Bob McIntyre Is Named Section XI Athletic Director Of The Year By NYSAAA

Bob McIntyre was named the 2022 Section XI Athletic Director of the Year by the New York State Athletic Administrators Association, which puts forth the selection process for the state’s 11 sections. The NYSAAA announced its “Starting XI” last month.

McIntyre, an East Moriches resident who spent the past 12 years as the director of athletics, health and physical education for the South Country School District, was informed in late January that he would be this year’s recipient of the award by Half Hollow Hills Athletic Director Deb Ferry. McIntyre made “an outstanding contribution to athletics over the years,” the email he received from Ferry said. “You have shown evidence of devotion and idealism to athletics through the NYSAAA and you have demonstrated your commitment of the promotion of athletics in a positive manner.”

McIntyre will be honored, along with the other 10 recipients, at the Roy O’Neill Awards Banquet as part of the NYSAAA’s annual conference at the Saratoga Hilton and Conference Center on March 17.

“I am super appreciative of the respect they’ve shown to recognize my career,” McIntyre said.

Somewhat reserved and not one for self promotion, McIntyre, although very appreciative of the award, questioned whether he was deserving of it and wondered if it had anything to do with his diagnosis of tonsil cancer this past summer. Although he was going to retire after the current school year anyway, due to the treatment, constant doctors’ visits, and a focus on his health, McIntyre decided, along with his wife Kelly, that he would retire early and did so on December 3.

“I had pretty much been working from home anyway since COVID started, so my superintendent and I agreed I would just continue to do that,” McIntyre explained. “But it got to the point where the treatments started to take toll on me and I started to have to take a lot of sick time. Then I turned 55 in October, and even though I had finished my treatment and everything at that point, I still had a number of appointments to go to for blood work, seeing the ENT doctor, nutritionist, so my wife and I sat down and, in the best interest of the program, because they were not getting what they needed from me, and to focus on my health and recovery, we thought it best I retire early.”

Southampton Athletic Director Darren Phillips and Westhampton Beach Athletic Director Kathy Masterson, who have been both colleagues and friends of McIntyre for over 10 years, were not surprised to hear that McIntyre had questioned whether he deserved the recognition, knowing the type of person he is. But they quickly shot those thoughts down and wholeheartedly agreed he was without a doubt worthy.

“I think maybe retiring had more to do with it than his diagnosis. When you retire, your name kind of comes to the forefront for these type of things, but Bob certainly deserved it,” Phillips explained. “A lot of people deserved it, and sometimes all it comes down to is someone filling out a nomination form. But when you look back at everything he’s done, from bringing football, lacrosse and wrestling to South Manor and seeing how big those programs are now, and he’s so involved with the wrestling world from helping with tournaments, and being on football committees, he’s done a lot and his input shaped a lot. And one thing that I always respect about Bob is that he’s going to speak his mind, whether you like his opinion or not, and you need people like that, who will give that other side of the opinion.”

Masterson agreed.

“He’s a very tough guy, very private, and his diagnosis came as a shock to all of us, and in true Bob fashion he didn’t want anyone to know about it. But he’s a class act through and through,” she said. “He is somebody who is probably embarrassed about this award and that’s because he’s always trying to take care of everybody else. He is more than deserving of this award and this is a very hard award to choose for because there’s only one and we have so many athletic administrators in Suffolk County. We probably have the most per capita, being one of the biggest counties in the state. But again, Bob is someone who goes above and beyond.”

McIntyre spent 33 years “in the business,” and was involved in a number of different committees and programs that had a direct effect on many student-athletes, including those on the East End.

After graduating from C.W. Post College in 1984, where he lettered in both football and wrestling and earned his bachelor’s degree in health and physical education, McIntyre began his coaching career as a varsity wrestling assistant at Floral Park High School. Five years later, he began his teaching career at the South Manor School District, and during his first year there, McIntyre introduced wrestling, first as an intramural sport, then the following year at the middle school level.

When the Eastport and South Manor school districts combined in 2000, McIntyre was selected as the first ever head wrestling coach, as well as the district’s first football and lacrosse coach. Just two years later, McIntyre was named League VI Coach of the Year for varsity wrestling and in 2004 was named Suffolk County Division II Wrestling Coach of the Year after leading the team to its first ever county championship, all the while earning his administrative degree from the College of New Rochelle.

