Pat Hollern takes over as Windermere Prep AD

The Windermere Prep athletic department is now under new management this year, as former Oxbridge Academy Athletic Director Pat Hollern takes the reins.

Now don’t worry, former AD Jacob Doss is still at the school serving as the head coach of the football team — a position that he loves and will now have a chance to focus on 100%.

It was a decision made over the summer, when Doss realized that juggling his duties as an AD, coach and father to a newborn was too much. Plus, nowadays, most schools now have an AD who serves in only that role — a smart move, Hollern said.

“In today’s market of youth sports, an athletic department needs to be there for all of its teams,” Hollern said. “It can’t just be there for some and let others feel alone, and I think that is one of our biggest goals — to make sure every team feels the connection that we are there working for them, we are working with them.”

Hollern has only been on the job now since July 1, but he’s already picking things up left and right.

Luckily, Hollern said, the Windermere Prep community has been helping him prepare for his new role.

“It’s been great,” Hollern said. “The people in the community are fantastic and it’s definitely a joy to go to work each day and see all the smiling faces of kids, and the teachers and the administration all sort of pushing in the same direction. It’s definitely been energizing to me, that’s for sure.”

A major part of Hollern’s job has been establishing policies and just figuring out how the school operates as a whole. 

“In today’s market of youth sports, an athletic department needs to be there for all of its teams. It can’t just be there for some and let others feel alone, and I think that is one of our biggest goals — to make sure every team feels the connection that we are there working for them, we are working with them.”

— Pat Hollern

Every athletic department should have a specific culture that matches the school, he said. And each school has its own identity, meaning just because one thing works at one school, doesn’t mean it will work at another.

During his previous six years at Oxbridge Academy —  a private, independent high school in West Palm Beach — Hollern saw the athletic program dominate in just about every sport. The school saw state titles and runner-up finishes across girls basketball, football, girls soccer and so on, but there were challenges.

The programs at the school were winning, but something felt off about the culture that had been established there. The desire to develop a department’s culture would end up being one of the big things that drew Hollern’s attention to Windermere Prep. 

“What I looked at when I was contacted about Windermere Prep was that opportunity to build an athletic department from the ground up,” Hollern said. “Jacob and those guys did a fantastic job, but I want to see how we can go from sixth grade and seventh grade — within our own system — and develop a culture where you have everybody who are tuned into what we are doing and how we want to do it.”

As Hollern helps the department further establish its own identity, he also has plans to grow athletics in newer and better ways — adding his own personal touch here and there.

Social media outlets like Twitter will play a bigger role in sharing information about games and athletic programs, and will allow Hollern to make the department more accessible to the community. Hollern has plans to do more live tweeting of games, while doing pre-and-post-game stats — giving fans a more in-depth look at how players and teams faired.

Another fun addition is that of a Hudl Focus camera that was bought and will be placed in the gym so the department can livestream basketball and volleyball games.

All of these new steps, along with building a culture, are ultimately being done for one huge goal — to build an athletic department that supports everyone.

“For me personally, it is building those relationships and showing that we care,” Hollern said. “… We are going to be there for players and coaches alike — through the good and the bad.”