There's a certain value in that that you don't get everywhere and we definitely want to protect that.
Mike Huber (11:43.367)
Yeah. But I think that's really important because I think you you highlight a couple of really important points, things that I would probab that would probably come out of my own mouth, which is, you know, we value competition. We want to be good, we want to win. But it sounds like there's there's all these other attributes about the community that even if a kid who starts in sixth grade and ends up as a senior who's not as as you know, doesn't have as big of a role on the field or the court as they would have liked.
It's still worth it to be at a place like King's because of the academics and the culture and those things. And I talk to kids about that stuff all the time as it relates to college, right? I'm not a recruiting advisor, but I am someone who helps them think about decisions and say, hey, you know, do you want to go to a place where the only thing that matters is, you know, winning and everything else is secondary? Or do you want to be in a place where you're happy to live and you have the major that you want and you have coaches that care about you?
It doesn't really matter to me, but you gonna need to understand what's most important so that you can make decisions through that lens, right? And I think as it relates to any family, you're going, Is this the right place for my kids? I have my own children, right? Is this the right place for my kids? If the only thing that's dictating that is their playing time, I'm probably gonna move somewhere else, but you know, maybe that it works in the short term, but it's probably not the best decision for most families because we all retire at some point, even if it's at twenty two, you know.
Derek Chirch (13:11.034)
Yeah, well, I mean, sports, you know, it it's things can change so fast. And if that's your whole reason for being somewhere, I mean, it takes one injury, it takes one coaching change, it takes one kid moving in to derail whatever you thought you were gonna be. And so so yeah, so we try to make it about so much more than just athletics. You know, we care about their spiritual life, their academic life. my daughter's a senior at Kings and it's been the best four years for her ever. she plays one sport and that's
Mike Huber (13:18.682)
Mm-hmm.
Mike Huber (13:29.232)
Yeah.
Derek Chirch (13:40.075)
Her favorite thing about the school is not sports, so it you know, she she's had a great experience.
Mike Huber (13:45.127)
Yeah. Excuse me, I'm sorry. Yeah. And and frankly, we're in the same boat. I have a son who just graduated high school and he played varsity soccer for three years and his his experience was good enough, but that wasn't the reason why he loved school. It was his friends, it was the environment, the community. And I think that that is really important again, because that's just reflective of life, right? If sports are the only thing that we're looking at to judge our experience, whether it's our performance on the field or just our happiness.
Put all eggs in one basket, it's not gonna really doesn't always work out very well because we're not diversified in that, you know, those elements of our identity. you know, one of the things that I mentioned too before we hit record, and you know, I know you're in an SID maybe role now, more than an AD role, or but you have some coaching experience. And one of the things that I have seen in my work quite a bit, more than I ever imagined I would, is how the coach-athlete relationship impacts the athlete specifically. But
It impacts the coach as well. But can you talk about that from an an administrator's perspective? Like what's your involvement in that and sort of how you manage those types of issues? at least maybe from a personal perspective, because I'm sure it varies, you know, place to place.
Derek Chirch (14:58.018)
Yeah, yeah. So I mean, we talk to our coaches all the time about relationship building, how important it is. I mean, especially at the the athlete and coach level, but even with the athlete parent level, building those relationships, putting the time into it ahead of time, like you can avoid so many pitfalls later when the relationship's already there, when there's no relationship and then you have to have a hard conversation or you have to make a hard decision. there's not a soft landing to that most of the time. So we're we're talking about that all the time about
Getting to know the kids, spending time with the kids outside of just your practice, going to their games in seasons you're not coaching, that kind of stuff. because kids know, kids know the people who care about them. Kids are very perceptive and they know like if you actually value them as a person or if they're just an asset to your athletic program. And and so w we're we constantly are preaching that the relationship is so, so important.
Mike Huber (15:37.693)
Mm-hmm.
Mike Huber (15:43.655)
Yes.
Derek Chirch (15:57.32)
And I the the coaches who don't do it are the ones who have the biggest headaches with parents and with players.
