Naomi Martin, the athletic director at Lexington High School, plays a crucial role in the athletic community at the school. LHS Athletics offers 65 sports teams throughout the year. Despite the hefty workload, Martin dedicates herself to working and connecting with student-athletes.

“I have the good fortune of sort of managing that chaos with the coaches and with all of those kids that are competing at the same time,” Martin said.

At a school as largely populated as LHS, Martin’s job as the athletic director entails handling many technical details and responsibilities to ensure a smooth experience for all who are involved with the athletics program.

“At the high school level, it is all me, every part of what we do, from getting officials to ordering buses, to scheduling games, to working with students, hiring coaches. It all sort of comes here,” Martin said.

However, Martin has dealt with many challenges that faced LHS athletics. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many of the social and physical connections in the programs, making it difficult to schedule games and organize teams.

“Post-COVID, we’ve had a lot of challenges with officials and transportation […] there’s a lot more added responsibilities on teachers. So we have a lot less teachers that are coaching, that are officiating,” Martin said

Martin makes prioritizing the mental health of student-athletes an integral part of her job, ensuring that there is enough support for student-athletes to balance academics and athletics simultaneously. 

“We know you as a student, but we also know you as so much more. […] And I feel fortunate to be part of athletics and being one of those little things that’s outside of the classroom that kids are part of,” Martin said.

Prioritizing mental-health in athletics can take many forms. For Martin, highlighting students’ experiences outside of the classroom helps students grow and understand themselves better.

“I think athletics are a place where we sort of have to dig deep and find our best selves,” Martin said.

Martin believes that as LHS has changed over the years, the role athletics play in students’ lives has also evolved. Even so, Martin continues to connect with and support student-athletes.

“I think we have to work harder now at fitting joy in [our lives]. I want to believe that athletics fits joy into a lot of people’s lives,” Martin said.