New AD charting course for future of Springdale athletic programs

By: Michael Love
Thursday, July 14, 2022 | 5:25 PM

Amanda Noel is three months into her new role as Springdale athletic director, and she said she is equally as excited with what has been accomplished so far and with what is yet to come as the fall sports season begins in less than a month.

“Our coaches and athletes are fantastic,” the Freeport and IUP graduate said. “I got to speak with a lot of the coaches towards the end of the spring. We talked about a lot of positive things, including our goals for the teams. They do a great job of working to bring their kids to their fullest potential, not just in their sport, but in life in general.

“Everyone in the district is really excited for the future of each team, and they are super supportive and willing to help make a difference.”

Noel said a main objective over the next couple of weeks is to put the finishing touches on a new standalone athletics website and get it up and running. The goal, she said, is to have it launched by early next month.

“We’re really excited about that,” she said. “Springdale hasn’t had its own athletics website for as long as I can remember. We are really looking forward to getting it out there and raising the exposure and visibility of the athletic department.”

The website will have continuously updated schedules, news and announcements.

Coaches, she said, will be able to add different features to their individual sport’s pages such as rosters, stats, game results, information and news about their teams and players.

Noel said followers of Springdale sports can sign up for alerts to be sent via email or text about the status of games or changes to game times.

“We want to keep them informed as best as possible,” said Noel, who is looking forward to providing assistance during the fall seasons for football, boys and girls soccer and girls volleyball.

Sports has been a big part of Noel’s life growing up in Freeport’s athletic Brestensky family. She played basketball and softball at Freeport before moving on to IUP and earning a degree in sports administration.

Most recently, Noel spent two years as the athletic secretary at Knoch, assisting athletic director Kurt Reiser in the day-to-day responsibilities of the athletic department.

“Kurt was fantastic,” she said. “He knew my end goal, and he really helped me with getting game experience, setting up for games, being a game manager and just showing me the ropes of what all goes into putting a sporting event together. I knew coming into Springdale that I was ready to do this with all the experience I gained at Knoch.”

Noel said she hit the ground running when she came on board at Springdale and took the baton from Andy Leviski, the junior/senior high school principal who also served as the acting athletic director while the process to find a permanent AD moved forward.

Noel said that when she was hired, she was quickly swept up in the excitement of the softball team’s run to an outright section title in Class A and a first-round WPIAL bye. The Dynamos battled South Side in the WPIAL quarterfinals and came out on the short end of a 3-2 result.

“It was a great experience to meet the team and coaches, go on the road with them and see the success they had,” Noel said.

Noel is a member of a continuously growing list of female athletic directors in the WPIAL. In the Alle-Kiski Valley, she joins fellow newcomers Sally Ackerman at St. Joseph and Kim Johnson at Valley.

“It’s a very close-knit community,” Noel said of her AD colleagues. “Everyone is willing to help each other. Kim Johnson at Valley was one of the very first ADs to reach out. We all want what is best for the students and athletes in our districts.

“To be a female in this industry, it’s hard work, and I’m really looking forward to putting that hard work into play there, too.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Springdale