Mike Huber (16:04.582)
Yeah, that's a good that's a great answer because I think, you know, I I think I spoke about this in the in the video that I shared for your your Instagram about the importance of clear communication. Right. That clarity a lot of times will alleviate problems. And even before the the the relationship maybe evolves to a caring and trusting one, but at least if I know what the ground rules are going into it.
It's much easier for me as a family, as an athlete to operate because I know exactly what to expect. Versus when there's ambiguity, now all of a sudden I'm trying to guess at what to expect. And now I'm trying to figure it out on the fly. But I I think the other thing that you said there, which is I guess, I mean, I guess it is related, but that kids are so perceptive about who cares about them. And I see this because I'm the sort of the, I'm usually the objective third party who kind of gets the venting and talk about that kind of stuff.
They know when someone gives a, you know, you know what about them. You know, and and that makes all the difference because and and when I talk to coaches about this like work that I do, it's if you're building that relationship and you are communicating clearly and there is trust, you're gonna get the best version of that kid. And if your primary goal as a coach is to win, that's the thing that's gonna allow you to do it. You know, and I think that's the hard part sometimes for coaches because they're so
Used to coaching the X's and O's and the game and the strategy, that they don't realize that the kids might know exactly what you're saying and they know how to execute it, but their emotional state, their mental state is not allowing them to do it because they're losing motivation, they're losing focus, you know, they're losing confidence because they don't understand where they're supposed to be at. And now the the the bridge to that is really like, hey, putting your arm around them, having a conversation with them or being even clear and direct with them.
to to sort of get them back on the track to say, Hey, I got your back or hey, this is what you need to do, but now you're getting the best version of that kid because they're not stuck in their own head trying to figure out where they, you know, where they fit in. And I think that's a big, big it's a big roadblock for a lot of the kids that I work with.
Derek Chirch (18:12.307)
Yeah, I absolutely I I think that that's completely true. And it kind of rem it kind of sparks into my mind as well, just about the value of assistant coaches and just trying to find people on your staff too that can also help fill those gaps. Because the reality is like as much as like my goal is always to connect with kids, you don't connect with every kid. Like it sometimes the personality doesn't mesh, but I've had great assistants who are able to come alongside and be
Mike Huber (18:23.13)
Mm.
Derek Chirch (18:38.889)
The good cop or the bad cop or whatever we needed, you know. And and I think that that's something I've I guess I've learned as a parent too is just every kid is different, not what's fair for one isn't what's fair for others, and and what a kid needs is always gonna be different. And so try just trying to have good adults who care around that know how to speak into the lives of the kids. I it just I think if you start from the perspective of like my goal is
Not just to win, it's to impact lives. And the winning's gonna be a byproduct of that because I'm gonna be able to change their life and we're gonna have something really great that comes out of this. I think it helps you to see what your real vi what your real mission is, you know.
Mike Huber (19:24.102)
Yes. Well, I think I I that that that point you just made at home for me on a lot of different levels. Number one, as a parent, right? My children are high s have been high schoolers. My daughter plays multiple sports. My son played soccer. And there's one coach in particular, or coaching staff in particular, that I've had the opportunity to come across who really articulates to me as a dad.
That I care about your kid over anything. And that's all I really care about. Like I tell these guys, I'm like, thank you for really caring and like taking care of my daughter. It's not like you won the conference. It's not like you won a playoff game. I don't care about that. Yeah, that's great, but you really genuinely care about my daughter versus the coaches who they're well meaning and they, and and and this is my second point, I'll get to it.
But they're so focused on winning and X's and O's and strategy and kind of what I like sometimes to call derisively playing coach, right? Like I'm I'm like trying to be Ted Lasso and you know, or I'm trying to be a coach versus like, hey, these are people behind the scenes. but I think that that's important as well. But what I tell kids a lot is this is my second point, you gotta understand if I'm a head coach in a competitive environment, even at the high school level level, I might get paid to win.
I have a lot of responsibility in a place like Kings, it might be fundraising, it might be alumni relations, it might be recruitment if that's what you do. But as a head coach, I've got all these responsibilities and I don't really have a lot of free time to build those relationships the way that you'd want to. So to your point, you either have really good assistance or able to take advantage of that. Or in my case, I say to kids, if you want a relationship with your coach, you might have to be the one that facilitates as much as that's uncomfortable for you.
