A Changing of the GuardNate Diffin takes reins as Ayer Shirley athletic director

AYER — Nate Diffin has spent the last nine years on the Ayer Shirley sidelines, caring for athletes and working alongside coaches. Now he’s stepping into the athletic director’s office, where his view will extend beyond individual players and teams to the entire athletic program.

Diffin, who has served as the school’s head athletic trainer since 2017 and taught for the past five years, took over as athletic director at the end of July, succeeding Steve Kendall.

The promotion could leave Diffin with an unusual advantage, Kendall believes.

“He may be the only person who comes into this job working less than he previously did,” Kendall said.

Diffin routinely put in 11-12 hour days while balancing athletic training and teaching. The athletic director’s job will bring a different set of demands, but it also gives him the opportunity to combine the two sides of his career.

Between those roles, Diffin has seen Ayer Shirley athletics from nearly every angle. He has treated injured athletes, worked with teams, taught students and developed relationships with coaches and families. He also knows the experience of being a student-athlete himself.

A York, Maine, native, Diffin played goalkeeper at the University of New England from 2012-15 while earning a degree in athletic training. Now, more than a decade removed from his playing days, he has moved from protecting athletes on the sidelines to overseeing the programs in which they compete.

“My scope of practice has changed from a small student-focused basis to a program focus or a town focus,” Diffin said.

That means thinking not only about what happens on the field, but how athletic programs interact with the community, from scheduling and facilities to working with Parks & Recreation and creating opportunities for students.

The new Ayer Shirley-Littleton football cooperative is one example. Two schools that once met annually on Thanksgiving are now sharing a program that has generated excitement in both communities, with the opening kickoff slated for Sept. 11 against Lawrence High.

For Kendall, who served as athletic director from 2018 until this summer, the most important part of the transition is that Diffin already understands the people behind the programs.

“Nate is dedicated to Ayer Shirley,” Kendall said. “It’s the one thing he had over everyone who applied. He loves the kids, the coaches and the staff.”

Kendall leaves behind a department that changed significantly during his eight-year tenure. He oversaw the conversion of Harold Norton Field from grass to artificial turf and established the school’s 9/11 Pay It Forward Day, when Panther student-athletes performed random acts of kindness throughout the community.

The turf gave students a facility they could take pride in, Kendall said, helping strengthen the culture of the school.

But the accomplishment he considers most impactful was the creation of the Unified program, which brought students into athletics who had never previously participated.

“Starting the Unified program had the biggest impact on the school in general,” Kendall said.

Now, Kendall has returned to Leominster, where he began his career in education and hopes to finish it. His own child remains an Ayer Shirley student, though, so he expects to remain a familiar face around the school. He also remains a sounding board for Diffin. Kendall’s advice has been straightforward: communicate.

“He calls me every once in a while looking for feedback,” Kendall said. “I just say communicate with people. Good or bad, they’ll respect it. This job is about organization and knowing how to deal with people.”

Billy Wright has offered Diffin another piece of advice: don’t try to do everything himself.

Wright, entering his 27th season as a varsity head coach, has worked alongside Diffin for years and believes the new AD’s experience on the sidelines gives him an understanding of coaches and athletes that will serve him well.

“He understands the relationship that coaches should have with the kids because he’s been on the sidelines,” Wright said. “He’s seen these things. He’s gonna do great.”

Wright’s concern isn’t whether Diffin can handle the job. It’s whether he’ll know when to step away from it.

“Don’t be afraid to delegate,” Wright said.

Kendall learned that lesson himself.

“There’s always something to do and you’ve got to be able to set boundaries,” he said.

That can mean coming in later on a day when a night game is scheduled, protecting weekends and occasionally choosing which games to attend.

“You have to take care of yourself,” Kendall said. “I liken it to the old airplane speech where you’re told to put your oxygen mask on first, otherwise you can’t help anyone — you’re useless.”

For Diffin, the challenge is balanced by the same motivation that brought him to the athletic director’s office in the first place: helping more students find a place in Ayer Shirley athletics.

He and his wife live in Townsend with their two young children. His nearly 3-year-old son already enjoys coming to games, where he calls the student-athletes “the big kids.”

Diffin said he loves seeing students compete, but the new position offers him another way to contribute.

“I love seeing as many kids on the field as possible,” he said. “As an athletic director, I get that same feeling when I’m creating new opportunities for students and seeing their excitement.”

After nine years caring for Ayer Shirley athletes one at a time, Diffin is now responsible for helping shape the programs they all share.