Alumni Profile: An Athletics Director With Coaching in Her Genes

Continuing a career in athletics, Emily (Sherman) Sullivan ’09 has become the first female athletic director at Dover-Sherborn Regional High School in Dover, Mass.

Living up to a legacy tradition, Sullivan follows in the footsteps of her father, Mike Sherman, a former head football coach at Texas A&M and for the Green Bay Packers. With coaching in the family, it seemed only natural for Sullivan to consider coaching as a career.

Surprisingly enough, Sullivan was not a St. Norbert College athlete during her time on campus – a decision she regrets to this day.

“I wish I had at least given [athletics] a try at St. Norbert, even if I ended up getting cut or riding the bench all four years. I wish I had tried,” Sullivan says.

However, despite not playing on an SNC team, Sullivan found ways to engage in the athletics field during her time as an undergrad. She coached at her alma mater, Notre Dame de la Baie Academy in Green Bay, for two years. It is to this experience she attributes her true love for coaching.

After her time at St. Norbert, Sullivan pursued a master’s degree in education administration and sports management from Texas A&M, interning in the university’s athletics department. After graduation, Sullivan travelled to Cape Town, South Africa, to teach physical education over the span of three months.

“I went to college for six years straight to get my undergraduate and graduate degrees,” Sullivan explains. “I was really burnt out, looking for a bit of a break, wanting to volunteer in a country of need through the act of sport, and also probably do a bit of soul-searching as well.”

Returning to the United States, Sullivan dove in to her athletic career, working in a variety of positions, beginning at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She worked there for about five years in different capacities, eventually settling into a four-year position as the director of basketball operations for the women’s team. Sullivan also served as the girls’ basketball coach at Sturgis West Charter School in Hyannis, Mass., for three years, and then as the athletic director and special education assistant at Sturgis East for three years, working at the two simultaneously for a period of time. The two schools, a mere mile apart from one another, were rivals, putting Sullivan in an interesting and fun position, she says, as she watched her students from two schools compete.

From the early stages in her career, Sullivan has always placed a great importance on the involvement of female athletes. As a teacher in South Africa, she learned of differences that set women apart. “Females abroad loved participating in sports,” she says, “but their access to sports and coaching was significantly different than for males in South Africa.”

While a coach at Sturgis West, Sullivan constantly reminded herself of a central goal. “I always think, what is our bigger purpose here,” she explains. “And that is to encourage females to get involved in athletics, surround them with sound-minded coaches and put forth a strong work ethic.”

Now, Sullivan has established herself as a prominent female athletic professional in a new context. The first woman to hold this position at Dover-Sherborn Regional High School, Sullivan is excited to offer up her years of experience working in athletics.

“I think it’s great for our student athletes, male and female, to see a female in an administrative role in athletics,” Sullivan says. “It’s something that we are starting to see more and more in the world of athletics, and I think it offers a new dynamic for our student body to interact with a female in this role.”

Though she didn’t play on a team at St. Norbert, Sullivan still finds inspiration in those who have dedicated their lives to athletics within the campus community, including Connie Tilley (Women’s Basketball), JoAnn Krueger (Softball) and athletics director Tim Bald.

Sullivan also considers other experiences at St. Norbert as important in her development as a professional.

“I credit working in the admissions office to be where I really started to think working in education is for me,” she says. “I also have to credit the Academic Enhancement Program to which I was admitted to St. Norbert contingent on my participation in this success program.”

AEP, a one-semester program designed to help give first-year students the resources to learn and practice important academic habits, gave Sullivan the drive and tools necessary to succeed and thrive in her field.

“As a person I value having a strong moral compass, and I put that at the forefront of everything I do,” Sullivan says. “Above all, I would want the Dover-Sherborn community to know and trust they have an honest person representing their athletic department.”

Sullivan began her new role in August 2019.

Photo courtesy Art Illman/MetroWest Daily News.

April 21, 2020