The Globetrottin' ADs

IS Dusseldorf has had a year round program since 1995 that brings together the school and the local community.

Gil Grant and Carsten Stichel join us to share the ins and outs of the school athletic program and their separate sports club.

The plans for this season include a series about student leadership groups and year round programs. In this episode Nick and Matt kick that off by discussing their own programs.

Matt shares about his Blazer Academy which is only a few years old while Nick shares about his Athlete Council which was previously called G.O.A.L.. A special guest even makes a brief appearance.

Have a listen and then reach out to Nick or Matt if you would like to share about your program.

Back at it for season 8 of the Globetrottin'ADs

Nick and Matt talk about their summers and start of their year but most importantly their plan for season 8.

If you are an AD that has a year round program of some sort or a student leadership group then let us know. We want to feature your model and highlight you as well.

In this episode Nick talks about the new revised and expanded version of his book. Hear about why a updated was necessary, what is new and who is now included.

What has been going on in the Middle East the last month? What are international schools in the Middle East like?

We have Mark Buschini the AD at the American School of Dubai on this episode to fill us in. He talks about how the COVID experience has helped currently and reminds us of the real impact that athletics and activities have on our students.

After a long break we are back with the last episode in our series about the International AD survey. This time we discuss the top 4 things that ADs have indicated that they are not concerned about....

Pressure to Win

Job Security

Getting Support

Pressure from Admin

We are back at it in 2026 with a return to our Top Concern episodes. This time we are talking about participation with Masa Yo who is the Athletic Director and PE Teacher at The American School in Switzerland (TASIS).

Nick, Matt and Masa talk about how and why their schools struggle with participation issues, how they have increased participation and also give some tips for other schools. There are so many facets to the concern of participation but we hope we touched on many of them in this episode.

The NIAAA National Athletic Directors Conference (NADC) is just wrapping up for 2025 when Nick and Matt recap their time in Tampa, Florida. Bruno Zanotti-Cavazzoni (Paraguay) and Claudia Araya (Brazil) join the guys as they talk about why they keep coming back to the NADC and also what their best parts of the conference were this year... both in and out of the conference.

In this short episode Nick and Matt take a break from their Top Concerns series to briefly talk about their trip to Tampa this week for the annual NIAAA National Conference.

The guys also unveil the podcasts top 5 counties and most listened too episode of 2025 from their Spotify Wrapped.

In our fourth 'Top Concerns' episode we are talking about officials with return guest, Gil Grant the AD at the International School of Dusseldorf in Germany.

Although not at the level as in the US, international ADs are finding it harder and harder to find qualified officials. The three guys share some of the things that work well for them including; building strong relationships, invest in recruitment and education, collaborating regionally and, of course, always improving the culture towards officials.

AD's around the world have selected their top concerns in the "state of the industry" survey and now in a series of podcast episodes they will be discussed, analyzed and some suggestions will be shared.

In this third episode the top concern of "rising costs of trips" Nick and Matt welcome, return guest, Ric Floyd who is the AD at Stavanger Int. School in Stavanger Norway.

This episode has some experiences that you can relate with and some ideas to help you beat the rising costs of trips. Themes include; Reduce Travel Distances, Optimize Scheduling, and Partner with other schools. Ric also shares a new idea for kids to reduce the cost of their specific trips.

The "state of the industry" surveys have been going on for years now but this time Nick and Matt will do something different with the results.

AD's around the world have selected their top concerns and in a series of podcast episodes they will be discussed, analyzed and some suggestions will be shared.

In this second episode the top concern of "finding qualified coaches" Nick and Matt welcome, brand newguest, Dan Hogg who is the AD at Saigon South in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. This episode also has some experiences that you can relate with and also help you find the qualified coaches (or coaches in general) that you are in need of.

The "state of the industry" surveys have been going on for years now but this time Nick and Matt will do something different with the results.

AD's around the world have selected their top concerns and in a series of podcast episodes they will be discussed, analyzed and some suggestions will be shared.

First up is the top concern of "increased workload or expectations" and Nick and Matt welcome, frequent guest, Matt Yoder from QSI Bratislava. This episode has some great tips and was recorded from an amazing location at about 1700 meters in the Austrian alps.

