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10/06/2016 12:00 AMSteve Blumenthal has been involved with North Haven sports for years as both an athlete and a coach, but he never envisioned himself becoming the Indians’ athletic director. However, that all changed this past June, when Steve found out the position was open and immediately grew intrigued. Steve applied the next day and, a few months later, he’s in the outset of his first year as North Haven’s athletic director—a position that he calls his “dream job.”
“I definitely feel like it’s great to be here and be able to give back to North Haven in this position,” Steve says. “I’m looking forward to a great school year and many great years to come.”
Steve grew up and currently lives in North Haven, where he played boys’ soccer at the high school before graduating in 1987. Steve began his coaching career with the middle school boys’ soccer squad in 1993 and was later the high school head coach for four seasons. After that, Steve got involved with North Haven Youth Soccer and was the program’s assistant director of coaching.
Meanwhile, Steve had earned his master’s degree in teaching from Quinnipiac University and went on to teach English at Hillhouse and Fairfield Warde. Steve became the dean of students at Fairfield and held that position for 12 years. It was the last day of the 2015-’16 school year when Steve learned that North Haven was looking for an athletic director. Steve thought the prospect of helping the sports scene take shape in his hometown was too good to pass up and so he went for it.
“I was like, ‘Wow, what a great opportunity it would be to come home to North Haven and be part of the North Haven athletic program,’” he says.
Steve went through the interview process and then, in mid-August, he received a phone call from the North Haven Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Cronin, who told Steve that he’d earned the position of athletic director. Steve was elated with the news and has since received a great wave of support throughout the community.
“I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me and provide their congratulations and support. It really does mean a lot. Now, I feel that sense of responsibility to do the job, do it well, and make good decisions as best I can. I’ll learn on the job, but I’ll do it in the best interest of our athletes and coaches,” Steve says. “It’s a big responsibility, but I welcome it with open arms, and I’m just so excited to begin the final chapter of my educational career. I’m not going anywhere.”
Steve isn’t coming in with any sweeping changes. Instead, he’s planning on an observational period where he looks at “what needs tweaking and what areas that will involve,” and go forward from there. Steve feels that fortunate that he’s stepping into a good situation and discusses some of the things he believes are important to continue the positive vibes at North Haven.
“I definitely want there to be communication with all involved parties and I want North Haven to have an athletic program that is highly respected and that people know when North Haven comes to town or they come to North Haven, that we’re coming in with competitive spirit and it will be a competitive game,” Steve says. “We’re in this to win it, but it’s not all about winning it. We have athletes at all levels that might be happy to just to be a part of it and that’s OK, too. We’re here for them, as well. We want to be inclusive to everyone who wants to be involved with North Haven athletics. I believe that the North Haven athletic program already presents itself with character, integrity, sportsmanship, and a competitive drive and, as long as we represent ourselves like that, I think we’re doing a good job.”
Of course, there are a slew of new responsibilities for Steve to juggle as athletic director. It’s been overwhelming at times, but Steve says all the hard work is worth it because of where he’s doing it.
“I like to think that I’m representing all North Haven students as a product of North Haven and so it’s worth it on a lot of different levels. I feel like this is a good position to have at this stage of my life. I feel like it’s the right place to be. It feels like home,” he says. “I came in on Labor Day and worked for five hours and it wasn’t like, ‘What am I doing?’ It was like, ‘This feels good.’ It’s weird, but true, and I’m not exaggerating. I could have been sleeping, I could have been at the New Haven 5K, but I came here because I wanted to be here.”
North Haven High School Principal Dr. Russell Dallai is happy that Steve is there and has complete confidence that he’s the right person to lead the athletic program into its next era.
“I’m really looking forward to working with Steve. He’s a wonderful person of integrity with a lot of experience as an educator and a leader, has a nice skill set that helps with organization and time management, and has a clear passion for youth involvement with sports,” Dallai says. “I have every confidence that Steve will do a great job and work alongside the rest of our district leadership and continue the example of what we do—listen to our clients and make every decision we can toward improving the way we take care of our kids and families.”