When Tim Mayer looks back on his almost 20 years with the Shawano Community School District, he mostly thinks about all the students he has worked with.
“I was looking back at some old yearbooks the other day, from 1994 to now, and how many of the athletes I’ve actually worked with, how many students I’ve worked with — that’s going to be the thing I miss the most, is the memories I have with the kids,” Mayer said.
Mayer is stepping down as Shawano’s athletic director Dec. 10, a move he says he has been thinking about for a while.
“I’m going into financial advising and getting out of the educational field and that’s it,” Mayer said. “Nobody is forcing me out.”
Mayer has been the school’s athletic director for the last eight years and started working for the school district as a teacher in 1994. He also coached wrestling before taking the athletic director job.
“Tim has worked tirelessly for this school, not only as athletic director, but as a teacher,” Principal Scott Zwirschitz said. “He was always putting in hours for the school district. He will be tough to replace because of the dedication he’s shown to Shawano schools.”
Zwirschitz said the school district is accepting applications for Mayer’s position until Monday. A committee will review the candidates and interviews will be conducted all next week depending on candidate availability. Zwirschitz hopes to have a good idea on who the replacement will be by Oct. 4.
“I really hope they keep this a full-time position and they hire someone who puts in their time, cares about sports and athletics and, more importantly, cares about the students,” Mayer said. “I do hope they get somebody before I leave because then I can go through and help train them.”
Mayer says he had a lot of help in the job, too many to thank.
“I’m very thankful over the 20 years I’ve been around,” Mayer said. “I’m very thankful of all the people that have helped the school become successful. I want to thank all the teachers, all the administration.
“They have a hard enough job today with all of the new mandates and requirements by the state. I want to thank them for all that they do, because they have such a hard job to do.”
Mayer also said it has been great to work with the other athletic directors in the Bay Conference.
As for what he’ll miss most, it’s working with the students.
“The students, I’m going to miss them the most. It’s the only thing I’ve ever known for 20 years and now I’m going into a different venture in my life,” Mayer said. “It’s one of those things. It breaks my heart even thinking about it now because I just love the students.”
Mayer hopes to stay connected to the school and the friends he has made.
“The relationship I’ve had with the kids, now that they’ve grown up, they’ve become friends,” Mayer said. “It’s not just wrestling, it’s all the sports. All the kids that come back years later and give me a headlock and say, ‘Hey, how you doing?’ It’s just the camaraderie that you get when the kids are done.”
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