North Putnam Athletic Director Tim Garver expected to resign

Friday, January 20, 2017
Tim Garver

BAINBRIDGE -- Tim Garver, athletic director for the North Putnam School Corporation the past two years, has expressed to the Banner Graphic that he plans to resign on Monday, Jan. 30.

A very tough decision, Garver said, will finally be laid to rest after deciding to take off his director cap and seek another opportunity.

“North is a very special place to me,” Garver said Thursday. “I’ve gotten to meet and know a lot of good people.

“It was a really tough decision because I’ve really, really enjoyed my time here,” Garver continued. “The people and the administration have been great to work with. I’m also very thankful to the other athletic directors in the county for being so great to work with and help me (to) learn both the education and athletic sides of this position.”

North Putnam High School Principal Jason Chew echoed Garver’s comments, saying that he has made quite a difference for corporation.

“We hate to see him leave us,” Chew said. “We believe that, during his time at NPHS, he helped our programs grow and is, financially, leaving the department in much better shape than when he came into the office.”

Garver, a former girls’ basketball coach at South Putnam High School, first came into the role of athletic director for North Putnam in 2015 when the corporation lost its former athletic director, John Danaher. He immediately began working on some important issues -- finances, a transition into a new athletic conference and scheduling, for example.

“When you’re setting up games and contacting officials, you also have to set up transportation so that way it’s in line for the next couple of years,” Garver said. “Schedules are set up for the next four years and officials are now set for the next two -- my goal, when I leave this office, is for someone else to be able to slide right in, pick up and take off without a lot of issues or problems or a to-do list. I am willing to help out (for) as long as they need me.”

Asked for some highlights during his tenure, Garver said he had too many from which to choose. Football games, unified basketball games and an Indianapolis-based leadership conference, some of which involved 20-30 students from North Putnam alone, were among his most cherished moments.

“There were so many special moments where a lot of the community would come out and you could see all of the support -- that’s been great,” he said. “We’ve had some unified basketball games that have taken place in our gym that have been really spectacular events to watch and witness and see how our (respective) communities can support each other.”

Garver went on to describe one of the issues that faced North Putnam when he arrived.

“From our sports and athletic standpoint, obviously there are always coaching changes that come into play,” Garver explained. “We were faced with getting coaches who were also teachers ... we actually had (a high percentage) of lay-coaches than there were teaching coaches, but that turned around. Around 70 percent of them were lay-coaches, but that’s now been switched.”

Officials are expected to meet soon to pursue a replacement, but no official action has yet taken place. Though he has not yet submitted his resignation for approval, Garver has verbally notified Principal Chew, Superintendent Dan Noel, the school board and coaches of his intentions.

Finally, Garver expressed deep sentiment for the North Putnam district.

“I want to thank the community and the coaching staff for all of their support,” he said. “I appreciate them allowing me to serve in this school corporation and I appreciate all of our athletes -- they have been a pleasure to see on and off the court.

Garver’s upcoming resignation makes two athletic director positions in the county that will apparently be opening soon. No official action has yet been taken on a resignation or retirement for Greencastle Athletic Director Greg Hill, but that athletic director position is currently posted on the GCSC website for the 2017-18 school year.

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  • Why would he make this public before he has submitted his official resignation? Submit your resignation and writing so the school board can get to work!

    -- Posted by Javabeans on Sat, Jan 21, 2017, at 8:03 AM
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