By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

In 2018, Stephen Marks accepted the Ashland Athletic Director position with the Clockers. Now, five years later, he is saying goodbye to all that he built taking a position with Medfield as the K-12 Wellness Care.

 

Kevin Anderson will be moving over from Grafton high School to fill the vacancy left by Marks. 

“Taking the Ashland AD position was my dream job, so it is very hard for me to leave, but it is 100 % due to family and work life balance,” he said. “Living in Ashland, I came here wanting to enhance the program that one day my kids and their friends could be proud to be a part of. I think that I did that leaving Ashland in better shape,” Marks said.

Marks believes that his time in Ashland was well worth it and that the Clockers had success on and off the field before his arrival and will definitely continue after he leaves the position. More importantly the ex-Clocker AD wanted to put together a program that had policies and procedures in place with a culture. 

While he will continue to live in Ashland, he will try to attend as many high school sporting events whenever he has the opportunity. Although he will be at the games in the near future, not being the Ashland AD will be tough on him.

“I am truly going to miss working at Ashland with all the incredible people; the administration, the coaches and of course the student athletes,” Marks said. “I am totally grateful for my time here and all the support that I received over that time. I’ll still going to support the program in any way that I can and will be Kevin’s biggest fan.”

Sliding into Marks’ position, Anderson is moving over from having three very fruitful seasons with Grafton. His first season with the Gators was 2020, the Covid year, so there was no tournament, but during his first full season Grafton captured 13 Southern Worcester Country League Championships and this past season had three teams (soccer, football, and boys hockey) all reach the Semi-Finals.

Anderson came to Ashland with 20 years of service in collegiate athletics prior to his making the jump to the high school level. 

“College athletics is extremely different than high school, there is much more parental interaction on the high school level,” Anderson said. “I had a lot of good experiences at Grafton, and we had our heartbreaks as well, but the Ashland job was something that I felt that I could not pass up.”

The new Clocker AD is hoping to bring energy to Ashland and states that he is not your typical high school athletic director. 

“The best part of my day begins when the bell rings,” he said. “I’m out there with the athletes during practice and on the sidelines during the games. It all circles back to relationships in the best interest of the athletes.”

Ashland Superintendent Jim Adams is confident that the new AD appointee will build upon the current athletic offerings while setting the bar high for Ashland’s coaches and student athletes. Adams went on to say that he feels Anderson will be a great asset to the district.

“Ashland is a district with great tradition and a spirited fan base,” Anderson said. “I want the Clocker community to know that I am deeply committed to excellence on and off the field.”