In September 2004, McIntyre left his coaching and teaching posts to begin his administrative career as the athletic director, high school assistant principal and director of music for the Port Jefferson School District. Then, in January 2006, McIntyre left Port Jeff to become the middle school principal in his home district of East Moriches, where he was instrumental in creating a pathway for talented middle school student-athletes to participate in varsity sports at feeder districts Center Moriches, Eastport-South Manor and Westhampton Beach.

That led to a number of top athletes playing for Westhampton Beach, in particular, and McIntyre explained that was because the district at the time was already well establish in both football and wrestling, whereas ESM and Center Moriches were just beginning in those sports.

“When I got to East Moriches, we looked into selectively classifying certain athletes who had the ability and opportunity to compete at a high level,” he explained. “I had to write a letter to the state, we had to jump through a lot of hoops, cut through a lot of red tape to get board approval. Eventually we did, but with a caveat that wasn’t too popular at the time, which was to selectively classify the athletes for varsity teams only. If you’re a small school with a small program, we didn’t want you to take a kid just to fill out a roster. This was for legitimate athletes who we felt could make varsity teams. We wanted to do it for the right reasons and wanted to make sure they were varsity athletes only, and to this day, any student who was selectively classified turned out to be an All-County or better athlete, and it’s still in place in East Moriches.”

Both of McIntyre’s sons, Liam and Gavin, were very successful athletes in football and wrestling during their time at Westhampton Beach. Liam, a 2018 graduate, was an All-American wrestler his junior year and has won the most matches in program history. He currently plays football at Lehigh University. Gavin, a 2020 graduate, currently attends West Virginia University, and McIntyre’s daughter, Taylor, who graduated from Westhampton Beach High School in 2013 after being captain of the cheerleading team, now currently works in Manhattan.

But aside from his own family, East Moriches has provided a number of top notch athletes to local schools, such as Liam Pulsipher, a 2019 Center Moriches graduate who now plays baseball at Queens College, and Nicholas Garone, who was an All-County wrestler for ESM a few years back. McIntyre pointed out that there could have been more, particularly in wrestling, had the program started sooner, namely Pete DeTore, the current varsity wrestling head coach at Westhampton Beach and currently the only Hurricane wrestler who was All-County all four years in high school. Had he been able to wrestle at Westhampton Beach his seventh and eighth grade years, McIntyre admits DeTore may have had the most wins in program history and not his son. Steve Kobus and Matt Mazarakis were just a few other East Moriches athletes who could have had even bigger careers had the feeder program been around sooner.

McIntyre became the AD at South Country, which encompasses Bellport High School, in 2010, where he became the administrative unit’s union president. He is credited with creating a student-first culture in the athletic department.

“If your athletes believe you love them and care about them outside of athletics, they will perform at their highest level,” he said.

McIntyre has also served as a Conference II officer within Section XI for six years, including two terms as president. He was a long-time member of the modified committee and eligibility committee. In recent years he also served on the athletic council and the safety committee.

McIntyre said last week that he feels better now than when he did when he was going through his treatment for what is a rare form of tonsil cancer. Having gone through both chemotherapy and radiation, one of the side effects is that his salivary glands currently do not function, making it difficult to eat. Doctors told McIntyre that one gland will likely never function again, but the other could come back at some point. While he no longer needs to use a feeding tube — something he ditched as soon as he could — McIntyre said he’s still learning what he can and cannot eat, but hopes it all gets better over time.

McIntyre said he has been very thankful to his wife for being with him every step of the way, and is also thankful for the help and advice he’s gotten from Paul Bass, the longtime Westhampton Beach varsity wrestling coach, now retired, who battled his own bout of cancer a few years ago. McIntyre hasn’t been given a clean bill of health just yet, but things are trending in that direction and says his time in athletics, particularly on the wrestling mat, have helped him get through the tough times.

“The things that got me through was, of course, my family, my faith in God, and, honest to God truth, being a wrestler,” he explained. “Everything you go through as a wrestler is torture. And I always told my kids who were working in the room, ‘There’s nobody working harder than you right now. We don’t quit, losing is not an option,’ and so I tried to take that mentality into my treatment. No matter what life throws at me, I’m not quitting and losing is not an option, and I’ve kept that mindset going. When I say my prayer to God, I ask him to be with me, I don’t ask him to heal me — there are children who are going through the same thing I am or worse, heal them — just be with me through the process and I’ll be strong enough to do the rest.”