Before Matt Baumwart became the athletics director and assistant principal at Iola High School, he was the assistant principal at Iola Middle School for a few years. His background includes a heavy emphasis on sports. From baseball and football to track and field and wrestling, Baumwart has had a presence.
A native of Neodesha, Baumwart graduated from Emporia State University where he earned bachelor and master degrees. Following college, Baumwart worked in the Emporia school system before coming to Iola.
“I graduated with a physical education and biology teaching degree. Emporia High School was kind enough to offer me a job so I stayed there for 18 years where I coached football, wrestling, track and baseball,” said Baumwart. “Then this job opened up and I came over. I don’t coach anymore, but I umpire once in a while. I’ve probably umpired five or six times this summer.”
Baumwart said he derives a lot of his motivation and pride in his job through his kids, who played baseball. The sport is a big part of his family, he said. That also helps him in his role as athletics director of having the perspective from a parent’s side.
“I think a lot of my drive still is that my boys played college baseball and I still have one playing so I’m still a fan of everything going on as a parent, so I still see it from the parents’ side. Then as the athletics director, I can step back and do it from the administrative side.”
Baumwart said he and his staff are slowly getting prepared for the fall sports season which includes getting schedules all set, making sure all the teams have equipment and making sure coaches all are on the same page for tryouts and the beginning of the season. The athletic director has a lot on his plate, coordinating with the other schools in the county prior to the school year.
“Summer’s a little bit of relax time. I’ve pushed to get scheduling done so I try to make sure the activities are going to go on correctly with the other teams,” said Baumwart. “My goal is to make sure that’s set up by August, ready to go, make sure we have equipment. I’m still anticipating some equipment for these fall sports to come in, some much-needed game gear.”
“I like gameday operations, I like getting out and getting set up. Getting the kickoff to go off on time is my goal,” said Baumwart.
Securing officials for every game is Baumwart’s biggest headache.
“My biggest worry is always having officials — am I going to have the officials show up on time. We’ve only had one or two instances where they didn’t,” said Baumwart. “The guy showed up an inning late because of a flat tire.”
Iola High School also underwent a renovation in its gym this summer. A new hardwood floor was installed for indoor sports like men’s and women’s basketball as well as volleyball. Baumwart thinks the community and students will be excited by the changes and it will usher in a good atmosphere for game days.
“It was quite a process when they came in and stripped off the top floor. They’ve lightened the gym floor, we’ve changed the color a bit to make it look good, I think it looks great with the Iola ‘I’ in the middle,” said Baumwart. “I think it’s a positive reflection for the kids that we have a nice, brighter gym, really cool layout.”
The IHS football team will begin its fall season with a blue and gold scrimmage on Aug. 19 at 7 p.m. at Riverside Park.
