Sports as a Ministry
Cardinal Gibbons provides meaningful participation opportunities for all students, with offerings ranging from recreational intramurals to championship-caliber competition for college-bound athletes. At all levels, we strive to make athletics a formational experience for students and parents. Our program is about more than winning championships. Our success is measured by how well our programs further the mission of our school and how we choose to use the talents and gifts that we have been blessed to receive.
Gibbons Gameday Conversations
Coaching As A Ministry
Part 1 of 3 sessions with Coach Wright, Coach Alexander & Coach Buckley focuses on finding opportunity in the moment -- a discussion on adapting to life away from school/sport with mental health tips for student-athletes.
Continuing our 3 part session w/ Coach Wright, Coach Alexander, and Coach Buckley, Part 2 explores how this time away from sport provides all of us - coaches, students, parents - an opportunity to grow in new & different ways.
Completing our 3 part session w/ Coach Wright, Coach Alexander, and Coach Buckley, Part 3 places our pandemic response in context of Holy Week and our call as an Easter People.
Senior Voices
Gibbons GameDay presents Senior Voices: Nothing is Promised. Listen to Women's Lacrosse Senior Ali Rogers and Director of Athletics Todd Schuler discuss connecting with teammates and leading during a pandemic.
Gibbons GameDay presents Senior Voices: For My Brothers. Listen to Cardinal Gibbons Men's Lacrosse Senior Drew Perun and Director of Athletics Todd Schuler discuss what it means to play for the name on the front of the jersey, and the Cross on the back of the jersey.
Gibbons GameDay presents Senior Voices: Seek Him. Listen to Cardinal Gibbons Women's Soccer Senior Gracie Athus and Director of Athletics Todd Schuler discuss the importance of faith and the opportunity we have to strengthen our relationship with Christ now that we've been given a 'pause' in daily life.
Gibbons GameDay presents Senior Voices: Finding Little Ways to Connect. Listen to Cardinal Gibbons Softball Senior Lochlyn Casey and Director of Athletics Todd Schuler talk about finding little ways to stay connected with teammates and classmates while staying at home.
Gibbons GameDay presents Senior Voices: Legacy of Servant Leaders. Listen to Cardinal Gibbons Baseball Senior Drew Sotell and Director of Athletics Todd Schuler reflect on the legacy of Gibbons' Baseball and Drew's mentors in the program.
Gibbons GameDay presents Senior Voices: Triple Threat - Academics, Athletics & Arts. Listen to Cardinal Gibbons Track & Field Senior Lucy Anna Sheaffer and Director of Athletics Todd Schuler catch up & talk about how Lucy Anna is staying on top of her academics, her strength training, and finding time at the potter's wheel to express her creativity.
Gibbons GameDay presents Senior Voices: The Name on the Front. Listen to Cardinal Gibbons Cross Country / Track & Field Senior Carson Williams and Director of Athletics Todd Schuler talk about the honor of competing for the 'name on the front' of the jersey.
Gibbons GameDay presents Senior Voices: This Is Our Year. Listen to Cardinal Gibbons Soccer Senior Taylor Madormo and Director of Athletics Todd Schuler discuss how new routines are helping to ease the frustration & disappointment of a promising season interrupted.
Gibbons GameDay presents Senior Voices: On this extended edition of Senior Voices, listen to Cardinal Gibbons Senior leaders Daniel Mazzerina, Natalie Thornburg and Gibson Weber share stories with Director of Athletics Todd Schuler about the Class of 2020. This trio has some creative ideas in store for their classmates, along with some great advice for returning Gibbons' students.
Gibbons GameDay presents Senior Voices: I Forgot How Much I Love the Game. Listen to Cardinal Gibbons Baseball Senior Richie Van Tassel and Director of Athletics Todd Schuler discuss how time away from the baseball diamond has reminded Richie how much he really loves the game.
Gibbons GameDay presents Senior Voices: The World is Our Team. Listen to Cardinal Gibbons Lacrosse Senior Maddie Pietrek and Director of Athletics Todd Schuler discuss how our lacrosse team is staying connected while away from school, and how we all have a role to play in keeping people safe.
