A GCSU era ends as Aldridge retires

 
    After 17 years as GCSU’s Athletic Director, Dr. Stan Aldridge announced that he will retire at the end of March.
    During Aldridge’s tenure GCSU’s athletics have thrived, producing 13 Peach Belt Conference championships in baseball, men and women’s basketball, golf and women’s tennis.
    “I’ve been very happy here,” Aldridge said. “I came here 33 years ago as the (men’s) basketball coach and the whole university was actually pretty depressing. The athletics were not very good and the buildings were in pretty bad shape, and I thought, well this is an opportunity to move into college coaching at the four year level.”
    Aldridge never expected to spend so much time at GCSU.
    “I thought I’d probably be here a couple of years and move on,” he said. “But, (GCSU) kind of grew on me. I started to see a lot of positive changes, especially when (late Athletic Director) Mike Peeler came in as athletics director. From that point to today, we’ve made an awful lot of positive changes and become competitive in one of the toughest Division II conferences in the nation.”
    Aldridge has also been instrumental in improving the athletics facilities on campus.
    During his tenure, the Centennial Center was completed in 1989 and the facilities for all of the other sports were upgraded including a major reconstruction to the Peeler Athletic Complex on West Campus that houses GCSU’s softball, baseball and soccer teams.
    “(Aldridge) is the most hands on person in the department without a doubt,” Tennis Coach and Assistant Athletic Director Steve Barsby said. “Whether it’s helping out around (the Centennial Center) or helping put new piping under the softball field, he’s there at every event.”
    Aldridge said that there were a few reasons for his decision to retire now.
    “I’ve been thinking about (retiring) for a couple of years,” Aldridge said. “Every year next year became next year and I really thought I would probably do it in a year, but the department is currently looking to fill three positions and I felt that the new athletic director should be here to work with them.”
    Aldridge also noted that he has been spending less time working lately, and that the job cannot really be done in part-time fashion.
    “I feel like my time away from the job, at this point, is very important to me,” Aldridge said. “So, my decision at that point was to retire while I’m still in relatively good health. There’s just some things I’d like to do other than work, and I think it is probably a good time to do that.”
    Dr. Bruce Harshbarger, dean of student affairs, said that Aldridge has earned the respect of the entire GCSU community.
    “The thing is that it is not just that he has been here for so long, but that he has been the face of (GCSU athletics),” Harshbarger said. “He has been involved in everything that is going on.”
   Barsby has worked under Aldridge seven years and said he has never had a better boss.
   Barsby also said that Aldridge’s legacy will continue when he leaves.
   “He’s built a great foundation and he’s kept it going,” Barsby said. “His leadership has allowed people at Georgia College to compete and he has just led us by example and we can keep it going.”
   An interim athletic director will be announced within the next couple of days, according to Harshbarger, who the athletic director reports to.
    Harshbarger is currently researching what the job description should include compared with other PBC schools.
    Aldridge said he will miss his work at GCSU, but is looking forward to the next step in his life.
    “My years here have been very rewarding,” Aldridge said. “I honestly feel like I am one of the few people that can say that I enjoyed coming to work almost every single day.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 8 2008. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry