DGS is no stranger to changes in their athletic department and most recently they have welcomed Brandon Murphy as the new Associate Principal for Athletics. Murphy was hired over this past summer and has already begun to step into his new role. He has been working in athletics for the past several years and most recently worked at Willowbrook High School

Murphy has close ties to DGS, especially with him now living in the neighborhood with his family. He also competed against DGS in sports growing up, seeing as he was a student at Willowbrook.

“Downers has just carried with them a legacy of success that really enticed me. This was a natural fit for me. I can be a part of a school that has a culture of success and then at the same time, build upon that,” Murphy said.

Murphy’s role of Associate Principal for Athletics entails overseeing all athletics at DGS. Principal Arwen Lyp further explained the role that Murphy has taken on.

“He is the direct supervisor of all of our coaches. He meets weekly with every head coach when they’re in season…. He oversees all of the scheduling of athletic events, he oversees all the safety and security of all of our athletes and spectators,” Lyp said.

This role was previously filled by Tom Freyer, who stepped down after last school year. Many students at DGS had gotten used to Freyer running the athletic department but are excited to see the changes Murphy will bring this year. Senior Grace Stapleton shared what she hopes Murphy will bring to athletics.

“I’ve heard he’s done a lot of great things at Willowbrook, and I can’t wait to see what he brings to South, what he does to improve our athletic department and how he changes the way things are done,” Stapleton said.

Murphy himself hopes to change the athletic department for the better. Senior Teah Stephenson has already seen changes to athletics, specifically with cheerleading.

“He gave us our mats [for cheer], which we needed because we were basically tumbling on concrete before,” Stephenson said.

Murphy hopes to provide new equipment to all sports at DGS that may need it. Senior Ava Jarman has also noticed changes to the department.

“I think the new athletic director has been really great so far because he is listening to all the athletic coaches, and he is implementing new procedures to help the athletic department grow,” Jarman said.

Students and staff are excited for this new era of athletics at DGS. Murphy hopes to interact with the student body as much as he can.

“One of my goals is to have more student voices and making sure that we reach out [to them],” Murphy said.