Athletic Director
Steve Blumer
Athletic
Director, Steve Blumer, brings a bit of America's heartland to Countryside
High. Steve grew up in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, a beautiful Mississippi
River town just south of St. Louis whose most well know resident is probably
Rush Limbaugh of radio talk show fame.
While Cape Girardeau may be a quiet town, Steve's time at Cape Central High School was anything but quiet. Steve excelled in football, basketball and track where he specialized in the pole vault event. With his extensive experience in sports, Steve managed to land himself a position on the school newspaper as its Sports Editior. This opportunity gave Steve the advantage of seeing sports from both sides of the arena of contest, that of participant and spectator. As the years would go by this would proved to be a value to Steve.
After high school it was on to Southeast Missouri State University. Steve's love for sports would continue as he participated on the college dive and track teams again focusing on the pole vault as his main event. But there was more to Steve than just brawn and muscle as he proved by earning degrees in Psychology, Health, and Physical Education.
Steve's career in education spans 27 years, 2 of those years were in Illinois and the other 25 in Florida. Before Steve came to CHS around a decade ago, Steve had a stop at St. Petersburg Catholic High School where he also served as Athletic Director. When Steve was asked to comment on why he decided on teaching as a career he replied "Teaching and coaching were the only careers I really ever considered. I enjoy working with students because they stay the same age year after year. The students in my classes are 16 or 17 years old every year." No doubt working with young people will keep you young in mind and spirit.
So what does
an Athletic Director do anyway? Well the answer is just about
everything. Steve's responsibilities include, scheduling buses, getting
referees and officials for games, people to work the games as ticket takers and
concessions workers, and obtaining security to keep the contests safe for
players and fans. But long before the games are ever played, Steve has
work long hours behind the scenes with coaches and staff in ordering equipment,
checking eligibility and working out the details of the sports contracts between
schools. And as if all of the above weren't enough, Steve serves as the
contact person for all of the sports public relations issues including handling
all of the questions and complaints that invariably come with a large
organization like CHS sports.
It is obvious that Steve loves his work and is always eager to help staff, students and parents with any question or problem they have concerning extracurricular activities at CHS. It is because of Steve's efforts, hundreds of students and coaches have had a much more enjoyable sports experience at CHS. Steve can be reached at 727-725-7956, ext 2069. The best time to call is in the afternoons as Steve's mornings are taken up by the six academic classes he teaches each day. Steve also recommends the Florida High School Activities Association (FHSAA) web site as an excellent source of additional information about athletic activities throughout Florida.