TOWAMENCIN – Walking into the Athletic Director’s Office, the first thing that one will notice is the air. The room is full of an air of accomplishment, a palpable energy that is given off by the trophies that line the edging of the room, the newspaper clippings plastered on every inch of the walls, and the photos of athletes, both present and past, dotting the room on desks, walls, filing cabinets, and shelves.

The room simply radiates the success of the North Penn Athletic Program, a program that has been recognized as the top athletic program in the state, twice. From the domination of the swimming program from the late nineties on, to the capture of that elusive state football championship, to the two recent baseball state championships, North Penn Athletics have been reaching new heights for decades. And at the middle of it all is one man, leaned back in his chair, speaking with the wit and sharpness of an ageless man as he reflects back on his years of employment.

Mr. Don Ryan, the athletic director at North Penn, is known to all as simply “Doc,” and while just a simple, one syllable word, it is a nickname that epitomizes his many years at North Penn.

“I started here as a trainer,” said Ryan. “One day, during a baseball game, a player got hurt, and the coach went on the field and looked around. I don’t remember where I was, but he yelled out ‘Doc, get Doc!’ They came and got me, and ever since then, its stuck.”

“Doc” sums up Mr. Ryan’s career at North Penn to a tee. Simply by doing his job, Mr. Ryan has earned the respect and admiration of his peers and athletes, as well as honors and accolades that he never intended to receive.

Ryan has been a fixture at North Penn for decades. Beginning at North Penn in 1969 as the athletic trainer and equipment manager, Doc took on the responsibilities of an assistant to the athletic director in 1971 as well. He was handed the keys to the castle in 1981, accepting the job of Athletic Director, and has never looked back. Forty-five years at North Penn, thirty-three as athletic director, and countless hours of hard work finally led Doc to immortal glorification, when he was inducted into the North Penn Athletic Alumni Association sports Hall of Fame on October 11th.

“It’s really nice, having forty-five years here, and thirty-three as AD; being recognized for that, and I guess the job that you do, is really something special,” said Ryan.

Ryan, along with seven others and four sports teams, were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame, being recognized for their multiple achievements throughout their respective athletic careers at North Penn. But it was Ryan who stood out the most, still currently residing at North Penn. The ceremony reunited Ryan with some of the athletes that he watched grow up through their years at North Penn, particularly Greg Moyer and Stanley Geiger

“It was really nice. I’ve gotten to be friends with Stan Geiger and his family. There’s a picture of Stan when he graduated there on the wall, and his daughter when she graduated, and his son when he graduated, so that was really nice to go in with him. Greg Moyer, my wife and I have been friends with him and his family for a long time, and his mom was here, she was a former North Penn employee,” said Ryan. “It was really just a great night, a lot of the people who came out, a lot of former athletes here, not only for me, but it all came together and it was really nice.”

Mr. Ryan has presided over a top notch athletic program while at North Penn, watching 33 PIAA championships and 219 Suburban One League Championships. When the North Penn Athletic program was honored as one of the top in the state by Sports Illustrated, Ryan was not aware until a reporter called him to for a statement. They now hang on the wall in his office, one of the highlights of his many years here.

“I really didn’t know it, until I got a call from the Reporter telling me about it. So I had to go out and buy a Sports Illustrated. It was a really big honor to be recognized in that way, for both our coaches and our students, and our program as a whole,” Ryan said.

While forging relationships with bosses, coaches, parents, and athletes, Doc has also been through so many developments at North Penn, through leadership changes, program additions and subtractions, honors, and major PIAA policy changes. He has watched the program grow, specifically in girls’ sports, from 22 to 29 Varsity Teams through 2014.  Title IX was made effective in 1972, only a year after Ryan became an assistant athletic director, and such a groundbreaking and controversial subject still stands out in his mind.

“The PIAA was forced into it, and when we did the league schedules back in those days, the Bux Mont League kind of followed what the PIAA was setting, and there were not many state championships at that time. It’s been nice to see the growth, and it was a shock to some of the male people in the area, the adults, to see that girls were playing 20 basketball games, just like the boys. They didn’t draw well, and getting in to play night games and those type of things had to be figured out. The girls’ soccer team used to practice at Walton Farm because, at the time, we didn’t have the fields out on Snyder Road, so we had two soccer fields here, one on the outfield of the baseball field, and one on the outfield of the JV field. Walton Farm had soccer fields, so the girls would practice over there and play their games here.” reflected Ryan. “Just the progress of watching the sports grow, like girls’ lacrosse-  coach Wilus did a great job with the girl’s lacrosse program, building it to a level where it is known across the state, and I don’t know if that’s actually stopped people from applying for the position or not, because they don’t want to follow coach Wilus. You know, as I said, the number of contests that were played were just about half of what boys played, and now they are equal.”

Ryan’s many years have brought him memories that he looks back on with fondness. Being in his field of work for so long, he has run the gamut in terms of his leadership, and knows how to deal with every type of leader. His ability to adjust to his bosses’ views on sports has allowed him to successfully see the North Penn Athletic Program through multiple administrative changes.

