As the only athletic director in Bow High School’s 20-year history, Jim Kaufman has hired every coach (the district employs about 60 coaches), managed all 52 teams (31 varsity, nine JV, 11 middle school teams and one unified team) and been a part of Bow’s transition from a then-Class M school of 382 students to a Division II school of 634 students.
Teams under Kaufman’s two-plus decades in charge have won 69 championships in 60 seasons of competition, but the next time the Falcons claim one of those titles, it will be under a different athletic administration. Kaufman, the man who’s been the face of Bow High athletics from the planning year in 1996, has retired after 21 years.
As Kaufman knows, and few can appreciate, “it’s more than just playing games.”
It all began on July 1, 1996 when Kaufman, an insurance adjuster, was hired by the school board to build an athletic program from scratch. Kaufman had coached varsity wrestling at Concord High School for seven years and owned his own public insurance business from 1983 to 1997, but a jump to the head of an athletic program was certainly a new venture.
“It was a love of working with kids, love of coaching and love of athletics … We thought it was a productive move for my young family. There was more stability,” said Kaufman, whose daughter, Jess Croft, serves as the head coach for the girls’ varsity soccer program at Pembroke Academy and was a member of the Class of 2001 – the first class to complete all four years at Bow High School.
Kaufman’s first task was talking with Bow students and parents at Concord High School – where students attended prior to the formation of Bow High – and Bow Memorial School to get an idea of what sports should be included.
“Athletic administration is a business,” Kaufman said. “You have budgets to run, you have vendors to negotiate with. Business background really helps.”
The result was a program that offered 23 teams for just 382 students during the Bow High’s first academic year in 1997-98. It an unusually high number of sports for a school that size and something that other athletic administrators reminded Kaufman of frequently.
“You guys will never win state championships,” Kaufman recalled being told at scheduling meetings, “You have too many sports. You will never win.”
The Falcons took their lumps in the early years: The football team, which earned a trip to the championship game this past fall in its first year in Division II, was winless for its first three seasons; despite winning the Division II championship in March, the hockey team initially struggled due to low numbers; and the cross country team, which typically has a roster size well into the 50s, only had six athlete, in its first season and couldn’t even field a full team.
“Me and (then-principal) George Edwards went to the eighth-and ninth- graders at Bow Memorial School promoting three-sport participation,” Kaufman said. “We thought that was very important to have success.”
The gymnastics and girls’ basketball teams won the first titles in school history the winter of 2000, but the role of the athletics program did more for the school than simply producing championships.
“(Kaufman) has done a wonderful job of fostering a culture of leadership in his athletes,” said Ben Forbes, who coaches the varsity baseball team and has been a teacher at Bow High for 19 years. “He’s done a great job empowering his athletes to lead by example and to make good decisions for their peers. He really created a culture that coaches care about their athletes and that athletes care about their coaches. A lot of that comes from Jim, a caring man who wears his heart on his sleeve.”
Forbes added: “He gave me my first varsity job and I’ll never forget it. He put a lot of confidence in me at 24 years old to take over that varsity program.”
Kaufman’s compassion for working with students led him to create the Student Athlete Leadership Council (SALC), along with coaching Bow’s Unified basketball team, which allows students with intellectual disabilities to compete alongside their peers.
“Coaching Unified basketball gave me a lot,” Kaufman said. “It’s been four years of joy.”
In addition to his administrative duties, scheduling and arranging transportation for teams, tracking inventory of equipment and uniforms, serving as the faculty advisor to the Bow Booster Club and planning for the sports awards held at the end of each season, Kaufman has also served one-year stints as the varsity wrestling coach and JV boys’ lacrosse coach.
Kaufman thanked his coaches, principals Edwards and Jon House-Myers (who also retired at the end of the school year), athletic trainer Cliff Chulada, administrative assistant Cathy Leclerc and the maintenance staff.
“Working in this profession is a real team effort,” Kaufman said. “(Chulada) knows his stuff backwards and forwards. He has been a valuable asset. He’s been my right-hand guy. Our fields are in great shape. Our maintenance staff does a great job keeping them that way. I’m going to miss the coaches a lot in stepping away from the position. Teams can’t do well unless they have great mentoring from coaches. I salute those people. The championships didn’t happen because of anything Jim Kaufman did.”
Throughout his final year as athletic director, Kaufman received awards from the New Hampshire Football Officials Association, the New Hampshire Wrestling Coaches Association and the NHIAA Wrestling Committee for his contributions to those sports.
Kaufman was also recognized by the Bow Booster Club, Bow Athletic Club, SALC and Unified basketball team at his final sports awards ceremony on June 7.
Mike Desilets, who has an athletic training background at Pinkerton Academy and is currently the interim athletic director at Pembroke Academy, is scheduled to take over for Kaufman at Bow.
“My wife Carole has always been here supporting me,” Kaufman said. “It’s time to stop juggling the many tasks.”