January/February 2025 - 35

ATHLETIC ADMINISTRATION
Q&A.D.
A conversation with RIIL executive director Michael Lunney
By Wesley Sykes, managing editor
M
ichael Lunney has been the Rhode Island
Interscholastic League (RIIL) executive director
since the 2020-21 school year. Previously,
Lunney served as the RIIL's assistant executive director
since 2011.
He served for 16 years as the director of athletics and
student activities at Portsmouth High School, where he
also served two stints as the Patriots boys basketball
coach, from 1995 to 1998 and from 2006 to 2011.
Rhode Island's first athletic administrator to serve on the
National Interscholastic Athletic
Administrators Association Board of
Directors, Lunney was the recipient of
the 2016 NIAAA Distinguished
Service Award. That same year, he
was presented with the Men Who
Make a Difference Award by the
Women's Resource Center of
Newport.
Lunney sat down with Coach &
Athletic Director for its Q&A.D.
column. Below is an excerpt from that
conversation.
COACH & A.D.: What have been some of the key
challenges you've faced as executive director, and
how have you overcome them?
Michael Lunney: There are many challenges facing
interscholastic high school athletics today. As a state
athletic association, our primary goal is to support our
member schools with leadership, support, and resources
so they can effectively administer their athletic programs
and provide quality programs for their students. The issues
range from risk management, student eligibility rules
challenges, spectator behavior, and recruitment/retention
of officials. Whether it's working with our sports medicine
advisory or sport committees, providing education and
rules clarifications for member schools, planning for state
tournaments, providing student services through
initiatives, or developing corporate relationships, our
organization continues to grow and evolve.
COACH & A.D.: What key initiatives have you
introduced during your tenure that you're
particularly proud of?
Lunney: Through a relationship with the Rhode Island
Army National Guard, we have offered free student
workshops filled with motivational lectures and activities
geared toward developing leadership skills that students
can put into practice within their teams, schools, and
communities. We also promote and administer an annual
state-wide community service project called the Peanut
Butter Express to benefit the RI Community Food Bank.
Each year our member schools have found creative ways to
literally collect and donate tons of peanut butter for
families in need across Rhode Island. We have also
established an annual student Mental Health Summit that
brings students together to identify issues and develop
coping skills to address the challenges faced by our students.
COACH & A.D.: What's one piece of advice
you wish you had received when you were an
athletic director?
Lunney: Back in the fall of 1995, at the age of 27, making
the transition from the head coach of a college basketball
program to interscholastic athletic administrator, I quickly
found out that the realities of the position were quite
different from my perception going in. The responsibilities
seemed endless, the expectations appeared to be
impossible to attain and the available resources were
COACHAD.COM 35
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January/February 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January/February 2025

2025 Coaches Survey Results
Ad Index
A.D.ministration
Between the Lines
Built For This
CSCCa Strength Focus
Facility Focus
Football Focus
Football X&Os
Holistic Health
Organizing the Offseason
Product Focus
Product Marketplace
Q&A.D.
January/February 2025 - 1
January/February 2025 - 2
January/February 2025 - 3
January/February 2025 - Between the Lines
January/February 2025 - 5
January/February 2025 - 6
January/February 2025 - 7
January/February 2025 - A.D.ministration
January/February 2025 - 9
January/February 2025 - 10
January/February 2025 - 11
January/February 2025 - 12
January/February 2025 - 13
January/February 2025 - CSCCa Strength Focus
January/February 2025 - 15
January/February 2025 - 16
January/February 2025 - 17
January/February 2025 - Built For This
January/February 2025 - 19
January/February 2025 - 20
January/February 2025 - 21
January/February 2025 - 22
January/February 2025 - 23
January/February 2025 - 24
January/February 2025 - 25
January/February 2025 - 2025 Coaches Survey Results
January/February 2025 - 27
January/February 2025 - 28
January/February 2025 - 29
January/February 2025 - Football X&Os
January/February 2025 - 31
January/February 2025 - 32
January/February 2025 - 33
January/February 2025 - 34
January/February 2025 - A1
January/February 2025 - A2
January/February 2025 - A3
January/February 2025 - A4
January/February 2025 - A5
January/February 2025 - A6
January/February 2025 - A7
January/February 2025 - A8
January/February 2025 - A9
January/February 2025 - A10
January/February 2025 - A11
January/February 2025 - A12
January/February 2025 - A13
January/February 2025 - A14
January/February 2025 - A15
January/February 2025 - A16
January/February 2025 - Q&A.D.
January/February 2025 - 36
January/February 2025 - 37
January/February 2025 - Football Focus
January/February 2025 - 39
January/February 2025 - Holistic Health
January/February 2025 - 41
January/February 2025 - 42
January/February 2025 - 43
January/February 2025 - Facility Focus
January/February 2025 - 45
January/February 2025 - 46
January/February 2025 - 47
January/February 2025 - 48
January/February 2025 - 49
January/February 2025 - Product Focus
January/February 2025 - 51
January/February 2025 - 52
January/February 2025 - 53
January/February 2025 - 54
January/February 2025 - 55
January/February 2025 - Organizing the Offseason
January/February 2025 - 57
January/February 2025 - 58
January/February 2025 - Product Marketplace
January/February 2025 - 60
January/February 2025 - 61
January/February 2025 - 62
January/February 2025 - 63
January/February 2025 - 64
January/February 2025 - 65
January/February 2025 - Ad Index
January/February 2025 - 67
January/February 2025 - 68
January/February 2025 - 85
January/February 2025 - 86
January/February 2025 - 87
January/February 2025 - 88
January/February 2025 - 89
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January/February 2025 - 91
January/February 2025 - 92
January/February 2025 - 93
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January/February 2025 - 100
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