Matt Fanelli is an advocate for sports, an advocate for physical activity and an advocate for life lessons. Fanelli is an advocate for student-athletes.

"It's the story of the sports and the athletes," said Fanelli. "They all get one shot at an athletic experience. They each get four years. It takes a whole lot of interest, a whole lot of community support, to make things run."

Fanelli is also the Warwick School District's new athletic director (AD). After officially being hired in May, Fanelli took over the reins of a thriving Warrior athletic department from Earl Hazel, who retired after four years in the position, at the end of June.

Fanelli comes to Lititz from the Eastern York School District, where he was the athletic director for two years. Prior to that, he spent two years in an assistant athletic director role at Hempfield, in support of AD Ryan Landis.

"Things are going really well," said Fanelli. "Everyone here has been super supportive. All the coaches have been very helpful. It's given me time to develop. They're learning how I operate, and I've been asking questions about how they operate.

"This is where I wanted to be," Fanelli continued. "This is where (my wife and I) want to set up our lives. Hopefully, I'll have kids come through the school district. I want to be part of the community."

The Warwick School District sponsors and hosts 27 interscholastic sports programs, as well as a host of middle school athletic activities. More than 400 students in grades seven through 12 compete in sports at Warwick.

As athletic director, Fanelli's role is one of support, oversight and facilitation.

"I think it's really important to differentiate between athletics and club sports," said Fanelli. "The role of interscholastic athletics is to educate and to be an extension of the classroom. We want to make sure the policies and guidelines we're teaching all day in school are being enforced on the playing fields, like how you treat other people.

"We have to treat others with respect and work for common goals," he added. "We really want kids to discover themselves."

Not unlike the school district itself, the Warrior athletic department is an extension of the community, is supported by the community and is a reflection of the community.

"It helps how much buy-in there is from the community," said Fanelli. "I think there's a genuine care for the athletic department. Everyone is rooting for everyone else. I see a lot of continuity. I see a lot of athletes who want to support each other and coaches who want to support each other."

Fanelli graduated from Exeter Township Senior High School and York College of Pennsylvania.

"I think there's a fairly common misconception about what an athletic director does," said Fanelli. "There are a lot of nuances to it. It's almost like two jobs in one. All these things come across your desk. There are really a lot of things people don't think about."

For additional information, go to http://www.warwicksd.org.