Steve McCarthy is no stranger to athletics. After dedicating his life to coaching for the past 44 years, McCarthy’s career is nowhere near finished.
From Dallas to Oklahoma City, newly-appointed Athletic Director Steve McCarthy has had an abundance of experience with sports. Through decades of coaching and directing, he developed expertise within his career.
“As an athletic director, I think the more sports you’ve played and the more sports you’ve coached, it’s a lot easier to understand what people need and what they want,” McCarthy said.
Despite the opportunities to work at other schools, McCarthy chose to work at McGuinness because of the prevalent presence of the faith he has observed in the students.
“I believe that the kids are very hard working, both academically and athletically,” McCarthy said. “That comes a lot from the Catholic side of things; [because] it takes so much to become a Catholic and be a Catholic, they’re willing to work to get the things that they want to do.”
Student athletes have been open to McCarthy as a new administrator, making it easier for him to adjust to the new role.
“It really has been very nice,” McCarthy said. “The kids have been very welcoming and very conversational.”
As Assistant Athletic Director, McCarthy hopes to promote productive listening. He prioritizes building understanding between the administration and students in order for the athletic department to run smoothly.
“You’re not just listening to have the parent or the student speak, you listen to try to make sure they understand that you’re listening to them and you hear them,” McCarthy said. “You can’t fix anything if you don’t know what’s going on.”
The relationships that result from that communication is what McCarthy said makes his job fulfilling. Being able to guide students to grow as people and players is the reason McCarthy has spent his career with middle schoolers and high schoolers.
“You get to see a lot of different things when you’re watching young ladies or young men come in as freshmen, and then watching them graduate as seniors, and then even forward,” McCarthy said.
However, being heavily involved in what happens on courts, fields and behind the scenes it is not all sunshine-and-rainbows. Even when his position creates challenges, McCarthy is ready to maintain a fruitful environment for everyone involved.
“We all make mistakes, and those mistakes could be in a conversation with a parent or with a kid or could be something that happened on the floor,” McCarthy said. “My job is to come in and help them understand why they need to look at those in a different way. Sometimes, it’s just my job to sit and listen and let them talk to me.”
