CHAMINADE ATHLETICS
Chaminade names Bill Villa new AD
Star-Bulletin staff
For close to 15 years as a high school athletic director, Bill Villa watched a stream of student-athletes progress from high school to college each summer.
Villa, currently athletic director at Mid-Pacific Institute, will take a similar step next month when he leaves the prep level to take the AD post at Chaminade University, which announced Villa's selection yesterday.
"It was an extremely gratifying moment, especially when that's a goal of yours and you've achieved it," Villa said of receiving the call from Chaminade. "At the same time, you're a little sad too because you know you're going to be leaving some good friends and good colleagues in the school and in the ILH."
Villa starts his new job on July 14 and succeeds Kaia Hedlund, who is stepping down as athletic director of the NCAA Division II program.
Villa has led the MPI athletic department since 2002 and was the athletic director at ASSETS school for the nine years prior. Villa takes over a 10-team Silversword program that competes in the Pacific West Conference and annually hosts the EA Sports Maui Invitational in Lahaina.
Working with the coaches in recruiting, fundraising for the department and tackling Chaminade's facilities issues will be high on his priority list once he starts.
"Being an intercollegiate athletic director has been a dream of mine ever since I became a high school athletic director," he said. "So getting in there and doing all the facets is exciting for me."
Villa said MPI has formed a search committee to start the process of finding his successor at the school.
"We've got an excellent assistant athletic director in Adria Mendoza, so that doesn't require them to have to rush to fill the position ... They'll be fine," he said.