Tim Barrett was named Castleton’s director of athletics in May of 2023.

Barrett is very familiar with Castleton sports, having served as the women’s basketball coach for 22 years and a senior associate director of Athletics. So, when the director of athletics position opened, Barrett jumped at it. 

“The director of athletics position becoming vacant because of the merger became intriguing to me because I wanted to be a part of what Castleton athletics is going to look like with the merger,” Barrett said. “I’ve been a head coach in some capacity for over 30 years, so I thought the timing was right to step away from coaching and focus my full attention on being an athletic administrator. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it was a decision I put a lot of thought into and I’m excited about what’s ahead for Castleton athletics.”  

Barrett said his prior roles at Castleton prepared him for the new one.

“It’s been a smooth transition and part of that is because I’ve been at Castleton for such a long time. I knew everybody but our coaching and support staff have been welcoming with me in a new position,” Barrett said. 

But while he comes with a good understanding of Castleton athletics, the impact of the merger is still a question mark. 

“I think the administration before me under Deanna Tyson put Castleton athletics in a strong position, so I don’t have any immediate changes,” Barrett said. “I think we need to evaluate everything making sure we’re offering the right sports and giving each student-athlete the proper resources to excel on the field and in the classroom.”

Barrett looks forward to developing better relationships with the entire student body, including coaches. He said he’s looking to make sure both athletes and coaches have all the necessary resources they need to be successful because he wants to see Castleton athletics continue to grow. 

“I think we do a good job of utilizing and maximizing our facilities, but we’re at a position of almost 600 athletes so we’ve come to a point where we need deferred maintenance,” Barrett said. “We’re also in need of more indoor space for a variety of teams like wrestling, indoor track & field, baseball, and softball,” he added. 

Because the student-athlete numbers continue to grow, it makes expansion such a great idea. Barrett has ideas to improve the facilities, but he also wants to add on.

“I think long-term it would be good to add a second turf because it would give more flexibility with scheduling and not allow our student-athletes to practice so late at night,” Barrett said. “Right now, I think the biggest need is more locker room space and additional indoor space for practices, like some sort of a fieldhouse or redesigning an area to fulfill our needs,” he added.

Obviously, stepping into a new position with this amount of authority is intimidating, but Barrett has a blueprint on how to be the best director of athletics he can be.

“I feel like I know what our staff wants, but being a good communicator, being flexible with student-athletes and coaches, giving them the necessary resources they need to be successful, and being supportive of every team’s goals,” Barrett said. “It’s important to me overall that our student-athletes are having a good experience with having a good balance between academics and being an athlete.”