Carli enjoying a busy first year as Geneva's athletic director

If you are looking for Dave Carli from now until June, the chances are good that you will find him at a Geneva High School sporting event.

Carli, who served as an assistant athletic director at Geneva for 12 years, took over as the school's new athletic director this past summer.

During his first 3-plus months at the helm, Carli has already witnessed some emotional highs and lows - including the Vikings' season-opening football game (a 45-7 victory over St. Francis), the hype of homecoming week and the annual homecoming football contest (a heartbreaking 27-24 loss to Larkin), and the rivalry game against Batavia (a 21-7 loss).

"I don't really get caught up in the rivalry issue," said Carli.

Carli, 45, learned a great deal from watching his predecessor, Jim Kafer, who retired as Geneva's athletic director last June.

Kafer still serves as an assistant football coach for the Vikings.

During Kafer's highly successful run from 1999-2016, Geneva athletic teams captured 11 state trophies. The Vikings added five sports over his tenure as he also oversaw the completion of the school's large contest gym and installation of the multipurpose artificial turf surface at Burgess Field.

"Jim was a great guy and a great mentor," said Carli. "I learned a lot from watching him, especially from the standpoint of time management and organization."

Now, it's Carli's turn to manage 28 different sports - 14 boys and 14 girls - with support from a trio of assistant athletic directors - Matt Hahn, Sarah Meadows and Jason Santo.

What is the difference between being an athletic director and an assistant athletic director?

"Now, I have the final say on things," said Carli. "I have a good team. Things have worked out very well so far. There's a reason why it (assistant position) was split up three ways. There are so many sports at so many different levels."

When the position opened earlier this year, Carli, a longtime Geneva resident, became an obvious choice.

"Mr. Carli has proven himself as an effective school leader and has made great contributions to the P.E. department as the department chairperson and to the athletic program as the assistant athletic director during his 14 years (at Geneva High School)," District 304 superintendent Kent Mutchler said in a statement this past June.

"We are excited to have such a capable leader stepping up to fill the very big shoes left by Jim Kafer."

Carli, who served as an assistant football coach for nine years and spent a season as Hahn's varsity baseball assistant, bleeds the Vikings' Royal Blue colors.

"This is a great place to be," said Carli. "I've always liked athletics and love being around the kids. I enjoy it. I also like the leadership portion of it. There are a lot of things going on here."

Last Thursday served as a perfect example of how busy things can get on a typical fall weekday at Geneva.

At Burgess Field, a freshman football game began at 4:30 p.m., immediately followed by a varsity soccer game at 6:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, three different volleyball matches took place at one time in two gyms.

"We have some great facilities," said Carli. "It's my job to keep it going. We're always looking to improve."

There are several priorities for Carli.

"We want to stay competitive in all sports and have as many levels as possible," he said. "I would like to keep as many students involved (in athletics) as possible."

Carli sees himself as a positive person and forward thinker.

"When you surround yourself with good people, only good things can happen," he said. "We have great people at Geneva."

Carli holds Vikings student-athletes with high potential both on and off the field of play.

"We're stressing the community service aspect for our athletes," he said. "There are volunteer hours - giving back as much as possible."

Carli has conducted meetings with all classes.

"There are added expectations that come with being a Geneva athlete," he said. "There are bigger things than athletics - things like academics and sportsmanship."

Geneva, which hosted a boys golf regional earlier this month, serves as a boys soccer regional tournament site this week.

In two weeks, Geneva will host a Class 4A girls volleyball sectional - where the nationally ranked Vikings own the top seed.

"We put in for it (tournament host) with the IHSA," said Carli. "I think it offers our teams a good advantage."

Being a high school athletic director also means spending countless hours away from home.

"It's time consuming," said Carli. "I try to be around (at school events) as much as possible. I'm fortunate though because I have a very supportive family. My wife enjoys being around that environment.

"I love what I do."

Craig Brueske can be reached at csb4k@hotmail.com.