Gibbons GameDay presents Senior Voices: Hoping for One More Playoff Run. Listen to Cardinal Gibbons Golf & Football Senior Andrew Harvey and Director of Athletics Todd Schuler as they look back at a historic football season and look forward to the prospect of a promising golf season re-starting.
Gibbons GameDay presents Senior Voices: We Will Finish This Together. Catch up with Senior Tennis player Kevin Gallagher as he describes what he's been doing to stay busy and his message for his senior classmates.
Alumni Voices
Gameday presents Alumni Voices with Connor Lane '17 (Stanford Track/Cross Country), Hayden Callahan '18 (Davidson Lacrosse) and Gray Betts '18 (Liberty Baseball). In Part I we catch up with our alums, check-in on how they're handling being home from school, and hear about the transition from high school to collegiate athletics.
Gameday talks with Connor Lane '17 (Stanford Track/Cross Country), Hayden Callahan '18 (Davidson Lacrosse) and Gray Betts '18 (Liberty Baseball). In Part 2 we discuss the importance of finding the right fit, along with advice for current Gibbons' students & parents.
Gibbons Gameday Podcast
By the Numbers
49
different teams in 27 sports
15
State Wells Fargo Cup awards for overall excellence
900+
119
total State Championships
100%
Programs involved in service, outreach & season leadership retreats
1st
39
2019 grads playing college sports
26
Gibbons alums coaching with school
Athletics Staff
Director of Athletics
Todd Schuler is a nationally accredited athletic administrator (CMAA) who has been working in education for 17 years. Schuler joined the Cardinal Gibbons community as the Director of Athletics in 2012. He previously taught and coached in Wake County Schools and Franklin County Schools. Schuler currently serves on the North Carolina Athletic Directors Association Board of Directors as an At-Large representative for Regions 1 and 3. He is a member of the NIAAA national teaching faculty and the NCADA state teaching faculty, helping teach the LTI technology courses 610, 613 and 614 at the state and national levels. Schuler is passionate about program culture, leadership development of students and coaches, and utilizing technology to make the lives of administrators more efficient. He is most proud of the work Cardinal Gibbons is engaging in to establish a mission-driven culture and in building healthy, positive relationships with parents in support of long-term student-athlete development. Cardinal Gibbons was recognized as the recipient of the prestigious 2018-19 Wells Fargo State Cup Champion Award, as well as the 2015-16 NCHSAA Exemplary School Award.
Director of Athletics
Responsibilities include strategic planning, mission & culture, staffing, communications, branding, business operations, scheduling and compliance. Responsible for development and growth of outreach efforts with middle schools, parent support groups and the formation of leadership programming for young athletes.
Sport Administration
- Fall - Cross Country, Field Hockey, Men's Soccer
- Winter - Indoor Track & Field, Wrestling
- Spring - Men's & Women's Lacrosse, Women's Soccer
Degrees, certifications, honors
- North Carolina Athletic Directors Association (NCADA) Board Member, At-Large Rep (Regions I & III)
- 2016-17 NCADA Athletic Director of the Year
- Certified Master Athletic Administrator (CMAA), National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA)
- 2009 Boys Soccer Coach - Clash of Carolinas All-Star Game
- 2008 North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association (NCSCA) State Coach of the Year
- Bachelor of Science in Economics (B.S.) from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business
- Masters of Arts in Education (MaED) from the University of Phoenix
Director of Athletic Leadership & Legacy
Led by Dean Monroe, our Director of Athletic Leadership & Legacy, Gibbons Athletics continues to grow and expand the scope of our athletic leadership and student-athlete development programs.
Monroe is a nationally certified athletics administrator (CMAA) who brings with him more than 25 years experience in secondary school athletics administration. Monroe previously coached numerous sports at Gibbons, including varsity football and the boys' and girls' varsity basketball teams, and also served Gibbons as Athletic Director from 1990 through 2012. He returned to Gibbons in 2016, after serving four years as Athletic Director at Saint Mary's School in Raleigh.
Monroe's focus is helping student-athletes and coaches grow as leaders, and ensuring that students' participation in athletics focuses on living out the school's mission in the classroom, on the playing field, and in the community. Monroe will also increase efforts to connect alumni with Gibbons through athletics, and will work in partnership with the Advancement Department and Alumni Coordinator. Those efforts include developing new programs and enhancing existing ones that connect alumni with faculty, coaches and peers.
