Daron Montgomery’s passion for the St. Louis Cardinals and March Madness is only matched by his love for his family and the athletic department at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

At 39 years old he is only in his second year as Athletic Director at UWSP, but he has certainly made his presence felt.

Montgomery has played a big role in bringing the Women’s 2014 Final Four to Stevens Point and bringing in a new Pointers logo.

“It’s a logo that we believe is a Division I logo,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery was born in Hollywood, Florida. He graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne University in 1995 with a degree in sports management.

He then worked with the Hickory Crawdads, a minor league baseball team, as a Director of Ticket Operations. After two years with the Crawdads, Montgomery decided to attend Ball State University where he would get his master’s degree in athletic administration.

After graduating from Ball State, Montgomery took a job with the University of Detroit Mercy, where he would reach the position of Associate Senior Athletic Director.

Montgomery held the second-in-command position for four years. He left Detroit and came to Stevens Point as the new Athletic Director.

Montgomery now calls Stevens Point home, along with his wife, Karen, and three children: Bailey, 6 years old; Izzy, 4; and his son Jack, born this past December.

Being an Athletic Director is very demanding, can require a lot of hours and take away time with family, but Montgomery does a great job of juggling family life and his work life.

“I don’t mind putting in 60-70 hours a week as long as I can have my family there sporting Pointers gear, cheering us on,” Montgomery said. “You can’t do that at many jobs.”

Montgomery also explained that his wife was very supportive. However, it is always a challenge.

“It’s always a challenge, but I take a lot of pride in trying to not just be a good Athletic Director, but a good dad,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery uses his 13 years of experience from Detroit Mercy’s athletic department job to help in his current position as Athletic Director.

“Building relationships is very important,” Montgomery said. “You need to get to know your fans, alumni and donors, but also your athletes and coaches. I’ve also learned that you have to be a coach of coaches as an athletic director. Every coach is different and you have to learn how to coach each one.”

So what is the most challenging part of the job? Montgomery said that resources and communication are a challenge, but they do not outweigh the best parts of his job.

“The fact that I get to bring my daughters to watch women play sports is my favorite part of the job,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery attends as many games as he can and understands the importance of his presence at games. He enjoys going to all of the teams’ games, but he has a favorite event.

“Bailey and Izzy love going to men’s and women’s hockey games because they get to go right up to the glass and pound on it,” Montgomery said. “If I had to pick my favorite, it would have to be men’s and women’s hockey.”

He works a lot to keep this athletic department running, but Montgomery wants one thing clear.

“The success of our program starts with our coaches and players,” Montgomery said. “They are great representatives of this university.”