Although South’s historical beauty has remained preserved throughout the years, each school year welcomes a new batch of freshmen and bids farewell to the graduating seniors. However, the surrounding staff has been at the core of these goodbyes and hellos. Recently hired, Athletic Director Andrew Rishmawi is far from being a sports rookie.
“I’ve been in athletics my whole life, played in high school and college,” Rishmawi said. “(My) first team, I went all-state in wrestling, second team all-state in soccer, and then just good at track and just fast.”
Rishmawi played for Flushing High School, and after his senior year, he immediately accepted a scholarship from Saginaw Valley for both soccer and track. Refusing to walk away after playing four years at the collegiate level, he continued sharing his passion in life as a varsity soccer coach, teaching high school and college athletes for the next 18 years.
“Some of my most amazing mentors were all Athletic Directors,” Rishmawi said. “As I got older, all my buddies became Athletic Directors, and so I got to live that life through them.”
Having experience both on the field and as a coach on the sidelines, Rishmawii understands how important it is to cover all your bases when it comes to sporting events.
“On a game day, it’s making sure all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed and game day management of course,” Rishmawi said.
While pursuing schools in Michigan for open positions, Rishwami got his feet wet as an athletic coordinator for three years right back where he started, Flushing. He says his first goal here at South is to get to know the staff and students and to develop positive relationships with them while learning about their community.
“Goal two is that I want everyone to look at Grosse Pointe, and I want them to ask themselves, ‘What are they doing right over there? We need to copy them,’” Rishmawi said. “I want us to be the gold standard.”