And I think that that's really important too, at least having the empathy from the athlete side to say, hey, the coach isn't ignoring you because he doesn't like you. It's not personal. There's other things that you need to think about that you don't have enough experience in life yet to know, but you need to start to gain that experience because that relationship, yeah, maybe you think it's one-sided because the coach isn't invested in you, but there might be a reason why that is. And if you want the coach to be invested, maybe you need to invest in the relationship, which is a really hard conversation to have with young people.
Mike Huber (21:45.264)
Not all of them get it, not all of them are willing to do it, but I do feel like it's my responsibility to to at least introduce that idea. So like is that something that like gets kind of talked about in in in in your world?
Derek Chirch (21:57.647)
Absolutely. I mean, I you know, I was a varsity basketball coach for fourteen years. And one of the things, you know, because you ca you occasionally every coach hears this you about playing favorites. So you've got favorites or whatever. And I would openly say, like, I do have favorites. The ones who show up and work hard and have a great attitude are my favorites. And so there is a level of investment even just in the like, I'm gonna come work my butt off. I'm gonna make it obvious to coach I care about this. You know, I'm gonna I'm gonna not be ignored because I'm gonna be able I'm gonna show like how
Mike Huber (22:09.564)
Ha ha.
Derek Chirch (22:26.678)
meaningful this is to me. And then like I said, the the assistance are are just huge in that area. When when a coach is overwhelmed, like you if you put the right people around you, you're gonna have support to be able to know like, hey, this kid needs this from this guy right now. but again to me at the end of the day it's gonna keep coming back to like my goal is to impact the kids. And if I can't put down the X's and O's or I can't put down the fundraising or I can't put down whatever it is when a kid really needs something.
Mike Huber (22:42.48)
Mm-hmm.
Derek Chirch (22:56.792)
Then that's kind of on me, you know, and and I've I've I've had to change my mentality on that somewhat. You know, I remember years ago being frustrated when kids would come to my office and want to talk and hang out because I'm busy, I got all this stuff to do. And then somebody at some point said something to me about just giving kids that that minute of time is like could be a life-changing conversation for them. And that just stuck with me. Like, all right, when people come to me, they obviously w need me for something and
It's gonna probably be more valuable than whatever I'm working on right now. And and of course there's a limit to that, but but I I found that to be pretty helpful. And the relationship building has has taken off from there. And then kids will do anything for you at that point. When they know you love them, the kids will, you know, they talk about running through a brick wall. They will. They'll do whatever for a coach that they really love if they just feel like you care about it.
Mike Huber (23:42.673)
Yeah, then
Mike Huber (23:47.613)
Yes, I believe that to be a hundred percent the truth. Yeah, we all learn those lessons as we go, right, through our career, whatever the the career is. But like, you know, that's we're very similar, right? I I got into sports psychology in my f early 40s. I I didn't do this for from the start of my career. I had 20 years in another field that, you know, I was unfulfilled and I wanted to get into it. And the reason why I wanted to get into this field particularly
is to have impact, right? To be of service to young people, to be able to sort of serve them in a way that I wasn't able to be served when I was their age, right? You he we hear that a lot. But I really there are times when I'm stressed out that things aren't going the way I want them to do to go. But I have to remember why I got into it. It's like, hey, this is about them. It's not about me. If I do right by them over the long run, right? If I'm talking to an athlete about process and their performance,
Hey, stick with the process, focus on what you can control and eventually you'll see the results. Then I've gotta, I've gotta back up, back that up. I've gotta, I've gotta walk the talk, which is, hey, I gotta invest in you. I gotta be present when I talk to you. I gotta whatever it is that I, you know, suggest to you or or try to help you do, it's gotta be from a place of love and care that this is gonna help you get to where you wanna go, even if it doesn't produce the result I want.
Derek Chirch (24:53.031)
Yeah.