In this episode we welcome back and old friend in Scott Hibbard. Scott has been an AD in three continents before settling in the Middle East.

Scott fills us in about his new role organizing events around Europe and the Middle East for youth teams from professional clubs. We then shift to his role with Pro Mentality which is a company that provides an online mental training program to athletes that was to dig a bit deeper and get that much better.

Pro mentality has two websites at the moment for their two main sports however, as Nick, Matt and Scott discuss, mental training is relevant for anyone.

Brian Lettinga is back on the pod sharing lots of great information if you are looking to make a move or dip your feet into the international educational world.

Brian is from Search Associates who are the leader in international school placements. In this episode the guys talk about; when to starting looking and how, job placements and trends and the newly revamped intern program.

Even if you are not ready to move schools right now this episode will be able to help down the road but also help to get you some support in your current role.

Season 7 of the GTADs is now online with this first episode with just Nick and Matt.

The guys talk about their summer homework, their plans for some upcoming episodes and events all while Nick is in the middle of a fantasy football draft.

Nick and Matt wrap up season 6 in this episode. They talk about some highlights of their school years, some summer work and personal plans but also dive into year end awards.

Athletes of the year is a focal point; how their are selected and how you can avoid or reduce conflicts. Nick faced this first hand as his daughter received their middle school athlete of the year award this year.

After a bit of a break we are back with an episode about some of the pitfalls or things to be aware of when an AD also coaches a team. There could be a number of unique challenges due to the dual nature of everyone's roles but we have picked out 6 key areas.
1. Time Management
Balancing administrative duties (scheduling, compliance, budgeting, facility management) with coaching responsibilities is extremely demanding.
2. Conflict of Interest
When an AD coaches one team, there can be perceptions (or realities) of favoritism in budgeting, scheduling, or discipline decisions. 

3. Oversight and Supervision
The AD must evaluate and support all sports programs and coaches, but coaching limits our availability to attend games and practices of other teams.
4. Emergency Response and Accountability
During a game or practice, if an incident (injury, fight, weather delay) occurs in another sport, the AD may not be available to manage it properly.

Where did the time go... 2019, 2021, 2023 and its already time again for the International "State of the Industry" surveys!

Even if you know about the surveys or not Nick and Matt's insights about what they are and why they are important is interesting. In addition both guys tell us what is their Top Concern for 2025 and why.

93 responses with Europe having 45% of those. While the first even International Coach survey in 2021

We are back with another live panel discussion recorded at the CEESA conference. This year the conference was in Split Croatia and the panel was recorded during the last session of the conference on Saturday March 15th.

The three panelists are:

Live streaming is a great tool for international schools for mulitple reasons and the technology is getting better and better. Nick and Matt talk about some of their experiences with it and then welcome Ian Wray.

Ian is Senior Director of Media Partnerships with Spiideo. Spiideo is used by both Nick and Matt's schools but this is not a paid content piece just sharing of information about streaming in general and his company.

Nick and Matt are back for their first episode together in 2025 and they welcome repeat guest Joe Toler who is in his second year at the International School of London Qatar.

The guys discuss different ways they have helped to create or improve the athletic culture at their schools before moving on to the 10th anniversary IAAAC conference this May in Bangkok.

In the first episode of 2025 Nick welcomes Chris McCallum who has started Truth Based Athletics. Sound familiar? Chris was on back in season 3 in 2021 and also has contributed to A Global Playbook.

Chris, who has a full international resume, outlines what TBA is and can do for a school while they discuss intentional experiences and sustainability in programs. After listening please check out TBA for more information; https://truthbasedathletics.com

As you start your holidays Nick and Matt thought they would share their "AD" advent calendar. 24 thoughts, wishes or ideas for next year that might resonate with you or your programs as well. Why an advent calendar and what is that actually, well have a listen to find out.

Here are all 24 but tune in for the ideas behind each one.....

