SLO High School’s first female athletic director stepping down: ‘I love San Luis Coastal’
San Luis Obispo High School’s first-ever female athletic director, who took over the job during the pandemic in spring 2020, is resigning — but she plans to stay on with the school.
Marci Beddall is stepping down from her role of two years because she’ll being going on maternity leave, with a due date in August.
“I love San Luis Coastal, the kids and the job of athletic director,” Beddall said. “It was a difficult decision. I take pride in being the school’s first female athletic director and wanting to show I can be a mom and can do this job. I do think that’s possible, but I think, for me in my position, I don’t think it’s possible right now — maybe down the road when my child is much older.”
Beddall said she’s inspired by Tori Loney, Paso Robles High School’s athletic director, and Lompoc and Santa Ynez high schools also are led by women, though “that’s pretty rare in general.”
Working many days where she’d get in at 9 a.m. and leave at 9 or 10 p.m., Beddall said: “I always told my coaches the two base minimum expectations are to work hard and connect with kids. Those two things don’t take talent, and I set that expectation for myself as well — to work hard and be there for the kids as much as possible.”
Beddall said that clocking 12- to 15-hour days didn’t feel long because she loves the work, adding it requires multi-tasking and a lot of communication with two dozen teams to keep track of and communicate with.
“Then again, I was just doing it for two years,” she said. “Ask Sam DeRose (Atascadero High’s longtime athletic director) or John Andree (outgoing Morro Bay athletic director), who have done it for so many years, and they might tell you differently.”
Beddall said her life as a new mom would stretch her too thin for a job that’s “all-consuming.”
“I feel like an athletic director position is just one of the most important positions at a high school, and it really needs to be done with fidelity,” Beddall said. “I just didn’t feel like I’d be able to give 100% to my level or my expectations. ..I’m assuming (being a new mom) will consume quite a bit of my life.”
Hiring underway
Leslie O’Connor, San Luis Coastal’s director for secondary school and adult education, said that the district is currently hiring for athletic director positions at both SLO and Morro Bay high schools.
O’Connor, who previously served as SLO High’s principal, said Beddall contributed in important ways during her term overseeing SLO High sports.
“She’s very organized, great at multi-tasking and did very well to manage 23 sports during the super-spring of 2021, when all sports went back in session at once,” O’Connor said. “That was a really busy time, and her skills are well-suited to the job.”
Beddall also had to work through ongoing field renovations as part of school bond revenue allocations at SLO High, which relocated sports such as football, soccer and track to other fields during construction. A new pool was constructed as well.
The work on the new field and track is scheduled to be finished in time for next school year.
Navigating the many aspects of the athletic director role entails scheduling, coach and player check-ins, attending games, monitoring facility use for practice scheduling and coordinating with other athletic directors on league matters, to name some of the duties.
“There are just so many different components to this,” Beddall said. “But I’d say that if we have success at SLO High, I’d say it’s because we have such a great team, from the custodians to my secretary Kitty and the support system is just huge.”
She added: “People see me at games because my secretary is helping with the transportation requests and getting vans to coaches. Our custodians are making sure the gyms are set up. It’s truly a team effort. I feel beyond supported.”
Building a foundational culture
Beddall said that the main thing for student-athletes to build from is controlling what players can do to be a good teammate, develop skills to the best of their ability and learn to focus.
The experience, and adult support, often serves as a lifelong tool for success and encourages academic achievement too.
“Having that adult presence keeps students accountable and making sure they’re supported any way they can,” Beddall said. “SLO is a highly academic school to begin with, and often it’s an assistant coach or athletic director or another adult in sports or an extracurricular activity in the corner of students to encourage them along the way.”
She said that individual and team success is a result of a culture of good leadership, selflessness, work habits and commitment to academics, core principles of the “Tiger values” that she developed with coaches.
“College coaches will be able to size up athletes physically in two seconds, but often what they want to know is if the player is a good person ... and a good student,” Beddall said. “I’ve had students miss out on athletic scholarships because of poor behavior or poor grades. That goes back to building a value system of building yourself first and the success of an athlete will ultimately come.”
Beddall previously taught SLO High government and for four years coached girls volleyball before taking on the athletic director role.
She cited the example of Molly Eppright, a former SLO High volleyball player who went on to secure an athletic scholarship at Fresno State (following in the footsteps of her older sister Maggie, who also played at Fresno State).
“I coached Molly for four years, and when she came to us she was 4-foot-8, maybe 90 pounds,” Beddall said. “By her senior year, she had worked so hard lifting weights, getting muscular, knowing she wanted to be a Division 1 athlete.”
Beddall said that it showed that so much goes into success behind the spotlight (Eppright was part of a SLO High team that won a state championship).
“I remember overhearing a freshman telling Molly, “You’re so lucky,”” Beddall said. “And Molly responded, ‘I’m not lucky. I work so hard for this. I didn’t all of a sudden get this strong.’ It was such an important conversation that I often repeat with kids when we talk about this growth mindset.”
When her maternity leave ends, Beddall expects to resume her work in San Luis Obispo “wherever they need me,” possibly as a teacher, a coach or staff member.
“I’m super-excited for Marci and the next cycle of life and all the things that will bring,” O’Connor said.
This story was originally published April 7, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
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