Binkley up for the challenge of leading Argos athletics
Courtesy of The Pilot News
ARGOS — Although born in Warsaw, new Argos High School AD Damon Binkley was a perfect fit for Argos when his family moved in.
“I was born in Warsaw and grew up there and moved to Argos when I was in the third grade,” said Binkley. “I grew up playing soccer in Warsaw as well. I can’t say how serious I was about it then but in Argos, if you play soccer you tend to get serious about it as you get older.”
“I know I played some t-ball,” he said. “I think I played basketball as a young age but I guess it got replaced pretty quickly with soccer and just soccer year-round for me.”
It was the creativity of the game of soccer that attracted Binkley.
“I think the free flow of the game is what I liked,” he said. “It’s one of those sports where you may have a relative game plan but it’s really based on the creativity of the individuals that make up the team. I think that’s what I liked most that once you got out on the field you could be yourself. I’m making it sound individualized and it’s not an individual sport at all but I think the creativity and the free flow of 11 guys that make one machine go, and no game is the same, I think thats what I like.
After playing soccer at Grace Binkley felt that the game and school in general was behind him.
“After college I was pretty well done with soccer,” he said. “I think playing at a high level from sixth grade up, year round with no breaks, that takes a lot of free time. Especially as a kid. I had very little time to hang out with friends outside of soccer.”
“And then college. You think you’re busy with soccer in high school college makes you rethink that,” said Binkley. “Don’t get me wrong. I loved my time in college and feel very fortunate to have been able to play at the place I did and at the level I did but after doing it that long I was definitely looking forward to being able to do what I like to do, hunting, fishing, hanging out with my buddies.”
“For a couple years, I was pretty content with not working out, not running, and not having anything to do with soccer but after a couple of years you start to miss it,” he said. “Todd Vanderweele being at Argos, he’s someone that I have a great amount of respect for and I enjoy being around and knowing him all these years and especially playing for him, him being at Argos is what made me want to coach. Just being able to be out there with him meant a lot to me and it still means a lot to me. It’s easy to want to coach when a guy like that is running the program.”
Still the road to the classroom and the teaching profession wasn’t a straigh path for Binkley. He majored in environmental science and minored in business management, and then went on to a Masters degree in non profit public organization management.
“If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be a teacher I would have chuckled,” he said. “It definitely wasn’t in the plans. I was working in environmental management in the consulting field. I left the company I was working for during a buyout. It felt like the right time to leave. Shortly after that, they (Argos) were looking for a science teacher and I asked if it was filled during small talk in a public place and one thing led to another and I ended up getting thrown into it. I’m glad I was. It’s something that I really enjoy. I enjoy being at the school. It was one of those things you think you are in control and then something else happens and it turns out to be for the best.”
Still a young man at 27, Binkley enters a job that many don’t come to until later in their careers. While he feels ready, he also knows that there will be hurdles.
“Anything new has its challenges, obviously with learning curves, trying to figure out the ropes, procedures and policies,” said Binkley. “I think the biggest thing for me is going to be learning all the programs and procedures. Getting through the learning curve of how everything works. It takes a lot of organization and I like to think I have good organizational skills.”
“I like to think a lot of it is just being a good servant to the school, the students, and coaches, making sure everyone has the best experience they can through athletics.”
I think it provides a unique opportunity for kids to learn life lessons that they wouldn’t learn in the classroom,” said Binkley. “Making sure they have the best experience possible is the main goal of an Athletic Director. It’s the main goal I have.
All athletic programs around the country are struggling these days with many different problems and Binkley knows his challenge up front.
“I think it’s hard for small rural schools to stay competitive,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of kids to only have just baseball guys, just soccer guys, just basketball girls, just volleyball girls. We need to encourage kids to keep playing sports or to try them out. To try new things, new activities. It’s not just Argos. There are a lot of small schools in the state that have struggled with numbers.”
“The biggest challenge is keeping numbers up. It may be something that is just cyclical, but that’s really our biggest challenge right now.”
