Austin Preparatory School’s new director of athletics is Jonathan Pollard, owner of New England Stampede Baseball and a 1997 graduate of the Reading school.
Pollard has been helping young men and women develop their baseball skills since 2002, and is a former athletic director for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell.
“I am excited to watch the future of Cougar athletics flourish under Jonathan’s direction,” Headmaster James Hickey said. “His experiences as a leader, manager and coach, and his commitment to Austin Prep as an alumnus will inspire our young men and women with an energy and pride that comes from sharing Austin Prep’s successful athletic traditions.”
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In 2008, Pollard founded New England Stampede Baseball in Woburn, one of the premier amateur baseball organizations in the region developing elite baseball players ages 9 through 18.
He is one of the youngest managers ever selected to work at USA Baseball, the national governing body for amateur baseball. It represents the sport in the United States as a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee and internationally as a member federation of the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Pollard was chosen this year as manager of Team USA, and will coach the Women’s National Team at the World Cup in Japan later this summer.
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“I am tremendously excited to be back at Austin and having the opportunity to lead its athletic program to the elite level I know it is capable of,” Pollard said. “Athletics have provided me with so many amazing opportunities and life experiences. With the support of the entire Austin community, I look forward to helping the student-athletes of Austin achieve their own similar successes. ”
A graduate of Salem State College, Pollard is a member of the New England Elite Baseball League Board of Directors. He begins as Director of Athletics at Austin Prep on July 1.