Mike Huber (25:09.286)
You know, as quickly. And that and I find that, you know, from my my in my role, I think kids really do appreciate that about having the opportunity to work with somebody like me is that I don't I'm not I don't have a skin and I'm not invested in their pro in their outcomes. Right. And I think they want that, right? Like yes, they they nobody's gonna be harder on most kids than they are on themselves. They don't need you to, you know, not you, anybody, to to beat them up over it or be hard on them. What they need is
Hey, I know you're doing your best. I know you're working your butt off. I saw that you made the mistake. Don't worry about it. We'll fix it. Whatever, whatever those things are. Kids, kids know that. And like having those kinds of people around them, just it's just so valuable. And as a parent, I think it's it's really, really critical. So it's it sounds like you're in a great place in terms of specifically being at King's Academy, where you know you have that support, everybody's pulling in the same direction, there's alignment.
And you've got the support you need to build an athletic program that looks like what you'd want it to be.
Derek Chirch (26:11.566)
Yeah, no, absolutely. Yeah, we have a great team that's, you know, but again, it comes back to
everyone's mission driven and so we're all rowing the same direction. And and that's just super helpful. Like it because it's we we sometimes we over inflate our own importance, but like we're I'm one person of many at Kings Academy that's pouring into each one of these kids every single day. Teachers, administrators, pastors, all these different people. And it's like, you know, we talk to the kids all the time about you you you don't realize like what value you're having here.
Mike Huber (26:20.124)
Mm-hmm.
Derek Chirch (26:43.933)
with peop having so many people who are invested in you. But but yeah, we're all we're all in that same mission driven mindset. And I think any any organization, any team does that, like there's gonna be success that follows.
Mike Huber (26:59.302)
Yeah. Yeah. And and I think, you know, I I think you can disagree, right? People reasonable people can disagree, right? So the way that we we the way that we deliver that mission can be up for debate internally within the four walls of the school. But if you always come back to the mission of like this is what we're trying to do, we're gonna get back on track together a lot faster than I'm trying to fulfill my own personal agenda. And that's an ego-driven thing versus
We're doing something for the for the greater good. this this question's a little off topic, but I I was thinking about it as you were giving an answer. what was it like to have your daughter under the same roof as you as a member of the administration being in the same school as her every day?
Derek Chirch (27:45.439)
it's awesome. I I love it. I love taking her to school every day, that car ride to school, you know, just having those conversations there and back. until last year she didn't play any sports. so that was a huge I was very excited when she she joined weightlifting. And and that was strictly exactly what we're talking about. A coach that's just a great coach. Started building a relationship with her, just talking to her at games. I was there all the time and got her to do weightlifting. She loved it. She was really good at it.
And so that just gave us another little thing in common. But I I love it. I love having her there every day. she's a great kid and so she's never in trouble or anything like that. So so yeah, so it's just it's a blessing to have her there. It's it's nothing but good.
Mike Huber (28:30.896)
Yeah. Is she going to be a senior now coming up?
Derek Chirch (28:34.426)
Yeah, yeah, if she's gonna be a senior, she'll start school Thursday and she's she's rearing to go.
Mike Huber (28:41.35)
Yeah. Let me tell you, as a father who just witnessed his son graduate from high school, it is it was one of the most joyous occasions of my life. I I didn't know how I was gonna feel, right? There's a lot of things that you could feel, and yeah, maybe some sadness. But really joyous to see your oldest child, my oldest child, walk across the stage, be so excited about the future, about going off on his own and being independent, and like to watch that and watch kids.
It whether they're your own child or the other children in that building, which you probably feel like are your own children too, for them to be able to achieve that milestone and then go off into the world and feel like they're really ready to take on something new is like it's just so it's so fulfilling and so rewarding. So I think that's really, really cool. I was just curious as to what your experience was like. I think I would have loved that if I had had that opportunity. So
Derek Chirch (29:29.72)
Yeah.
Derek Chirch (29:33.604)
Yeah.
Mike Huber (29:35.062)
so I I guess I might my as we sort of move towards sort of finishing things up, I guess what's your vision for the future of the athletic department? Like where do you see it? I know it's pretty new, but where do you see it going?