1. Look before asking

2. Optimal communications

3. Schools had same holidays

4. More student connections

5. Coaches paid their worth

6.  streamlined collaborations

7. Tech that makes things easier

8. Voice to text improvement 

9. More time 

10. Office consolidations

11. GTADs more known

12. New fitness room 

13. Strength & conditioning coach

14. Mandatory education or experience 

15. ADs would have admin positions 

16. wellness opportunities

17. Control the controllables

18. Less bureaucracy

19. separate work and home

20.  live streaming of events

21. Time to read

22. guest- speaker series

23. All ADs become  NIAAA members 

24. Standardization in attitude towards athletics

 Sawadee Ka is a Thai greeting which basically means hello and is an appropriate title for this episode as Nick profiles and says 'hello' to 22 different people who were a part of the PHASE AD conference last week in Bangkok.

Nick asked those people two questions; what do you love about your job? and what would you change if you could? Tune in to this short but interesting episode and meet some great athletic administrators and if this is your first GTAD episode then Sawadee Ka to you too.

Join Nick and Matt as they have a brief chat about the end of the fall season, Nick going to Thailand and the newly launched NIAAA scholarship opporutnity for international school students.

GTADs are back after a fall break, which we hope you had as well. We welcome Juan Santamaria to talk about student leadership and primarily what he does at Escuela Internacional Sampedrana in San Pedro Sula, Honduras and in their conference.

A quick little preview of the first PHASE Athletic Directors Conference coming up this November in Bangkok. Longtime guest Chris Mott talks to Nick about how the conference came to be and what to expect.

Attached to the PHASE PE teachers conference there will be over 400 educators together for 4 days in Bangkok and there is still plenty of time to sign up.

This week Nick and Matt are joined by Dr. Ffion Thompson who is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Youth Athletic Development for the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University.

Matt Yoder joins us again this year before a DVAC conference meeting. We have a 'hot topic' chat that all ADs have when they get together.

The first topic is phones in schools followed by getting games and then when is a team not a team before the episode is cut short.

Welcome to season 6 of the GTADs!

Nick and Matt are back for another school year as they continue connecting and growing the international community of ADs, ACs, and Coaches around the globe.

In this episode they talk about the first days of school and what they have been doing, some softball and more.

Like our school years the podcast season is wrapping up so we thought it would be a great opportunity to talk about what we are actually doing to wrap up a school year.

Nick and Matt are joined by Tom Hobbins, the AD at the International School of Hamburg and answer questions about how they close out your school year… 

What do you try to get done before leaving, what can wait? 

Do you stay after the last day of school? 

Adding to the episode are examples and ideas from others ADs who messaged Nick before hand. Thanks to Ric, Anthony, Kelly, Todd, Ella, Mott and Craig.

Tom also shares his favorite things about Hamburg before Nick and Matt look to the summer and what next school year has in store for them.

The Globetrottin’ ADs are very excited to announce that they have partnered with the 3D Institute to create a new course to help international athletic coaches meet their developmental needs. The course is based on numerous courses designed to satisfy state and organizational requirements to be certified to coach in their jurisdictions.

In this episode Nick and Matt welcome 3D Institute President and CEO Wes Simmons and International Director Mark Hull. The guys talk about what the course is, who it is for, how it came to be and more. You will also hear about how the Globetrottin’ ADs are involved and how you get your school on board. 

When you go overseas things are not always like they were back home and sometimes those differences are both surprising and hard to overcome.

In this episode we welcome Christof Wegiel (Danube Int. School) and Dave Horner (his 14th episode) to talk about 'athletic culture shock'. The guys share things that stood out to them when they first went overseas, how they overcame them and also some funny examples.

The top realizations were; the local competition, athletic ability of athletes, frequent moving of families and the amount of practices. The basic tip to people coming overseas for the first time is to lower your expectations but be ready to make a lasting impact.

In this episode of the Globetrottin’ ADs Nick and Matt are joined by Vince Pados who is currently an athletic office intern at the American International School Budapest. Vince is a product of an international school and is in an athletic management program at the The Hague University of Applied Sciences. Vince shares about his high school career, the program he is in, what brought him there and where he wants to go. He also shares some tips about the Hague where he goes to school and coaches for the American School of the Hague. 

