CALEDONIA – For those who have had the pleasure of meeting Tim McArdle, it's clear how much he values boosting a high school’s positive exposure through incredible coverage of all kids, K-12, whether they’re playing at the highest level of sports or simply enjoying the school’s jungle gym.
Whether it has been taking photos or videos of all the different grades, classes, and groups, McArdle’s lens has created many magical memories.
And so has his positive aura.
McArdle will take over as the new Cal-Mum Athletic Director, replacing Mike Reed, who recently retired.
McArdle will also stay on as the school’s Middle/High School Assistant Principal.
McArdle graduated from Wellsville High School in 1999, where he played soccer, basketball, and golf. He also served as the play-by-play announcer for multiple sports at radio station WJQZ of Wellsville and was very involved with his school’s AV Club, creating sports season highlight videos for various Wellsville sports banquets.
That is where his media passion started, he says.
Following high school, McArdle attended college at St. Bonaventure University, where he majored in PE, and had the incredible opportunity of being the men’s basketball team manager for the Bonnies for all four years (three years as head manager), which earned him a half-tuition scholarship.
“I really learned a lot about college athletics, coaching, and administration, and I worked with some amazing coaches,” McArdle said.
Tim and his wife Vicki (Covey) met at St. Bonaventure.
She played on the softball team for two years after having a great career at Cal-Mum, where she played soccer, basketball, and softball for the Lady Raiders.
Vicki’s brother Carl Covey, who is a colonel in the Air Force and a doctor, was also a big-time player at Cal-Mum, highlighted by being the QB of the 1993 state champion football team, and a dominant baseball player who went on to play at Ithaca College.
Tim and Vicki both started their teaching/coaching careers in the Southern Tier, with Tim at Portville and Vicki at Cuba-Rushford. They both coached multiple varsity sports and enjoyed, according to McArdle, “some great opportunities early in our careers.”
Vicki always wanted to come home to Cal-Mum, Tim said, and so they made the decision to return to Caledonia and raise their family.
In 2009, they bought a house down the road from her family, and Vicki got her dream job at Cal-Mum as an art teacher and coach.
Early on, Tim transferred from Portville to HF-L, where he coached and taught physical education before starting his administrative career as an assistant principal at Batavia Middle School for four years, then was offered the “opportunity of a lifetime” as principal at Le Roy Jr-Sr. High School, where he stayed for almost nine years.
Tim and Vicki have four kids who played a big part in Tim’s youth sports coaching days for nearly 20 years, where he also ran the Cal-Mum Youth Basketball Association.
“I knew it was going to be really hard for me to continue all of that and be in Le Roy as my kids got older and more involved in their sports, so when the opportunity came up to work at Cal-Mum, I jumped at the chance to go all in with my family and become a Raider,” Tim said.
Ironically, with Cal-Mum recently merging with Le Roy in football and cross-country, as the Rivals, it will allow McArdle to reconnect with the Le Roy school and community, with which he was extremely popular.
“Pretty cool how that all worked back out,” he said.
Tim has been involved in the Cal-Mum School District for the past 3 ½ years, starting as the Middle/High School Assistant Principal.
In January, he started his transition to the dual role of M/HS Assistant Principal and Athletic Director, while also running the school’s popular social media outlet.
Dan Dickens, the Raiders’ former boys basketball coach (3 sectional titles) and current softball coach (6 sectional titles) is definitely pumped up for McArdle’s new role.
“Tim brings excitement and passion to the position, which is always a great thing for someone in sports,” Dickens said. “I've been fortunate in my years of coaching to have some really great people to work with as a coach every year, and knowing how Tim operates, I think we are in a great position moving forward.”
Q & A WITH TIM MCARDLE
How excited are you to take over that Cal-Mum sports program?
“It is truly a dream job for me to be the new Athletic Director at the Home of Champions. To follow in the footsteps of two Cal-Mum legends, Mike Monacelli and Mike Reed, you'd better bring your ‘A’ game every day. I plan to do just that and build on the many years of success that they had here. I have been in athletics ever since I started walking, attending my dad’s practices back in Wellsville, and I’ve had so many incredible opportunities throughout the years, from youth sports to college athletics. I am beyond excited to work relentlessly for our coaches, student-athletes, and community to offer special experiences for all.”
You have always been a huge supporter of student-athletes receiving outstanding support and coverage. Just how important is that for you?
“I have always prided myself on being a big fan of the students I serve – being present at sporting events is always an important priority. From small events to championship games, it is always fun to be there supporting. It is just so awesome to see students perform and put it all on the line for their school. Being there to cheer them on and give a high five at the end of the contest is so important to me. Early on, I started taking photos at these games, and I’ve never stopped. It has been a labor of love to cover and promote students on social media and give them images of themselves in action, including some I have them autograph before hanging in my office! Ed Henry at Le Roy gifted me my first good camera when I started there and really jump-started my abilities to do this… and the rest is history!”
Cal-Mum has some terrific coaches. How excited are you to work with those coaches daily?
“We have an amazing coaching staff that is so dedicated to our student-athletes. Our coaches value off-season work and the importance of player development, and I look forward to supporting them and enhancing our opportunities to give student-athletes an experience that is second to none. We want to give our coaches every resource they need to be successful, and I will work tirelessly to do so. We started right away this summer with our new Summer Strength and Conditioning programming that has seen 83 of our student-athletes attend so far. We are blown away by their determination to become faster and stronger. We are also rebuilding our student section, the Regime, and are working on some exciting new ideas to enhance our game day experience. We want our coaches to stay fresh and feel supported – I can’t wait to collaborate with each one of them to help them be the best they can be.”
Photo Courtesy Ed Henry