Derek Chirch (29:49.933)
I mean, it's a great question because, you know, it's sort of accelerated pretty fast. And so when I first started doing it, I just thought like, this will be something that grows over a few years and eventually we'll get an audience, you know. And and now that it's got a f a more significant audience, it's now it's kind of shifting my thinking. Like, is this a business? Is this something that I just keep doing for fun? Is well, you know, I it's kind of happened really fast. what I would love to do eventually, I would love to
Do consulting. I mean, I've got a lot of years of doing a lot of different things. And so it's something like this is just a kind of a it's proving the concept to people. Like, hey, this is a person who has a lot to offer, you know. And so there's a little credibility that comes along with like, wow, this guy's got a pretty good following and you know, whatever. but at the end of the day, like, I'm here on earth to help people. That's really ultimately what I want to do. And I love working with coaches. I love, I've gotten a lot of messages from just
different people asking questions and it's fun to answer that. It's just fun to have a community with different people and get to know guys like you, people that I wouldn't have known otherwise, you know, other than this channel. and see them, you know, like be able to put, like I said earlier, put a spotlight on them and and just whatever I can do to lift other people up is great. So I don't I don't know. I don't know where it's where it's headed. but I know it's very enjoyable and it kind of fits very well alongside my my day job.
So yeah, so we're gonna yeah, yeah, it it goes hand in hand. So it's not there's no comp there's no competing there. It's just the same stuff I would use at school is the same stuff I use there and works pretty well. So
Mike Huber (31:18.726)
That matters.
Mike Huber (31:31.409)
Yeah. And I think that that's again, I mean, I sort of reiterating kind of what we had been just been talking about in terms of being, you know, mission driven. But but I think, you know, from my own personal perspective as somebody who sort of went quote unquote all in on what I was doing, like I I sort of started over and d like I think there is definitely a lot to be said for the process of keeping your primary job, keeping your paycheck, keeping your benefits. I mean, this is me talking, you know, as a somebody who's been through it.
And and then allowing that quote unquote side hustle, whether that has a positive or negative connotation, I don't know. But just letting that evolve and that sometimes will just dictate to you the opportunities will present themselves and then you'll decide like what's the most important thing. But if the value is there and clearly that it is, like I just I think it's so impressive as somebody who's struggled to grow a following and learning more about the way social media works and the algorithms and
messaging and all these things that we try to do to get people's attention. and I'm certainly fighting the urge to just do things to get people's attention that are not on mission or not on brand. That's a whole nother conversation. And and maybe actually that's something you could talk about. I think you're probably more qualified than I am in a lot of ways. Like, do you ever come up against that, you know, fight that urge of like, is this something I really want to put out or am I just doing it to get eyeballs? Cause I I do fight that urge.
Derek Chirch (32:40.525)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Derek Chirch (32:56.297)
Yeah, I think that that's you know, I I think it's a little bit of I don't want to say envy sometimes, but you watch other people put some stuff out and you're like, man, that blew up of that, like I could do that easily. And but you just got I I just try to remind myself like you want you want the right customers, you want high value customers. Like like I've gotten a lot of followers that are not really necessarily customers. Like they liked a video that was funny, you know, they
Whatever, the whatever reason they're there, they're there. But when I see like an athletic director follow, I'm like, that's an immediate followback for me because those are the guys that like, those are my real people that I really want to connect with. And so I think just trying to stay aligned on like this is what I provide. I provide resources for ADs and coaches. I'll occasionally do something funny, but it's gonna still be on brand. And I'm gonna gear all my stuff to that because.
Mike Huber (33:35.323)
Mm-hmm.
Derek Chirch (33:51.731)
What good does it have to have tons of followers if they're not potential customers or or high value followers? You know? And so I think just trying to stay driven on that, going like that some of it's getting lucky. Eventually, you know, like you get one video that hits really big and it's like, okay, well, that brought in a lot of people, but like still staying on this is what I'm here for and your niche and you know, there there is success to be had in that, but it is
Mike Huber (33:55.888)
Right.
Derek Chirch (34:20.912)
It is challenging 'cause you do see other people blowing up and you're like, Man, this is this isn't even good and they're like getting big, you know.
