Iron Horses ‘excited’ to compete at next level entering Class AAA

It’s the most wonderful time of the year if you are a supporter of high school athletics as the 2022-23 academic year nears.

 

Student-athletes run in the sun, lift weights in the gym and eat healthy to prepare for their respective seasons.

 

Coaches watch film, move names around on depth charts and work to build esprit de corps as the season approaches.

 

So what do athletic directors do?

 

If you are Philip Simmons High School athletic director Dan Minkin, your summer is just as busy as the first day of class.

 

“The first thing I do is make sure all the pieces are in place,” said the 36-year-old Minkin. “I make sure the coaches are in compliance. I make sure the students’ grades are right and make sure they get help if they need summer school. I make sure we have whatever anyone needs.”

 

Minkin also shores up equipment orders, confirms schedules for teams and develops and maintains a budget for the school’s 22 varsity sports. Minkin arrived on campus in 2019 and has seen the growth firsthand. The school has added seven varsity sports since then.

 

The school’s enrollment has been explosive, going from 215 students in the first year, 2016-17, to more than 730 last year. The school’s athletic success has also been impressive.

 

This fall, boys’ volleyball will be the shiny, new team. Amanda Newell, who has coaching experience at The Citadel, will be the coach.

 

“We are so excited about the staff and the team,” Minkin said. “This is something the community wanted for a long time and we are able to finally deliver.”

 

However, the biggest change will be the level of competition the Iron Horses will face on a regular basis. The school, which begins its sixth year, will move up a rung on the classification ladder and will compete at Class AAA.

 

Minkin expects the move to Class AAA will be seamless if the effort of the coaches and athletes remain the same.

 

“Last year, at the start of the school, I told the coaches and student-athletes to begin the transition although we were a year away, to develop that mindset,” Minkin said. “Some schools might be apprehensive about a move. But to be honest, we’re excited about it.”

 

Over the summer, the Iron Horses were crowned the Class AA winner of the Carlisle Cup for a second straight year. The award is given to the top athletic programs in each of the five classifications in the Palmetto State.

 

 The Iron Horses earned top honors by winning three state championships: boys’ tennis, girls’ tennis and girls’ track and field. The Iron Horses finished as state runners-up in two sports, while claiming 11 Region 6-AA championships.

 

“I knew when I was named AD, it was an excellent opportunity with unbelievable potential,” Minkin said. “In 2021, we became the first Berkeley County school to win it and we were the first public school to win AA since at least 2002. That’s the ultimate goal this year. I don’t know of any school that doesn’t have that as a goal. That’s the ultimate goal: to win the Carlisle.”