By Efrain Batista
Paige Hershey
Executive Director of Athletics
Spring Branch Independent School District
Biography
A four-sport athlete at Crete-Monee High School, in Crete, Illinois, Paige Hershey is a 1984 graduate of Rice University and was a member of the women’s basketball team. She holds a M.Ed. from the University of Houston.
Paige’s entire professional career has been spent in Spring Branch ISD. The head girl’s basketball coach at Spring Woods High School for fourteen years, Paige also served as the Head Softball Coach and Boys’ and Girls’ Head Cross Country coach. Under her tenure, the Tigers advanced to the Softball Regional Finals in 1994, made the bi-district playoffs in 1998 in girls’ basketball as the first Spring Branch ISD team to do so, and were Regional Qualifiers in Boys’ Cross Country in 2000. In 1998, Paige was recognized for her efforts in the classroom as Spring Branch Independent School District’s Secondary Teacher of the Year.
In July of 2001, Paige was named the Director of Athletics for Spring Branch ISD and served in that role for nine years. In that time, she was the tournament director of various UIL Region-III 4A and 5A volleyball and basketball tournaments. From 2007-2012, Paige was the site director of the TGCA-UIL Houston Team Sports Clinic. In May, 2010, Paige Hershey was named the Executive Director of Athletics for Spring Branch ISD.
Paige holds certification through the NIAAA as a Certified Master Athletic Administrator (CMAA). She has been a member of the THSADA LTI state faculty. She served on the NIAAA Publication Committee from 2004-2008, and as the vice chair of LTC 511. In December, 2009, Paige was one of seven recipients to be awarded the NIAAA Distinguished Service Award at the national level and was a recipient of the Greater Houston Football Coaches Association’s John Kelley Distinguished Service Award in 2013. Paige currently serves on the THSADA Professional Development Committee.
In a department responsible for Athletic Grounds, District Grounds, Integrated Pest Management, Athletic Facility Rentals and Event Management, Small Engine Repair, Concessions, and UIL and Club Sports, the challenges faced by Paige’s administrative staff are wide and varied. While extremely proud of the five state championships that have been won in the last eight years by Spring Branch ISD teams, Paige and her staff are also excited about the collaborative work athletic administrators and coaches are engaged in to improve the quality of their athletic program as a whole. Internal programs such as the Advanced Movers Initiative and the Future Coaches Academy aim to create access and opportunity for Spring Branch ISD students while leveraging partnerships with outside organizations and community partners. “I’ve had great support and wonderful mentors my entire career. Most importantly, I’ve had predecessors such as Darrell Tully, Mike Williamson and L.P. Jones whose body of work defined our true north. I’m just trying to follow their lead and build on what they accomplished. We still have a lot more we hope to do.”