Mike Huber (34:25.478)
Right. Yes. I I I absolutely fight that that urge myself, but I think you're absolutely right there about because like I have to remind myself that the people with exponentially more followers, you don't know who's following them. Cause I've gotten follows in in some of my social media from people that have, you know, they have a hundred followers themselves or they don't have a picture or they but they just they they reacted to a particular post and I'm like
Okay, it's great. I have another follower next to my name, but that's like you said, it's not a high value. So I I think it's just really important to point out because like I I think about this, and I've wrote about this too in some of my you know blogs and things like that. About like I have to fight the urge to like judge myself based on results and not did I serve the mission today? Because if I served the mission today and I didn't get an extra follower and I didn't get another client, it was still successful. But I if I allow myself to judge it just based on that.
Now I'm gonna have the same sort of performance anxiety that my clients have, which is I'm not playing well enough for somebody else to like me. And now what's wrong with me versus no, I did everything I could do today to get better. And it's just a day where I had to put in the work and it'll pay off at some point in the future. So I got two more, two more questions to do. One is sort of a lighthearted one because I'm really, really curious about this. And then we'll wrap up with my last question, which I usually ask for everybody.
Derek Chirch (35:41.137)
Yes.
Mike Huber (35:50.375)
The Netflix video that's on your Instagram. Tell me about that. Like, is that like I mean, I assume that's a parody that you sort of created. Am I getting that right?
Derek Chirch (35:53.691)
Yeah.
Derek Chirch (35:59.532)
Yeah yeah, so so there was like a trend, you know, this Netflix trend, people were doing this whole thing, their documentary thing or whatever. And so I was just sitting around the house one day and I told my wife, like, hey, let's do this. Like, this would be kind of funny to do. I had my camera sub with me. So we just made it, and I was just like, now I will say, like, the premise behind it is generally true. I've gotten so many emails like that over the years, some parents complaining about playing time, and that's a whole other conversation. But like, that's true, but like
Mike Huber (36:25.648)
Yes.
Derek Chirch (36:29.859)
You know, my reaction to it, of course, is like played up. It it is it is parody. Although it's funny how many people commented like either like, hey, where can I find this on Netflix? And I'm like, okay, it's not real. And people who are critical, like, I can't believe this guy's so emotional. Or I'm like, it's just I'm just joking. It's just a joke. But like it is based on r reality in terms of like it is frustrating to deal with this. But yeah, that video kind of blew up quite a bit and people really liked it. Cause I think it's relatable. I think people
Mike Huber (36:39.655)
Yeah.
Mike Huber (36:50.822)
Huh?
Derek Chirch (36:59.66)
On one side or the other, they they've either been the parent who's w wanting to contact the coach or the people who see the parent doing that and are like, i it's just every coach has been through this, every A D's been through this. So I think that's kind of why it blew up a little bit.
Mike Huber (37:15.122)
Yeah. Yeah. So so everything you said there really hit home for me because it was like, I know this is not real, but it could be real. Right. And then and then when I when I when I watched your facial reactions, like that, like you were sort of across from that person who was, you know, confronting you about it, like I could the emotions you were giving off are emotions that I could feel. Like if I was if I was in Derek's shoes, like I would be like, okay, I'm gonna take a deep breath here.
Derek Chirch (37:24.452)
Yeah. Yeah.
Mike Huber (37:44.839)
I'm gonna be really, you know, try to stay calm and measured so that I don't right. Like and that guy, I took that, I think that was like really cool because I think it does allow people to see what it looks like on the other side of that desk, right? Usually it's for for me, it's I'm dealing with the parent or the athlete who's having the conversation on the side of the con the camera you can't see. But what we see on that other side is a human being who's like, How do I handle this? Or here we go again, or whatever those things are. And like
Derek Chirch (37:45.081)
Yeah.
Mike Huber (38:14.054)
I think that's what I was talking about before with that empathy, right? Being able to put yourself in your A B shoes or your coach's shoes and say, like, this isn't easy for them either. The decisions they're making are hard ones. But there's only you can't make everybody happy. So you you've got to be able to understand that this is a really challenging position they're in. At least try to give them some grace and understand where they're coming from versus pointing the finger and coming out firing, because that's that's no fun. There's no fun for anybody.
