Brett Kornblum said he has “been involved with sports my entire life.”
Now, he will use his passion for the game to serve the Jericho School District as athletic director.
Kornblum said he played multiple sports while growing up, and continued to play throughout college and adulthood. When he started his career in education, he said he had a goal in mind.
“It’s always been a passion of mine to become an athletic director,” he said. Kornblum took over the Jericho position in July, after former athletic director John Mankowich retired.
Kornblum worked in the New York City Department of Education before he went back to school for his administrative degree. From there, he became an assistant principal at Lawrence School District before stepping into the athletic director role there.
Then, he moved to Valley Stream Central High School District, overseeing three high school athletic programs before he joined Jericho this summer.
Kornblum said he applied to Jericho after hearing about Mankowich’s retirement because their physical education program is “widely known to be a great program.”
“Our phys ed and health program that we have — with electives and all different physical education courses — it is second to none,” he said.
Kornblum said when he started in July, students and teachers had not been in the building, and he took time to learn the background operations at Jericho. He said that sports teams began practicing and students returned to the building in August.
“It was great to get on the field during games and practices, and really get to know our student-athletes. And that continues today,” he said.
He said he regularly visits the facilities while teams are practicing to get to know the programs’ students.
Kornblum said the students at Jericho are “phenomenal, not just academically, but as young adults coming into our community.”
Kornblum said his experience playing sports taught him about leadership and accountability. He said he hopes that Jericho student-athletes will also learn sportsmanship, teamwork, confidence, and leadership skills.
Kornblum said that from an administrative perspective, his goal this year is to “observe” the programs and facilities to evaluate “what our needs and our wants are.” He said that after evaluating the program this year, he can make a plan to grow the athletics programs over the next 15 years.
And so far, the programs are off to a good start. The Jericho football, girls’ soccer, and girls’ volleyball teams are all undefeated, he said.
“All our programs are playing in top conferences and are definitely battling and doing well… So it’s definitely something that I enjoy seeing: our student athletes succeeding and playing against the top competition in Nassau County,” Kornblum said.
Kornblum said he looks forward to the upcoming school year and watching the students continue to grow their athletic skills.
“It’s phenomenal to see them grow every day,” he said.
