LOWER LAKE — Marty Udy is stepping down as Lower Lake High School”s athletic director after spending the last 10 years in that position.
“It was totally my decision,” Udy said. “I spent three to four days of careful reflection before I made the decision. I submitted my resignation Friday.”
Udy, who was hired as a teacher and varsity boys” basketball coach at Lower Lake before the start of the 1994-95 school year, was prepared to return for an 11th season as the school”s athletic director, but events of the past week caused him to change his mind in a hurry.
“It”s never easy giving up something you enjoy, but sometimes you have to do what is right for you,” Udy said. “I look back on my accomplishments and I”m satisfied with what I”ve done. Bottom line is anytime you help out kids, you can”t lose. I love Lower Lake High School and I”ll continue to help kids as a teacher and as a basketball coach.”
Udy met with Konocti Unified School District Superintendent William MacDougall and Lower Lake High School Principal Jeff Dixon last week after a handful of community members approached MacDougall with concerns about the manner in which Udy was running the athletic department at Lower Lake.
“A small group of people in the community voiced their concerns to the superintendent,” Udy said. “They questioned my ability to be AD, my ability to lead an athletic department. I disagreed.
“It was a dagger … if I overreacted, so be it,” Udy added of his decision to resign.
Udy said the “concerns” voiced by the community members were minor in nature.
“You”ll find all schools have the same issues as we have,” Udy said. “At the top of my list is sportsmanship and building character and I”ve tried to do that in a variety of ways.”
“It”s a real loss to Lower Lake High School,” Dixon said. “Marty and I talked a couple of times before he submitted his letter of resignation. He”s one of the best AD”s I”ve worked with. I have no concerns about Marty. I have not received a single phone call complaining about him since I”ve been here.”
Concerning the issues community members raised about Udy, Dixon said “there was no single smoking gun. The things brought forth were inaccurate.”
Dixon said he respects Udy”s decision even if he doesn”t agree with it and added, “It was 100 percent his decision. I tried to talk him out of it.”
So did MacDougall.
“Yes, I did,” MacDougall said. “Marty is an incredible, ethical man. He”s a wonderful man. He ran an excellent program.”
On Udy”s decision to resign, McDougall added, “Resignations are the decision of the employee.”
McDougall said rumors swirling in the Konocti Unified School District about a committee of community members forming to oversee or advise the athletic director on how the Lower Lake High School athletic program should be run are not true.
“The simple answer to your question is no,” MacDougall said. “There is no committee. But am I going to be listening to my community? Yes, I really believe in listening to my stakeholders.”
“I”m unaware of a committee,” Dixon said. “A committee like that wouldn”t serve any purpose.”
News of Udy”s resignation came like a bombshell for other county athletic directors, including Geri Giovannetti, the longest-tenured AD in the area.
“I”m very, very upset … disgusted,” Giovannetti said. “I”m appalled the Lower Lake community is not fighting to keep him.
“Marty Udy is one of the best ADs in the CMC (Coastal Mountain Conference) if not the entire North Coast Section. He deserves to be recognized that way,” Giovannetti said. “He”s taken it (the Lower Lake athletic program) way over the top, just by the (improved) behavior of his athletes since he”s been here.”
“They want to blame Marty Udy for what”s going on in the athletic program?” Clear Lake High School athletic director said of the community members who voiced concerns about Udy”s handling of the athletic department at Lower Lake. “What, he didn”t schedule the teams they wanted to see?”
Both Udy and Meyer said a chain of command at most schools begins with the coaches, moves to the AD position, to the principal, to the superintendent and finally to the school board if necessary.
“If a parent has a problem with a coach, I tell them to talk to the coach first. If they can”t work it out, I get involved. If I can”t solve it, I talk to my principal. We”ve had occasions where the superintendent has been involved, not many. My boss is Steve Gentry (Clear Lake High”s principal). I deal with him and he deals with me. It”s a good system. An AD runs a principal”s program.”
Meyer”s solution?
“I think people down there need to stand up for Marty,” Meyer said. “If they don”t, he”s probably made the right decision.”
On the possibility of a committee of community members having a say in an athletic department”s dealings, Meyer just laughed.
“I tell you what, why doesn”t someone down there form a committee to oversee that other committee,” Meyer said.
While Dixon said he has left the door open for Udy to return as AD, possibly in two or three years, Udy doesn”t think that will work.
“No, I”m pretty much like that as a person in general. Once I”ve made my decision, I”ve made it. I”m trying to go forward. I”m trying to turn a negative into a positive. I”ll have more time to be with my kids now and that is nothing but positive, something I look forward to.”
Udy said construction of the school”s new state-of-the-art gym is one of the things he”s most proud of as athletic director.
“It”s a very demanding job and it takes an incredible amount of time,” Udy said of being an athletic director. “You sacrifice a lot to do it, but when you enjoy something so much, it”s worth it.
“It”s just not worth it anymore.”