To find out more about the program he is in and if maybe an intern would be a good fit for your school please visit; https://www.thuas.com/programmes/bachelors/sport-studies-international-sport-management

From the first episode on January 1st, 2020 the Globetrottin' ADs podcast has been sharing resources and connecting the international school AD and coach community around the world.

Welcome back to the I3AC conference!

This May the 9th I3AC conference will take place in Bangkok Thailand and in this episode Nick and Matt talk with Joe Toler about the conference and more.

The guys talk about the conference theme, keynote speaker and all sort of conference details. Joe also talks about his unique school situation where he is starting an athletic program from scratch.

Even if it is not possible for you to travel to Thailand in May you can enjoy this 99th Globetrottin' AD episode.

Learn more about the conference and the I3AC in general at these links

The Globetrottin’ ADs are bringing back the book with a series of episodes with authors of books that all coaches and ADs should put on their reading lists.

This episode Nick and Matt welcome Tim Baghurst who is the Director of the FSU COACH program at Florida State University

Tim's latest book Reflections on the Coaching Life is the focus of the episode with Tim digging in to four different sections of the book while also sharing about FSU and more.

Please check out our sponsor Kukri Sports and then Tim to learn more;

The Globetrottin’ ADs are back with their second episode with an author about one of their books. This one is again a fantastic resource that coaches and ADs should put on their reading lists for themselves but also for their athletes.

This episode Nick and Matt welcome back John O'Sullivan who is famous for his “Changing the Game Project”. The project started in 2012 after two decades as a soccer player and coach on the youth, high school, college and professional level. John was fist on back in October of 2022 (Season 4 Episode 5) where we were talking about parents. If you have not listened to that episode please do as you will leave more about John and his various projects.

The Champion Teammate: Timeless Lessons to Connect, Compete and Lead in Sports and Life and like the last episode Nick and Matt have picked out sections of the book that they would like John to elaborate on. Whether you are a reader or not there is great value in this episode and we hope you enjoy it.

The Globetrottin’ ADs are bringing back the book with a series of episodes with authors of books that all coaches and ADs should put on their reading lists.

This episode Nick and Matt welcome J.P. Nerbun  who is also a leadership coach, a founder of TOC Culture Consulting, and the host of one of the top sports leadership podcasts. J.Ps book The Sports Parent Solution: Proven Strategies for Transforming Parents from Obstacles to Allies is the focus of the episode with JP really digging in to four different parts of the book while also sharing about his background, other books and more.

This episode of the GTADs was recorded live at the Coaching For A Greater Purpose Conference in Dusseldorf Germany on January 14th 2024.

The first episode of 2024 has Nick and Matt open the mail bag so to speak and answer all sorts of questions that were sent in from ADs around the world. 

Not all questions that were submitted are answered in this episode but will be used later in the school year. Thank you to everyone that sent in a question, the support was fantastic. 

In this episode Nick and Matt are joined by Dave Horner and John Powell. The 4 are sitting around a table in Orlando Florida after a few long conference days.

The group are excited to share some new developments for the international community and also talk about the 'one' favorite thing at the conference thus far.

If you have a pizza and a beverage you can feel like you are right at the coach with the guys as you listen to their relaxed chat.

In this episode Nick and Matt are once again joined by Nathan Whitaker. Nathan is a writer, speaker, two sport collegiate athlete and super bowl champion (https://nathanwhitaker.com/).

The guys talk about Nathan's recent summit, "The Art of Playing Well" (https://theartofplayingwell.com/), what they hope people will take from it and some highlights.

Nathan also talks about a recent US Army speaking engagement, the parallels of leadership and how the army is changing their tactics. 
Conference and extended PD for staff is talked about with Nathans recent experience at the EARCOS conference and some schools in the region. Of course the guys talk about the upcoming NIAAA conference and meeting in person. 

To connect further…

Nick and Matt are joined by Dave Horner from his home in Atlanta in this 91st episode sponsored by Kukri Sports.

The guys talk about the upcoming NIAAA conference in Orlando with what they are looking forward to most, some bikes and an international AD meet up. Its not all about Orlando as the guys talk about their favorite kinds of PD and how important in person connections are.