LAKEVILLE - He is coming back home! Union-North United School Corporation is excited to announce Nicholas Amor as the next athletic director. Amor is a 2013 LaVille graduate, where he was a standout four-sport athlete, and the Class of 2013 valedictorian. He will be the 9th athletic director at LaVille and succeeds Will Hostrawser. "I'm looking forward to it," said Amor during a phone interview Sunday. "It was one of those things where I didn't necessarily know. It was the more I started thinking about it ... you know the opportunity, I thought, yeah, I think I could see myself doing that and really enjoying it. I'm excited!" A former standout student-athlete in Lakeville, Amor participated in cross country, tennis, basketball, and track field. In fact, he still holds the boys cross country school record and finished with 883 career points in basketball. After we revisited some high school days, our conversation moved to what interested him in the athletic director position. "The education piece is that I just love being around the kids, just from coaching," said LaVille's 2013 male athlete of the year. "And then, you know, I've always had this internal desire to just give back where I can, and so I see that as a really fulfilling way to both be around kids and give back to them at the same time. "And I think that's what educators do is they pour into the kids that they're around. They give what they have back to the kids. So, that's probably the biggest part of getting into education and athletics. I want to see all programs at LaVille to be successful." We then transitioned into student-athletes. "I think they truly are student athletes," Amor said. "I think it's important to be a student first, athlete second. I think it's okay to utilize athletics as a draw to be a good student. I'm not naive, and that there's some kids out there that prefer to be an athlete over being a student, but at the end of the day, if you're not, if you're not a student first, you can't be that athlete. I think there's value in that, it's a good kind of pressure for those kids." We then reflected on his senior year at LaVille when he was an athletic student aide. Amor learned how the athletic department sets up for various events, helped with filling the concession stand and setting up for that night's event(s). "I remember it well," Amor said when asked about his time in the athletic office. "Under your wing, to be able to set up for events, to be able to participate in athletic events, and to seize the back side on how things are run. All of that is valuable and it was important. I saw the importance in it and you feel accomplished. When you are a part of something like that, and then the event goes and it's successful. It feels amazing.It's an opportunity that I'm extremely thankful for. I don't take it lightly." In 2022-23, Amor was hired as the head girls basketball coach and we wanted to inquire about the direction of LaVille Lady Hoops. "Yes, yes, I am still going to continue to be the girls basketball coach," explained Amor. "That is a big part of my passion. I wouldn't let that go lightly. As of right now that is definitely the plan. I'm gonna be the head girls basketball coach." As Amor gets ready for the transition from business into full time education, Amor said, "I'm looking forward to shadowing (Will) and learning from him. I will also reach out to conference and other ADs , if I'm able to, and learn from them. I'm gonna spend my first six to eight weeks just reaching out, networking and trying to learn from other people. I think that's also where the sales piece in my background in business like networking is a very heavy priority in what I do now. "So I think that that correlates directly with the athletic director role and what's going to be required. I'm gonna really rely on that strength. Go out and learn. I know I don't have all the answers. I think that's okay, but I know I'll put the work in and get it done." Following the school board approval, Amor will then wait to hear from superintendent Keith Burke and principal Michael Edison on when he begins on campus. "I don't have an official start date," said Amor. "I think that Keith and Michael are still trying to work that out." According to Amor, when he does arrive he would like to, "get to know our coaching staff, whether they're a head coach or an assistant coach." Amor is married to Hope, another educator. She is the superintendent at her alma mater, Bremen Community Schools. Mom, Dawn, worked at LaVille Elementary School as the office secretary, and dad, Brent, helps at various athletic events including keeping the scoreboard at football, boys basketball, and girls basketball, along with track and field. "Yeah, I think I think they're all excited," when asked how the family feels. "I think they're all excited for different reasons. Obviously, from my parents perspective, LaVille is in our heart and I think it always will be. So having an opportunity to continue to serve this community and serve the school ... There's nothing quite like it. "But then from Hope's perspective, I think she's just excited that I'm gonna be in that academic atmosphere, and we're gonna have a lot more conversations and stories to share with one another. We're kind of in that same industry. I hope to think that she's excited because I'm going back home, and she knows exactly what that feels like to go back home to Bremen. With Bremen and LaVille just a few miles from each other, Nicholas says, "... there's gonna be a little bit of a rivalry there, and I think it's going to be a healthy rivalry, right? Hope's parents have always been extremely supportive of whatever avenue I wanted to go down. They're just as excited for me for the opportunity, and they know that I love LaVille, and I have a passion for LaVille Athletics as a whole. They're ready to support it. I think that that's good, but at the same time, I think that she has experience in what I'm about to experience and we'll get to do that together and walk through it together. And that's really exciting." Welcome home!