Derek Chirch (38:17.181)
Yeah.
Derek Chirch (38:43.116)
Yeah, it's very difficult because you know, we all love our kids. We all think our kids are amazing, and they are, but it's very difficult for a parent to hear something they don't want to hear about their own kid. And it's a losing battle having that conversation a lot of times. especially when the parent is already upset. And so sometimes, you know, and that's one of those things I've had I have had to learn over the years. Like, not everything needs a response. Sometimes people just need you to listen to them, empathize, let them get out whatever they want to say, and then you move on. And
Mike Huber (38:48.418)
Yeah.
Mike Huber (39:00.945)
Mm-hmm.
Derek Chirch (39:13.106)
And and try not to take it personally because it's really about their kid and their own whatever's going on with them is is what the issue is. It's really not about the coach. and sometimes it's the coach, sometimes it is, but you know, most of the time it's not.
Mike Huber (39:27.612)
Well, I'll I'll I'll make one last point on that before I ask you the last question. But what I usually say to people, and I take this advice for myself as a parent, if my kid, your kid is not in danger, then it's gonna be okay. Right. If it's right, if there's a issue of like if there's a safety issue, the coach is doing something abusive, whether it's physically, mentally, emotionally, the kid's in danger, full stop, right? But if if it's my feelings are hurt because I'm not playing,
Yeah, that that might be worthy of a conversation, but you've gotta temper that conversation and approach it in a in a in a realistic way, which is, hey, this is just a sport, this is just a game, these are real people. And if you don't like the decision that's made, if you don't learn to accept it, life's gonna be really hard. You think it's bad now at 17, 18 years old. Wait till you get to, you know, be a professional and they they give you they cut your pay or they they they lay you off because you know, you're not gonna be able to do anything about that. So
Derek Chirch (40:22.727)
Yeah.
Mike Huber (40:25.402)
Anyway, I don't want to belabor that point, but the last question I usually ask is if there's one piece of advice that you'd leave with a listener, what would it be? And in your case I would allow you to pick the audience that you wanna sort of deliver that that takeaway to.
Derek Chirch (40:42.495)
Boy, there's so there's so many things I've learned over the years, like so many mistakes I've made over time. Like that's really you learn the most from the mistakes. And so I'm just trying to think of of all these mistakes. I I would keep going back to what I've said a lot throughout this whole interview is is be mission driven. Like figure out what you're about. And then that is what guides what you do, not winning or losing. Like if winning is your mission, you're gonna be disappointed a lot. Cause even the best, even the best of the best don't always win.
Mike Huber (40:45.296)
No, it's a hard one.
Derek Chirch (41:10.686)
But you can always stay on mission and and you figure out what it's about. And to me, I'm gonna urge you if you're a coach or an AD, it better be about kids. Like seeing the best outcome for kids, seeing them become great people, you know, once they're out of your gym or off your field. And that's where your legacy is, is you know, starting with our own children, but then obviously those kids that we impact through sports, like you are making a tremendous difference. And so you need to stay driven by by that.
And you're always gonna win if that's what you do. Whether you whether it's a scoreboard or not, like the win is actually what the product of this kid becoming something better than what they were when you got them. And so I I think I mean even parents can listen to that. Like what's your mission with your kid? Like who cares if they always succeed? What are you trying to get them? You're trying to get them to be the best person they can be as they become an adult. So adversity is part of that. You need them to have some adversity. So yeah, I think just
Mike Huber (41:56.892)
Course.
Derek Chirch (42:07.12)
Know what you're about and stick to that. And I I think i it's gonna be a success regardless of whatever the the outcome is.
Mike Huber (42:15.824)
Yep. I couldn't agree with that more. It's a great way to end. Derek, thanks so much for joining me on the podcast. It was really great to know you know you a little bit better. and I look forward to more conversations in the future.
Derek Chirch (42:21.619)
Yeah, Mike.
Derek Chirch (42:28.116)
For sure. Thanks again, Mike. We'll see you later.