Written by Kathryn Burke, Staff Writer
Tracy Duncan has returned to Poly to serve as our new Athletics Director.
During her prior time at Poly in 2018, Dr. Duncan was in the position of Assistant Principal for Restorative Practice and Discipline/Attendance.
She is an alumni from University of Mary in North Dakota, California State University San Bernardino(CSUSB), and the University of Redlands. Through her schooling, she earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership for Social Justice and published her research book Collegiate Coaches Perceptions of Hazing based on Gender and Hazing a Form on Bullying.
Now that Dr. Duncan has returned, she is looking forward to working with the athletics department. She is excited to get to know the athletes as a former athlete herself, finding “true enjoyment of watching sports” and attending games to see the coaches, athletes, and parents. She wants to take her first year to observe the sports community in order to properly determine what old policies to change or keep.
Duncan is aware that there are many athletes on campus who want to continue through to the college or professional level, to which she highlights that “failure is a huge part of the process” as scouts and coaches know that “failing is inevitable.” However, it is important that athletes focus on “how you come back from failure, and how you support your team through your failures” rather than avoiding failure completely and training to perfection. While Duncan acknowledges that skills and persistence are important, she clarifies that “teams want a good human being and family, not just a good player.”
Duncan was asked what key things she wanted to speak to athletes about, to which she replied “grit and tenacity.” Being a student athlete is demanding in various ways, with the possibility of burn out. Despite this, Duncan recognizes that having those three characteristics, “giving 100% of everything you have,” is what makes someone a great athlete. Through long days, exhausting plays, or even stressful classes, it is important to give “100% of your 80%.” Not only does that show coaches your work ethic, it is what “makes the change on the field, locker room, or classroom.”
Although it is clear that Duncan cares very deeply about the student athletes, she also expresses a care for the relationships between coaches and parents. When those difficult parental conversations get out of hand, Duncan wants to help in any way possible because “coaches already have a lot on their hands, [and] they shouldn’t have to deal with all that.” To better navigate parental conflicts, there is the “24 hour rule,” which allows for both coaches and parents to take a day to cool off and think of how they want the conversation to go. She finds that this rule has worked tremendously after a highly emotional game or practice.
Athletes and parents have wondered if Duncan was interested in adding any sports to Poly’s roster in the future, to which she didn’t hesitate to decline. Although the opportunity sports gives to people is so beneficial, it is important to her to distribute and provide money to the “sports currently at Poly in a way that best supports their needs.”
Duncan wants every sport on campus to feel “supported and important in ways they need,” as well as making every athlete feel like “their value and work ethic is just as important as any other athlete” despite the sport they play. She finds the importance in “putting all our focus on every sport evenly, as girls golf should get as much attention as football.” Duncan values all the athletes at Poly and hopes to improve the department as time passes.