Q&A.D. with RIIL executive director Michael Lunney

Michael Lunney has been the Rhode Island Interscholastic League (RIIL) executive director since the 2020-21 school year. Previously, Lunney served as the RIIL’s assistant executive director since 2011.

He served for 16 years as the director of athletics and student activities at Portsmouth High School, where he also served two stints as the Patriots boys basketball coach, from 1995 to 1998 and from 2006 to 2011.

Rhode Island’s first athletic administrator to serve on the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Board of Directors, Lunney was the recipient of the 2016 NIAAA Distinguished Service Award. That same year, he was presented with the Men Who Make a Difference Award by the Women’s Resource Center of Newport.

Lunney sat down with Coach & Athletic Director for its Q&A.D. column. Below is an excerpt from that conversation.

Coach & A.D.: What have been some of the key challenges you’ve faced as executive director, and how have you overcome them?
Michael Lunney: There are many challenges facing interscholastic high school athletics today. As a state athletic association, our primary goal is to support our member schools with leadership, support, and resources so they can effectively administer their athletic programs and provide quality programs for their students. The issues range from risk management, student eligibility rules challenges, spectator behavior, and recruitment/retention of officials. Whether it’s working with our sports medicine advisory or sport committees, providing education and rules clarifications for member schools, planning for state tournaments, providing student services through initiatives, or developing corporate relationships, our organization continues to grow and evolve.

Coach & A.D.: What key initiatives have you introduced during your tenure that you’re particularly proud of?
Lunney: Through a relationship with the Rhode Island Army National Guard, we have offered free student workshops filled with motivational lectures and activities geared toward developing leadership skills that students can put into practice within their teams, schools, and communities. We also promote and administer an annual state-wide community service project called the Peanut Butter Express to benefit the RI Community Food Bank. Each year our member schools have found creative ways to literally collect and donate tons of peanut butter for families in need across Rhode Island. We have also established an annual student Mental Health Summit that brings students together to identify issues and develop coping skills to address the challenges faced by our students.

Coach & A.D.: What’s one piece of advice you wish you had received when you were an athletic director?
Lunney: Back in the fall of 1995, at the age of 27, making the transition from the head coach of a college basketball program to interscholastic athletic administrator, I quickly found out that the realities of the position were quite different from my perception going in. The responsibilities seemed endless, the expectations appeared to be impossible to attain and the available resources were always a concern. Ultimately, my passion for the value of high school sports in the lives of the students we served led me to completely immerse myself into building a first-class athletic program and that wasn’t always good for a healthy work-life balance. The best advice would have been to acknowledge and accept that the work is never done and simply do the best job possible with the time you have each day. Although the position of high school athletic director is more of a lifestyle than a job, it’s important to take the necessary time away for yourself and to be at your best for others.

Coach & A.D.: What prompted the RIIL to begin offering middle school sports in 2024?
Lunney: Traditionally in our state, there was a separate organization that governed middle school sports. In recent years, middle school oversight shifted under the administration of high school athletic directors. Although we were primarily a high school sports organization, it became increasingly important to superintendents, school administrators, and high school athletic directors to bring middle schools under the umbrella of the RIIL to deliver leadership, messaging, support, and resources below the high school level. There are certainly shared beliefs, so instituting the same school-based athletics philosophy at the middle school level made a lot of sense and we are excited at the possibility of improving the experience in the future.

Coach & A.D.: Have there been any additions to the RIIL’s athletic offerings during your tenure? Are there any plans to add sports?
Lunney: Since arriving at the state association office in 2011 as the assistant executive director and under the leadership of former executive director Thomas Mezzanotte, the RIIL added unified basketball, unified volleyball, game day cheer, and esports. Last year, we crowned individual state champions in the sport of girls’ wrestling for the first time in Rhode Island history. Although girls’ flag football and stunt cheer have begun to emerge as new sports to consider in the future, any decisions to add to our offerings will be driven by the interests and needs expressed and approved by our member schools.

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Coach & A.D.: What key skills or qualities do you believe are essential for today’s athletic directors, particularly those just starting in their careers?
Lunney: The demands of today’s athletic directors continue to grow and evolve. The skill set required to be successful is both unique and diverse. At the top of the list is the ability to be a master communicator. It’s very easy for people to lose sight of the true mission of educational school-based athletic programs and the athletic director plays a key role in amplifying the right message to the community, school staff, parents, coaches, officials, and students. They also need to have outstanding organizational and time management skills as well as understand the proper use of social media and technology. In addition, developing positive relationships within the community is critical in fundraising efforts and building a network to attract and retain quality coaches.