“I could talk about that, and we’d still be here Monday morning,” said Ryan, chuckling to himself. “I’ve worked for, I guess it’s been, ten different principals, or interim or active principals, so you get a variety of people who are your bosses. And you have to adjust to that, how they want to be a part of athletics, what they feel about athletics, and their involvement in athletics, so you have to adjust to each one. I’ve been fortunate that I have been able to do that, and I’ve gotten along with the principals that I’ve worked with. Superintendents are the same way. They are not as involved in your program, but they have concerns, or someone has brought a concern to their attention, and they’ll come over and check it out. So that’s the good part about this job then, the dialogue with all of those different people.”

While many alumni from North Penn athletics will remember teams and events from, at most, their four years here, Ryan remembers much more than most people can imagine. Forming lasting relationships with coaches and seeing events and moments that will last a lifetime, are two of the things that he has cherished about his job.

“Coach Brodhag, who is the president of the Alumni Athletic Association, was a football coach here, and did a great job here in the late sixties early seventies. And you went from him to coach Wrabley who used to be a teacher here; he came to us as an assistant from the University of Pennsylvania, and he didn’t have the high school experience, which was a major adjustment. Basketball, Mr. Angstadt, the late Marv Angstadt, was here for a long long time, and then coach Heyer took his spot, and stayed and was successful here. Track Programs-  you can look at Mr. Crawford Sr., who is the father of North Penn Boy’s Track, and coach Gulick who coached for years following him. Coach Jaros was in there for two years, then coach Swanker, and Coach Jones and the tremendous job that he does with our program now. For the girls basketball team Mr. Crawford, of course has been coaching here for a long time, he founded our Girls’ Cross Country Program, he coaches Girl’s Track, and he coached Girls’ Basketball for a long time, and when he gave it up, coach deMarteleire came in and has done a wonderful job, leading a very successful program. The swimming Program, Mr. Carroll, followed by Mr. Beradelli and Mr. Bartle, Mr. Fakish. We have been fortunate, we have been fortunate that we have had, and do still have, many excellent coaches here over the years.”

For Ryan, in addition to the people marking the years, key events have also made lasting impressions.

“Of course, the football championship in 2003, when it was postponed one day because of snow to Sunday from Saturday, winning that, you know the first time you ever win a state championship in football, was exciting, as well as the boys and girls swim teams from the nineties when we won four consecutive state championships. I remember going out, and at that time they were held at Penn State, and the way those meets run and the excitement of the parents there was amazing. Fans from North Allegheny and Bethel Park were our big rivals at the time; it got a little tense sometimes, but the way our kids and the coaches handled themselves was commendable, winning those state championships.”

Successful North Penn Sports moments highlight the job, for success in sports brings families and communities together, and the happiness state championships have brought to the school as a whole is something that Mr. Ryan is very proud of. But throughout the length of his time here, the memories that stand out the most in his mind were the ones that he knows the kids involved will remember their entire lives, not necessarily entirely related to athletics.

“At one time, the softball and the baseball championships were run for a week in double elimination format. So we took the teams out to Shippensburg, and they were out there and missed graduation back here. So what we did for them, we held a special graduation here on a Sunday, the day after they came back, in the main lobby. We had everything there, the chairs, the flowers, the decorations, the superintendent, the principals, they were all there, and we just had a mini graduation, just for them. Those kinds of things are always in my memories.”

In this Mr. Ryan finds his greatest joy, that chance to make a student smile off of the sports field. While interscholastic sports have changed and gotten more complicated to direct, expanding and broadening reach, Doc knows one simple truth that still, and always will, hold true in his field of work.

“Some of the other ADs who are veterans, and there aren’t many of us left who are veterans, we’ve been in this for a long time,” laughed Ryan. “But kids are kids, and that’s why we’re in it, is for not only our student athletes, but to be involved with all our kids, and that’s the greatest part. Due to the increase in all of the club teams and the growth of various sports, more parent involvement, the job has gotten a lot more difficult, much more difficult, from when I started. That’s not just for me, but for all the athletic programs. The cuts that have been made and you try to keep the program on even keel, where it was, you don’t want it to drop. That’s a big part of the program.”

When someone spends such a long time at a single position, he is bound to start getting questions about when that chapter in his life is going to end. North Penn has been extremely fortunate to have someone like Mr. Ryan at the helm through all this time. However, he recognizes the conclusion will come at some point.

“My wife asks me the same question,” Mr. Ryan jokes. “I don’t know yet, I don’t know yet. I take it one year at a time. I’ll know when it’s time to step out.”

Summing up the job and his time here at North Penn in one sentence, Mr. Ryan was short and sweet, but his words spoke volumes, providing one last nugget of wisdom.

“Fantastic, I just enjoy the job, it’s a job that if you don’t enjoy you shouldn’t be here, and I enjoy my job and all that comes with it.”

After forty-five years, Mr. Ryan still enjoys his job, and that in and of itself is what makes him, not only a Hall of Famer, but an icon of North Penn Athletics.