Written by Nick Vlasto and Jared Perlmutter

It’s a brand new ballgame for Rye Country Day’s athletic department coming into the school year. New to the roster is Athletic Director Craig Stolzberg and Sports Information Coordinator Billy Falatko. The Rye Crop interviewed Falatko and Stolzberg to get insight about the future of the athletic department.

Stolzberg joins the RCDS community after serving as the Athletic Director at Trevor Day School for  12 years. During his time at Trevor Day, Stolzberg grew their program to 43 teams, 100 coaching positions, and eight full time P.E. teachers. In his first few months at RCDS, Stolzberg is excited about “creating more excitement around our athletics, and keep celebrating our student athletes.”

Falatko will play a major role in creating excitement around the athletic office through community engagement. Falatko says that as a former lacrosse captain at Providence College, he understands the importance of an outward facing athletics program for students, parents, and the alumni community. “My goal is to continue to find creative ways to engage and showcase the school community that revolves around athletics and the hard work that you guys do and then really getting creative with it.”

The Athletic Department hopes to set new standards by injecting more student spirit and community events into student life. Stolzberg says he is excited about his first major accomplishment— the Preseason BBQ. This provided an opportunity for players, coaches, and parents to get together and celebrate the student athletes and kick off the fall season. Stolzberg says we’ll see more events that ensure a fun and exciting athletics experience for all the members of the RCDS community. 

The athletic department recognizes the significance of social media in the recruitment process. Falatko commented, “The accomplishments that our students have… coaches see that from a recruiting perspective and they look to social media. From an engagement side of it this will be key to broadcast to the outside world.” Falatko says initiatives, such as the media days, broadcasting awards night, all league nominations, and creating excitement around game days will continue to grow and improve the playing field for athletes.

Stolzberg is thrilled with the student body’s passion for athletics. He hopes to keep it on an upward trajectory with some big picture changes down the road. With day to day operations covered by Associate Director of Athletics Wendy Haft, and new Assistant Athletic Director Jeremy Fink, the department will aim to take the spotlight in the coming months.

The athletic department is transforming and will benefit from the makeover: “As always, my door is always open. If you come to me and say, You know what? I have a great idea for the department, I will work to make it happen.”