There's a high probability anyone who attends a Hempfield High School athletics event will cross paths with Ryan Landis.

Landis, Hempfield's omnipresent athletic director (AD), realizes the importance of consistently being available to coaches, student-athletes, and community members.

"I think as an athletic director, one of, if not my biggest job, is to be visible and to be at as many sporting events as possible," Landis said. "So I sacrifice a lot of time in my office because that's just not me; it's not my strength. And I think where I've had some success is I've learned to delegate and prioritize. My opinion is that most people, whether that's parents, students, or administration, most people want me to be at sporting events and activities and be visible more than anything else."

Assistant athletic director Carson Kulina and department secretary Rachel Culp help share the workload so Landis has the freedom to get out of his office. "I need them to run a lot of stuff and take care of business," said Landis, who cited 1:30 p.m. golf matches as an example. "When I'm there and I'm walking four or five holes, and I'm taking a picture of each golfer, and I'm talking to the parents, or the golfers wave to me after a hole, that's important. It really is. It doesn't maybe seem as important, but it I think builds the culture of your school district."

Now, Landis has an opportunity to widen his reach and serve as a sounding board and source of advice for athletic directors from across the commonwealth. On July 1, he started a two-year term as president-elect of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Directors Association (PSADA), which precedes a two-year term as the group's president.

While serving as president-elect, the de facto vice president, Landis will help organize PSADA's annual conference in Hershey, which provides additional training for the more than 800 ADs statewide.

"My main focus is going to be preparing college seniors that are going into this field, helping them out, and then also kind of behind-the-scenes mentoring the newer ADs," Landis said. "Because of proximity, that's probably going to be via phone calls and emails."

He said those two things are critical because of an alarming trend. "We're seeing a somewhat concerning turnover rate," said Landis, adding that mentoring is important to ensure people are aware of every aspect that goes into being a successful AD.

Because of the camaraderie among ADs in the Lancaster-Lebanon League, Landis is proud to be the first from the local conference to become PSADA president-elect. "There's no group of people that have helped me as much in my job as fellow athletic directors," he said of his colleagues.

He stated that working alongside league ADs is one of his favorite parts of the job. "Our league works really well together," Landis said. "We treat small schools and large schools as equally important, and that's a big point of emphasis for our league."

Landis grew up in the L-L League and graduated from Warwick High School and Millersville University. He taught elementary school in the ELANCO School District for 11 years and at Mountville Elementary School for three years while also coaching basketball at Garden Spot and Warwick. "I had no ambitions of being an athletic director," he said. "It was never on my radar." Landis considered becoming an elementary school principal before deciding that was not the right position for him.

He jumped at the chance to become the AD at his alma mater when the position opened in the middle of a school year and worked in that position for nine years. Landis is beginning his fourth year as Hempfield's athletic director. He enjoyed being a coach but relishes the AD role, which allows him to support student-athletes in 20 sports instead of just one.

"I love the postseason," he said. "It's exciting when you get to that level and then when you have those chances to go on those magical runs, whether it was our baseball team last year, or even our tennis doubles team, or (former Black Knights' track state champion) Aidan Hodge; those are just really, really cool moments."

When Landis is not attending sports events, he and his staff are handling many other tasks. "The budget's a big one," he said. "Trying to manage all the different athletics and activity accounts, just trying to have a handle in that."

Athletic department members also manage transportation and work to fill coaching staffs while balancing the concerns of student-athletes and parents. "That's a challenge because, in my role, I have to make sure that our student-athletes have a voice and have to work with parents, but at the same time, I also have to make sure I'm supporting coaches, too," said Landis. "It's a really tricky, fine line sometimes." He also devotes time to keeping the community updated through social media.

Landis spends summers tweaking schedules and checking the inventory of equipment and uniforms.

Landis also started an initiative that requires each Hempfield sports team to perform community service. For example, he said the baseball and tennis teams took time from postseason practices to help with Special Olympics.