I know there have been a lot of job cuts lately, but this one honestly makes me Sick. A good friend and one of the most genuine people that you will ever meet has lost his job in the budget cuts going down at Greensboro College.
Kim Strable the long-time Athletic Director at Greensboro College is the latest to feel the cuts. Great man, who did a super job, and this is about like a death, if you ask me.
You may not be able to relate, but again this is like a death in the overall Greensboro Sports Community. We have people come and go and this man stayed the course and gave his heart and soul, not only to Greensboro College, but to the entire community.
I’ll have more tomorrow, but here is what we have for now and again, I say this in all sincerity, Kim Strable was a true player, he was in the game for the right reasons and if you worked with him at Greensboro College, you were blessed by the experience.
As part of the recent restructuring at Greensboro College, the standalone position of director of athletics was eliminated. As such, long-time athletics director Kim Strable was laid off.
“Like many other institutions, Greensboro College has been experiencing tough economic times,†Leslie said. “Leadership at the College had to make some very difficult decisions. This change does not reflect Mr. Strable’s job performance, but rather the fact that Greensboro College must restructure itself according to financial reality. We are all very grateful to Kim Strable for 20 years of passionate and dedicated service to The Pride’s student-athletes and the College.â€
“We will now establish a position that merges a coach’s position with athletics director,” Leslie added. “The Leadership Team and the staff in the Athletics Department are working together to identify a person appointed to this new position. This change creates an organization in athletics not unlike many Division III, small institutions. As the highest ranking athletics staff member, Associate AD Jean Lojko will serve as the leader of Pride athletics until an AD/Coach is named.”
Strable became Greensboro’s first full-time athletics director, and oversaw the growth of GC’s athletic department from 8 teams to 16 teams in a ten year period. He oversaw the start of The Pride football program in 1997.
Strable coached The Pride men’s tennis team for eight years (1994-2001). In the spring of 2000, he led The Pride to one of its best seasons ever, as Greensboro achieved an overall record of 13-4, and a second place finish in the conference.
“I am disappointed to be leaving so many great people associated with Greensboro College but am extremely grateful for the privilege of providing twenty years of service there,” Strable said. “Hard times can bring out the best in people and I am especially hopeful for a positive outcome for our Pride coaches and student-athletes.”
An active participant in several local sporting organizations, Strable served as the South region’s representative on the NCAA Men’s Soccer Committee. He had an instrumental role in securing the NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Soccer Championships held in Greensboro in 2004 and 2005 at Bryan Park’s Macpherson Stadium.