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Delone Catholic athletic director set to retire


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Delone Catholic athletic director Dave Lawrence has spent a lot of time watching other people's grandchildren play sports. Now, he's looking forward to watching his own compete.

Lawrence announced he will retire from his position at the end of the spring sports season in June. A 1969 graduate of Delone, Lawrence has served as the school's athletic director since 2011 and was an assistant baseball coach for the Squires for 22 years prior to that.

While the the 66-year-old said he'll miss plenty of aspects of the job, he's looking forward to attending more of his four grandkids' sporting events. He's also excited to watch his nephew, current Toronto Blue Jays pitcher and Delone grad Casey Lawrence, compete this summer.

"I miss my grandkids, they're active in sports and I miss a lot of it," Lawrence said. "Life is short and you don't know how long it will be. I’m looking forward to it. I’ll be able to do what I want to do. You want to enjoy it while you can."

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In addition to coaching baseball and serving as athletic director, Lawrence has also long been a part of Delone's athletic association, which is in charge of raising all funds for the school's teams. He still plans to help out the organization after he retires.

While he's always been passionate about Delone athletics, Lawrence admitted becoming athletic director wasn't initially his goal. A baseball fanatic, he was content with his role as the school's pitching coach, but decided to apply for the AD position when it became available six years ago while he was subsequently looking for a full-time job.

He came to enjoy the added responsibility of overseeing all of the school's teams.

"Some people don’t understand how much fun you have working together with people," Lawrence said. "Sometimes it's hard to get people to help out, and then they realize they can do something worthwhile for these kids. I've been around Delone since I was growing up and it's been my life."

Lawrence said he still plans to attend Delone athletic events and games, just not as often as he's gone the past six years. The school has yet to find a replacement, but has posted an advertisement for the position on the school's website. The deadline to apply is May 19.