Crouch hasn't missed beat as new AD

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CSG Roundup

Crouch hasn't missed beat as new athletics director

Thursday, December 23, 2004

JEFF HUNT

ThisWeek Staff Writer At a glance

Below are the recent results and coming schedules for the CSG basketball and swimming and diving teams:

BASKETBALL

Last Tuesday -- Played Olentangy in Dublin Coffman Holiday Tournament.

Last Wednesday -- Played Whetstone or Coffman in Coffman tournament.

Jan. 4 -- Home vs. Madison Plains

Of note: The Unicorns were 2-5 before last Tuesday.

SWIMMING & DIVING

Jan. 4 -- Home vs. DeSales

Of note: The Unicorns are 4-1.

Kippie Crouch enjoyed her time as a coach, teacher and later the dean of students at her high school alma mater, the Hockaday School for Girls in Dallas.

But after a lengthy tenure at Hockaday -- one of top-rated private boarding schools in the United States -- Crouch did some soul-searching and decided on a career in sports administration. She holds a master's degree in physical education, specializing in sports administration, from the University of North Texas.

That led her to be in a position to take over as athletics director at Columbus School for Girls last summer after the resignation of Dave Lince.

"Having made a decision to leave the comforts of Dallas and Hockaday, where I probably could have stayed to retirement, I attended a conference of independent schools in Montreal," Crouch said. "I was looking for other opportunities in educational administration, (such as) head of upper school, assistant head of upper school and athletics director positions."

At that conference, she earned an interview with Dr. Diane Cooper, the head of CSG who also earned a master's degree in education from North Texas, and Terrie Hale Scheckelhoff, the associate head. According to Scheckelhoff, Crouch was "incredibly refreshing, energized, and very exciting."

So, Crouch was hired and was well on her way of obtaining her career ambitions.

"I felt at home even though I had to look at a map to find Ohio and Columbus," said Crouch, who graduated from Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa., in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in political science. "After traveling to schools all over the country to interview, the place I continued to feel might be the right match was CSG. The position of AD was one I had long dreamed of. ... After being in education 15 years, my dream was coming true.

"At CSG, I have been given the opportunity to positively affect the sport experiences of young women. The chance to give to the CSG girls some of the rewards I received from interscholastic athletics keeps me excited to go to work each day to make this a top Columbus program. Since I have arrived, I have lived my dreams daily."

She's also the interim department chair and a teacher in health and physical education.

"I have enjoyed creating and defining a vision for CSG athletics and health and physical education," she said. "I like challenging opportunities in which the outcomes are positive, forward thinking and cutting edge. I enjoy the interactions I have with the students and athletes, the faculty and staff, the parent community, and the folks of Bexley.

"As the interim department chair of the health and physical education, I have been researching standards and looking at ways to maintain and significantly improve the health, fitness, and wellness of the CSG community."

What she's taken pride in the most is the coaching staff that she's helped assemble. Last October she hired Jamie Scott as basketball coach and Quinn Baker and Carrie Wambaugh as the swimming and diving coaches.

"I have been fortunate enough to step into a position with a team of great coaches," she said. "They're all centered on what is best for the girls they work with and the program within which they work.

"I have been able to add a couple of coaches this year. ... I believe my job is one that is supportive and hopefully helpful of coaches coaching their teams. I'm the lucky one, actually, to be able to work with the people I do."

Scott came to CSG after playing at Canal Wincheter and then Akron University.

"(Crouch) had done just a great job," Scott said. "It's been so nice to have someone like her at that position."

Wambaugh, a southeastern Ohio native, said Crouch has set a precedent as an athletics director.

"We have a new AD at CSG and I feel like she really has made that transition easier for me, as well as Quinn, as co-head coaches," Wambaugh said.

Crouch not only played field hockey, soccer, golf, basketball and softball while attending Hockaday and field hockey, softball and lacrosse while at Ursinus, but she was once a coach, directing Hockaday's varsity field hockey, volleyball, soccer and softball teams as well as middle-school soccer. She led the softball team to three Southwest Preparatory Conference championships and three second-place finishes. She also taught physical education at Hockaday, where the students included President George W. Bush's twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna, before he was elected governor of Texas in 1995.

Crouch also takes pride in acknowledging athletic success and keeping alumni and the media abreast of those successes.

"Communication is very important to me," Crouch said. "One of the things I was asked to do in taking this position was to improve internal and external communication. E-mail is the simplest and most effective way to accomplish this task. ... That is what works best for me."

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