Hampton Bays Athletic Director Drew Walker Set To Retire, Along With His Wife Maria, At The End Of The Month

At the turn of the millennia, Drew and Maria Walker were looking for a place where they could move to, grow their family and become part of the community. Eventually they found that in Hampton Bays, and after two decades of working in their hometown school district, the married couple are ready for the next chapter of their lives.

Both Drew, who has been the district’s director of athletics, health and physical education, and Maria, who has been a one-on-one aide and teaching assistant for the past 20-plus years, are both retiring from their longtime positions at the end of this month. At 55, and well over 30 years put in at the school district, Mr. Walker — who is the longest tenured athletic director in Suffolk County — simply said it was time to move on and to make some time to spend with each other and their family.

But it’s not going to be easy to walk away, Mr. Walker said.

“It is bittersweet,” he said. “I try and put my heart and soul into it. I’m always going the miss walking the hallways and seeing everyone because it was always about the people. For me, that’s what makes work enjoyable and I’m hoping I can replace or fill that void somehow, but I really enjoyed my time here in Hampton Bays and I feel like I’m leaving in a positive mode and at a time where I’m happy with the time that I put in.”

Hampton Bays School Superintendent Lars Clemensen says the news of the Walkers retiring came as no surprise to him, as he’s had many conversations with Mr. Walker about his and his wife’s plans and their target dates for retirement.

“I think it’s a positive thing when you can identify when you’re ready to embrace the next chapter in life and work toward that,” he said. “It sort of wraps things up in a neat bow and allows for a thoughtful transition to take place.”

Mr. Clemensen said the “truest assessment of Drew over his 20 years as a Bayman — he treated this place like his own small business. He worked long hours — weekends, nights and holidays — for the Baymen. He of course supported the athletic program but also did not miss concerts, musicals, science symposia and more. He believed in sportsmanship and was always a gentleman. He bought what he sold in Hampton Bays — his two children, Ryan and Megan — are living proof of the success you can experience when you come from Hampton Bays.”

Prior to coming to Hampton Bays in the 1999-2000 school year, Mr. Walker had worked for nine years as an elementary physical education teacher at Hancock Central School District in Western New York, where he was also a three-sport coach, spending his final year there in 1998 as the district’s athletic director.

Mr. Walker is originally from Latham, New York, which is just north of Albany.

“We always wanted to look for a place where we could become a part of the community and grow with it professionally, with the staff, teachers, and administration,” Mr. Walker said. “I felt like Hancock was very similar in that it was very family orientated, but I’ve been really happy — personally, professionally. My kids went through school here so the district has offered me everything. I was looking to grew into great facilities, even though they already had great facilities when I came here. But I’ve really enjoyed the relationships with my staff, whether it was with my phys ed staff, coaching staff, and I think I’ve really grown with the administration crew, who I’ve been able to work together with, not just athletically, but there’s a lot of things we’ve all tried to work on, whether it was school spirit, academics. I’ve really enjoyed those relationships.”

Pete Meehan worked with Mr. Walker for his entire tenure before he himself retired after long runs as head coach of the varsity boys basketball and baseball programs last year. He said being an AD isn’t the most “glamourous” job it’s sometimes made out to be, with tough decisions having to be made daily, some of which people may not like or understand.

“The job is not the easiest in the world,” he said. “You have to make tough decisions that some parents or students are not going to like and it’s tough to keep everybody happy. Most of the time when his phone rings it’s not always going to be an easy conversation.

“I don’t think the position of athletic director totally describes all that it entails,” he continued. “It’s a tough, grueling job, and even though Drew right now is one of the longest tenured ADs in Suffolk County, there’s not many people who have a whole lot of longevity, at least not at the same school, with many ADs always looking for the bigger, better, or maybe easier. Drew was faced with a lot of challenges, maybe more so in a small school, and it can be a grinding, difficult job, but he handled it with grace. He took the position seriously, I don’t think he took shortcuts, and he stood up for what he thought was right. I know he’s highly respected by other ADs, and other young ADs have picked his brain about the job.”

