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John Foster has traded in his coaching uniforms for a suit and tie as the new athletic director for Hampton Bays.
John Foster has steadily risen within the ranks of the Hampton Bays School District.
After teaching and coaching in the Springs School District for nine years, Foster, 37, returned to his alma mater of Hampton Bays, from which he graduated in 2002. He’s worked as an elementary and middle school physical education teacher in the district, and, most recently, was the varsity baseball coach in the spring.
Foster can now add athletic director to his resume.
After a long search to find a replacement for Drew Walker, who retired as athletic director after 23 years at the end of the school year, Hampton Bays opted to go internal and hand the job over to Foster, who said he’s feeling a bunch of emotions in what has been a whirlwind past few weeks.
“It’s all happened so fast,” Foster admitted. “I always pictured myself being in this position one day, maybe not so soon, but we’re off to a good start. There’s just so much to learn, so many moving parts. We have 61 teams throughout the school year between our junior high, junior varsity and varsity programs, so I’ve had to digest a lot in the three weeks before school has started, but I’m learning a lot.
“The administration has been super, super helpful,” he continued. “Drew [Walker] has been nothing but excellent and helpful, but I am coming from the inside, so I do know all of the coaches, I did go to the school. I’m just really proud to think that I was a kid in this school district and now I’m the school’s next athletic director. I didn’t think it would happen at 37 years old.”
Superintendent of Schools Lars Clemensen called Walker the quintessential Bayman. While there were numerous candidates for the position, Clemensen felt Foster continued that Bayman legacy
“He was a Bayman athlete himself having been a 2002 graduate. He’s been a coach, a teacher, an advisor, and has a focus on health and wellness,” he explained. “He’s of this community and he knows our potential and knows what needs to be done so our school, our community and our program and continue to evolve. Really from minute one, he’s taken the reigns and he’s learning everything really quickly. He’s already proving that we’ve made the right decision.”