Sport Administration Responsibilities
- Fall - Football, Volleyball
- Winter - Men's and Women's Basketball
- Spring - Baseball, Softball
Director of Leadership & Legacy
Chris Morland has led the Strength & Conditioning program at Cardinal Gibbons High School since 2014, where he also teaches Health & Physical Education. With a MS in Human Performance from the University of Tennessee, Chris is an advocate for the important role of high school teachers and coaches in promoting physical literacy for all students.
Morland has transformed the Gibbons' Strength program into a national model for high school athletic programs, earning the Strength of America Award, a designation reserved for the top 1% of programs in the country. Morland is responsible for redesigning the Gibbons' Strength & Conditioning curriculum, successfully piloting a 9th grade functional movement program as an alternative to standard PE, as well as an Honors option for advanced Strength students interested in pursuing Strength & Conditioning in college. Morland has also led a mentoring program for newly certified strength coaches, providing young professionals an opportunity to gain practical experience working directly with Cardinal Gibbons' sport coaches and students.
Prior to joining Cardinal Gibbons, Chris Morland served as a Strength & Conditioning Coach for 9 years at North Carolina State University.
Assistant Athletic Director
Tonya Holmes was recently appointed Assistant Athletic Director at Cardinal Gibbons. Holmes is a nationally certified athletic administrator (CAA) and holds her Master’s in Sport Management along with 6 years of experience in athletic administration. Currently she serves as the Director of Student Engagement as she works primarily student experience through the coordination and creation of programs and activities to guide students to a transformational experience.
Prior to Cardinal Gibbons to she was the Associate Athletic Director at Saint Mary’s School in Raleigh and Operations Manager at UNC Chapel Hill-Housing. She has over 10+ year of coaching experience at the high school varsity level in 3 sports: volleyball, track & field, and basketball. Holmes joined Triangle Volleyball Club in 2011 and has served as an assistant coach at the 14s, 16s, 17s, and 18s age groups. Most recently, she helped to lead 18 Blue to qualify for USAV nationals in the 2018 season.
Sport Administration Responsibilities
- Fall - Cheerleading, Dance Team, Women's Golf, Women's Tennis, Ultimate
- Winter - Cheerleading, Dance Team, Swimming & Diving
- Spring - Men's Golf, Men's Tennis, Sand Volleyball, Track & Field
Director of Sports Medicine
David Mills serves as the lead Athletic Trainer and Director of Sports Medicine for Cardinal Gibbons. Mills has established Cardinal Gibbons as an early adopter and leading advocate for a number of high school sport safety and health initiatives over a 22 year tenure. Mills is responsible for training Gibbons' staff in the use of CPR/AED life-saving techniques, screening of athletes, Return to Play protocols, cognitive baseline testing for head injury evaluation, as well as day-to-day injury care, prevention and rehabilitation.
In addition, Mills is also the Director of Sports Medicine at Shaw University, where he oversees the athletic training and athletic trainer student staff, while serving as the University and NCAA Drug testing site coordinator. He currently owns a sports medicine and athletic training consultant firm that is located in the Raleigh-Durham area.
Mills received his Associate of Science in Biology and Biology Sciences from Lees-McRae College in 1985, following a Bachelor of Science in Pre-Medicine and Pre-Medical Studies from North Carolina State University in 1989.
He obtained his masters from Liberty University in 2016.
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Administrative Assistant
Lisa Norman joined the Cardinal Gibbons staff in August of 2018, as the administrative assistant to both the Athletics and Technology departments. Prior to Cardinal Gibbons she was an administrative assistant at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic school, for 9 years. Lisa was the SCS middle school ambassador to CGHS for 4 years. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from the University of California,San Diego, and a Masters Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from UNC Chapel Hill. Lisa is the parent of a Gibbons alum from the class of 2018 as well as a current student of the class of 2022.
Norman provides administrative support to the athletic office, helps with event coordination, and provides support to media and coaches with content publishing. She is an invaluable resource for parents and students -- answering parent questions, providing one-on-one support with FinalForms and other compliance issues, streamlining communications and coordinating with coaches, officials and our business office to ensure that our backend logistics and operations run smoothly.