Rump is on the job as NHS athletic director

Ryan Rump’s immersion into Newton Community School District’s culture began on his first day on the job as Newton High’s new athletic and activities director. He toured the district’s facilities, met with people in the district and community and attended a softball game on Monday.

“It’s been a whirlwind, these first couple of days, but it’s been great. People have been very welcoming and helpful,” Rump said. ‘I’m exited about being here and couldn’t be happier to have this opportunity. I want the community to know I’m going to work very hard for them, to build the district’s programs and enhance what I feel is already an outstanding activities and athletic program.”

Rump took over the helm of the NHS athletic and activities department on July 2 after wrapping up a four-year stint as the Knoxville High School athletic and activities director.

The Fort Madison native will be replacing Scott Garvis, who has taken the athletic director’s position at Ankeny Centennial. Rump has been an athletic director for 17 years, starting at Burlington Notre Dame for 10 years then to Keokuk for three and Knoxville.

“When the Newton position came open, I talked to Scott, who I know well. This is my fourth stop as an AD and I have taken something from each of those stops to build my knowledge base to do my job well as I move forward,” Rump said. “All those experiences got me to this point to hopefully do a very good job for the Newton school district.”

On his first day, Rump said it was about coming in, getting settled and comfortable and becoming acclimated with the school district and community. He said it was great to have July and August to accomplish that so he will be ready when school begins to hit the ground running.

“There’s a lot to learn. I live by the motto of you never stop learning,” Rump said. “I was familiar with Newton and the Little Hawkeye Conference through non-conference activities. I’m excited about having responsibilities as an assistant principal at Newton as well as the activities director.”

Rump said his first year at Knoxville was when the Panthers moved from the Little Hawkeye Conference to the South Central Conference. He said it was a good move for Knoxville, renewing some natural rivalries and Panther teams have won SCC championships.

In his first week, he has been at two Cardinal softball games and will be at the Newton freshman baseball tournament on Saturday and the Newton softball playoff game. His first varsity baseball game will be Monday for Senior Night as the Cardinals host the Knoxville Panthers.

“That will be fun,” he said about seeing his former team playing at Newton. “As an AD, it is important to be visible and making the effort to be at as many activities and events as possible, supporting the programs, students, student-athletes, coaches and sponsors. I want them all to know I value what they are doing.”

Rump said he has been asked by a lot of people about his vision or plan for Newton as the new athletic and activities director. He said is was hard to pinpoint at this point.

“Keep the ship running smoothly and it is a smooth operation at this point is what I want to do right now. The district is in a really good spot in terms of activities and athletics,” Rump said. “I’m immersing myself into learning how things work here with a lot of input from my colleagues. I’m learning all I can then I’ll know the pulse of the district and community and how I can help build on our programs.”

Rump grew up in Fort Madison, graduating from Fort Madison Aquinas High School. He said he was a six-sport athlete in high school then played baseball at St. Ambrose University in Davenport as a four-year letter winner.

He earned a degree in accounting and worked three years for John Deere & Company in the Quad Cities.

“It took me three years to realize, while accounting was a good career it wasn’t the career path I wanted for the rest of my life. I love sports and the itch to teach and coach was there so I moved back to southeast Iowa, taking a position as a physical education teacher, head boys’ basketball coach and activities director at Burlington Notre Dame,” Rump said.

Rump received a masters degree in teaching from Western Illinois University and while at Burlington Notre Dame he got his degree in administration. He said his goal was to be an athletic director at a larger school. After 10 years at Burlington Notre Dame, he accepted a his first full-time AD position at Keokuk.

He said he married his wife, Samantha, during his three-year career at Keokuk. Samantha is an attorney in Des Moines, so when the Knoxville activities director position came open, he applied and was hired. The couple lives in Des Moines.

“I was fortunate to be at Knoxville for four years. I’ve been involved in athletics and activities my whole life. The more you are involved in these situations the more experience you gain,” Rump said. “I loved my time in Knoxville, but professionally, moving here to Newton is a good opportunity for me and I’m really happy to be here.”

As with his experience as a student-athlete, Rump said there are a great deal of benefits for students to be involved in athletics and activities. He said being involved helps student become more well rounded as people.

“They can be physically fit and learn life lessons. The students come in contact with quality coaches and sponsors who they can pick up things and take with them into the real world,” Rump said. “We encourage students to be involved as much as possible.”

“Red Pride Lives Here,” is the Newton district’s new motto. Rump said the motto says a lot about what he already knew about the Newton community.

“There is tremendous pride throughout this district and the people here are passionate about their school and its activities program. Thinking of this motto alone will help push me every day to do my very best and give my all to this position, as I feel the Newton district and its supporters deserve that,” Rump said.

Rump settles into his new office at the high school and pores over files left by his predecessor. He is rolling up his sleeves and working to keep the Cardinal Red Pride ship sailing on smoothly.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com