A Clemmer of Hope

Technically, Brandy Clemmer doesn’t begin her job as the new Rocky River High School’s athletics director until Friday, Jan. 22.

It could be argued, however, that she’s been in training for that day for several years now.

In nearly a decade as an athletic trainer at the high school and college levels, Clemmer developed a reputation for caring passionately for the athletes and coaches with whom she worked. She developed personal relationships with them, had heart-to-heart discussions and tried to let them know that she cared about them away from the field of play.

Consequently, that’s precisely the atmosphere Clemmer wants at Rocky River, the Mint Hill school that will open its doors in August. Rocky River’s school nickname will be the Ravens.

“I envision a comprehensive athletic department, one that is successful on the field of play and serves as good role models for youths,” said Clemmer, who has spent the past three years as Independence High’s athletic trainer.

“Athletics play such a large role in kids’ lives, so coaches have a great impact on kids. I hope the staff we put together at Rocky River has that strong impact. I feel like we have to do that. It’s great for the kids and the coaches. That’s why I’m just super excited to get started.”

Rocky River Principal Mark Nixon received an abundance of applications for the school’s athletics director ­position, but he had no reservations about hiring the 32-year-old Clemmer.

“Brandy has a reputation throughout the area of being very well-respected,” Nixon said. “On the training end of things, she’s nationally certified and still makes an impact in that area, but she’s also committed to education and athletics. She’s bright, she’s young, she’s enthusiastic, and she cares about people. Those are the things that made her an attractive candidate for this job.”

A native of tiny Patrick, S.C., near Cheraw, Clemmer attended Gardner-Webb University, earning a bachelor’s degree in athletic training in 1998. Two years later, she earned her master’s in physical education from Gardner-Webb. She’s currently working on a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the Boiling Springs school.

Shortly after receiving her master’s degree in 2000, Clemmer landed a job as Independence’s athletic trainer, where she worked with the Patriots in the early stages of their football team’s record-setting 109-game winning streak. In 2002, however, she moved on to the college ranks, becoming the head athletic trainer at Wingate University.

“That was a great time in my life,” Clemmer said of her time at Wingate. “I learned a lot about running an athletic department while working with (Wingate athletics director) Steve Poston. It was invaluable. It was one of the things I believe helped prepare me for the job at Rocky River.”

After five years at Wingate, however, Clemmer returned to Independence, where she also teaches sports medicine and aerobics classes. Until Jan. 22, that is.

Although the school isn’t yet open – its construction isn’t even complete – Clemmer knows she doesn’t have time to take things easy. She immediately will go about the business of hiring coaches, starting with the sport that’s usually most schools’ greatest revenue producer: football. The application deadline for the head football coach’s job is the same day Clemmer starts her new job, so she expects to be inundated right off the bat.

“You want to take care of football first,” she said. “That’s the big one. Then we’ll go from there with the other coaches.

“Overall, we just want a good group of coaches in all our sports. Sure, we want to be competitive, but we want to do well off the field, too. That’s extremely important, and I’ll be looking for coaches who share that vision.”

Clemmer said when she first became involved with high school sports, she didn’t do it with an eye toward becoming an athletics director. Pursuing the Rocky River job, she said, “just kind of happened.”

But she believes she’s found her ­calling.

“I’ve been in athletics all my life,” she said. “Being an athletic trainer, you’re around athletic directors a lot. You’re also at all the athletic events late in the evening with them, and you see what they do. You know they have to care about people, you know they have to work hard. I got excited about the possibility of doing that at Rocky River. So when the opportunity came open, I applied.

“To be involved in athletics at this level is a privilege, and I’m just happy to have this opportunity.”

She was hired on Dec. 11. Nixon said Clemmer’s energetic tendency makes her an ideal fit for a new school.

“That energy will come in handy,” Nixon said with a laugh. “This obviously is an extremely important job, because being an athletic director is basically a 24-hour job. And there’s even more responsibility when you’re putting together coaching staffs and there are brand-new, sparkling facilities. But we believe Brandy will do a great job.”