The nonprofit Huskie Nation Foundation, founded to improve the athletic facilities for Cardinal Schools, has appointed a familiar face as its next president ...
The nonprofit Huskie Nation Foundation, founded to improve the athletic facilities for Cardinal Schools, has appointed a familiar face as its next president.
Bill Fisher, a Cardinal graduate who also spent 35 years at the school teaching and coaching, will be the new president. He has lived in Middlefield his entire life, and married his high school sweetheart.
As Cardinal athletic director from 1996 to 2008, Fisher knew then that the school needed an improved turf and track facility.
“I really believe that it would be a benefit to the whole community,” Fisher said. “This is more than a football field and track, it will help the up-and-coming soccer program.”
Fisher remembers when Cardinal hosted Relay For Life events. But when weather didn’t cooperate, “people had to walk through the sloppy track,” he said. So it was moved.
“(Relay for Life) was exposure to our community,” he said. “In today’s age, with all of our healthy thoughts, this will be a place for the community to walk.”
He added, “We’ve got to get this thing done.”
Fisher still has a lot to learn about the organization and its specific goals. Meeting with the members this week, he expects to be caught up quickly.
He officially took over on Monday.
Outgoing president and founder Gary Cox said there was just too much responsibility for him to keep up. Cox, father of five, said, “I didn’t feel like I could put the time in it needed anymore.”
But he said he still supports the project. And Fisher knows everybody in town and will make a strong president, he said.
Fisher remembers the first time Cardinal successfully built a new athletic complex in the 1960s. At the time, the facilities were considered to be state of the art, he said.
Now, 50 years later, Fisher says he’s excited to be involved in this next phase of Cardinal athletics, and that updated facilities are long overdue.
“Our athletes are competing at a higher level than ever before. Every stadium in the CVC (Chagrin Valley Conference) is state of the art by today’s standards,” Fisher said. “An upgraded facility is crucial if we expect our student athletes to remain competitive with other schools and student athletes in this league.”
Cardinal Athletic Director Andy Cardinal wrote in an email: “We are very excited that Bill has agreed to serve as president of the Huskie Nation Foundation. His entire life has been dedicated to the Cardinal Schools and to the Cardinal community. I have known Bill my whole professional life, and there is no better person to see this project through to completion.”
If fully funded, the three-phase project includes an artificial turf field, rubberized track, and upgrades to lighting and the grandstands.
Plans for phase one — the addition of restrooms and an upgraded concession area — are complete. The Foundation is hoping construction will begin on those facilities this summer.
For more information on the Huskie Nation Foundation, visit its at www.huskienationfoundation.com.