Kathy Masterson has been the athletic director at neighboring Westhampton Beach School District for the past 15 years. When she got her position, Mr. Walker already had five years on the job, so she would constantly go to him with any questions she had, and she said he was more than willing to lend a helping hand when he could.

“Drew has been nothing but a huge role model and mentor to me,” she said. “He understands the East End, which could be very hard if you’re not from here, even though I am born and raised. But what you see is what you get — a hard working, dedicated, and wonderful, wonderful man.”

Masterson recalled the time when she and Mr. Walker walked the cross country trails at Red Creek Park, which are shared by both districts. They both walked out of the woods with chiggers, which they shared a laugh over.

“He is soft spoken but such a knowledgeable man, but not just as athletic administrator,” Masterson explained. “He’s been president and really involved in the Suffolk Zone, which is the governing body for all phys ed teachers in the county. He’s put together the dinner for that the last 10 years and has done a spectacular job.

“He is Hampton Bays through and through, loves where he lives and where he works. They’re going to have big shoes to fill over there.”

Walker is proud of many things during his tenure, from continuing the tradition of the longrunning Doc Fallot Memorial Wrestling Tournament that the Baymen wrestling program hosts every year, to being a part of the group that renamed the wrestling room after storied coach Mike Fitzgerald, and being part of the Coaches vs. Cancer basketball tournament that Meehan put together. Hosting the Relay for Life and Special Olympics on school grounds was also special to Mr. Walker, as was working with the Hampton Bays and Southampton student councils when relations between the two schools reached a hot point a few years back. He also added new varsity programs that the district offered in boys and girls lacrosse and indoor track. He’s also worked as the boys and girls golf chairperson for Section XI, the governing body of Suffolk County high school athletics, as well as played roles on numerous committees for the county.

Walker is leaving with a number of awards to his name for his work, including the 2017 Physical Education Director of the Year in Suffolk County by the Suffolk Chapter of the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, as well as the 2017 Council of Administrators Director of the Year Award by the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. More recently, Walker was given the “Amazing Person Award” by the same council of administrators.

Many of those types of awards are not based off of wins and losses by one’s athletic program. They were much more than that and that’s what mattered to Mr. Walker.

“He understands that the end all be all wasn’t wins and losses,” Meehan said. “That’s not how you measure teams, and that’s not how you measures coaches or athletic directors. I don’t care who you are or what you do, the athletic director position comes with its detractors and difficult decisions, but doing what was right was more important to Drew than making people happy. He had a set of values and he stuck with them through thick and thin. That gymnasium was home to raucous basketball games at certain times and Drew had his own perception of what a gym should sound like, and that sportsmanship banner that adorns the wall there, that’s not just there for decoration.”

Another reason for the Walkers retirement was to spend more time with their children, Megan and Ryan, who are now adults, but had gone through the Hampton Bays School District and went on to successful careers, both in the sports industry. Ryan is a physical education teacher and Megan is an athletic trainer, who is set to receive her doctorate in physical therapy.

The plan, at least initially, for the Walkers is to do some traveling, some of which they’ve already booked. After that, Mr. Walker may see himself back in some sort of school-based capacity.

“I like working with kids and students and I like working with athletics,” he said. “I hold physical education very close and near to my heart. I feel like we have a good program at Hampton Bays and feel like we try and offer programming that works so closely with the personnel at each building.”

Mr. Clemensen agreed that replacing Mr. Walker will be tough.

“Twenty years is a lot of institutional habit about Section XI and Baymen athletics. Thankfully, he lives around the corner from me, so when I take my daughter for a walk, I can always bring my list of questions,” he joked. “I’m grateful that, after some time to breathe and not worry about open gyms and summer conditioning, that Drew has committed to picking up the phone when we need him.

“Drew bleeds purple and I am grateful for his commitment to Hampton Bays over the years and wish him and Maria a very happy and healthy retirement.”