Just eight short years ago, Luke Robertson was a part of the athletic department at Richmond High School — as a student manager on the baseball team and head of the Red Devils’ cheer block.
Starting this summer, he’ll be at the other end of the pecking order.
Richardson was introduced Monday night as the next athletic director at Edinburgh, where he’ll take over for the retiring David Walden at the end of the current sports calendar.
Currently in his third year as an assistant AD at his alma mater, Robertson is looking forward to the challenge of running his own show at a smaller high school.
“I think the experience I’ve had here will translate over to the 1A level, because I understand the hard work it takes to run a successful program,” he said. “I’ve learned from some amazing ADs in the past about the right way to handle things, and the hard work it takes to get the job done. So I don’t think it’ll be too difficult a jump to move into running everything by myself. As long as you have the hard work and the perseverance to want to get the job done, at the end of the day, you can do a good job regardless of what size school it is.”
After graduating from Richmond in 2015, Robertson earned a bachelor’s degree in sport marketing management at Indiana University. While there, he interned in the Bloomington North athletic department. He then moved on to Ball State, where he picked up a master’s degree in sport administration while taking on internships at Muncie Central and then back at Richmond.
Over the past three years, Robertson has worked as a middle school math teacher and AD while also serving as an assistant at the high school. He believes that wearing multiple hats during his tenure with the Red Devils has prepared him well for Edinburgh, where he’ll be responsible for just about everything sports-related.
“I thought I was at the point where I was ready to try and make the jump up to the next level,” Robertson said.
Though he does have some ideas about what he’d like to get done, Robertson said his first priority will be sitting down with each of the Lancers’ coaches to get a feel for what their wants and needs are.
Robertson stressed that he wants to fulfill his commitment to Richmond first — he and his girlfriend won’t make the move to Johnson County until his contract is up roughly two months from now — but he is excited about the next chapter in his professional life.
Edinburgh’s community involvement and support for athletics have him feeling good about where he’s headed.
“It just seemed like a great place,” Robertson said. “I loved all the people that I talked to in the interview process; they were very kind and welcoming.”
