New Paloma Valley athletic director sets her sights high

By Paige Mendez, Correspondent

As local high schools greet the last week of the school year, Paloma Valley High’s new athletic director and dean, Julie Blied, finishes what she calls her “transition period” of learning the ins and outs of a program she joined just this spring.

“In a way, I feel like it’s kind of lucky,” Blied said about the timing of her appointment. “It’s almost like I get this time to learn all the things and then start fresh next year without a learning curve.”

After holding the same position at a San Diego high school, Blied said she knew the basics of what she would be expecting here but not the fine print and, for her, that’s what makes the job fun.

For example, she jumped right into the lacrosse program to help the boys’ team this season. That meant spending long days at the school and a lot of hours on top of her already busy days as AD.

“Yeah, maybe being [at the school] til 6 every day isn’t the best thing, but it’s the best part of my day to work with the kids and coach them,” said Blied.

Just last weekend, Blied spent more extra time at the school and led the student-athletes in a campus cleanup to prepare for graduation. Cleaning up the school grounds was just one reason for the activity, though. Blied said her intention was also to instill pride in the student-athletes.

“We’re trying to build up that feeling of community and of being proud to be an athlete here,” said Blied.

And for her, that feeling is more important when it is shown off the field or court.

“Being a student-athlete means you’re a student-athlete,” Blied said. “And I’m not talking about straight-A’s or going to college on a D-1 scholarship. It means when I’m in a classroom, a teacher is looking to me to be a leader, I’m going to be doing the right thing, I’m going to complete my work, stop a fight instead of being involved in one, when trash is on the ground I’m going to pick it up, because I care about how my campus looks and how we represent ourselves.”

This is part of Blied’s mission at the high school and it’s something she learned for herself as a student-athlete playing basketball. After starting varsity as a freshman in high school, she was put on academic probation because she said, at that time, basketball was her only priority. When she wasn’t able to play because of her grades, however, a coach took her aside and not only set a new expectation for her, but followed through with it thoroughly.

“He took me from classroom to classroom to classroom for a week and said, ‘If you think you’re not going to do academics, you’re not going to be in sports,’” Blied said. “And I think that expectation in academics also raised my expectation in sports. By the time I got to college, I was a different kid because of the expectations that were placed on me. I got really lucky to have that support system.”

Blied uses this experience to teach her students that each year in high school will have an effect on their secondary education options—as she is sure her options were limited due to her GPA after a mediocre freshman year. It’s a lesson she hopes will help them learn from her instead of on their own.

Her experiences as an athlete, and more specifically a female athlete, have led her to this unique position where she gets to now be one of just two female athletic directors in the Raincross Conference, which encompasses 15 schools. She said she thinks it’s because women don’t tend to think about these positions for themselves because they aren’t represented in these positions, but that she hopes that will change for some of her students now with her at the school.

“It’s funny because a lot of girls will come into my office and be like ‘Oh, the athletic director’s not here’ and then the second time they come back it’s like a moment of cognition for them when they think ‘Oh it’s you! This is cool!’” Blied said. “It is cool, and I think it starts to change minds and open doors. It’s just good for kids to see people like them in different positions.”

Although it’s the first time Paloma has had a woman sitting in her position, Blied said she has been welcomed to the community and school with open arms and that has made this transition period much easier.

“The community has been amazing,” said Blied. “In order to build great programs, you have to have great people.”

While searching for some coaches to add to her staff, Blied said she is only seeking to build on that greatness and continue that feeling of community within her students and her staff—an attitude she believes starts with her.

“Hopefully what I do every day is portraying good leadership to kids,” said Blied. “I don’t think it’s about words, it’s about actions. If we try to be the best version of ourselves every day, I think good things will happen.”