John Hilton announced his resignation as Blue Valley Northwest athletic director in an email to the Northwest community. He will continue to serve as athletic director through the end of the school year.

Hilton was hired as athletic director prior to the 2020-2021 school year. This is his second year as Northwest’s athletic director

Hilton said his favorite memory as athletic director was the girls soccer team’s playoff run last year.

“Last year, when the girls soccer team went on their playoff run that was as exciting as a time I’ve ever had as an athletic director. We were finally able to start getting our student section back and even though we lost at Shawnee Mission East, I think that was one of the most exciting times I had here,” Hilton said.

Being the athletic director during Northwest’s first ever state title in football was both exciting and inspirational, according to Hilton.

“All year long, our students have supported everything, but the way they continued to show out at all of our playoff football games was incredible. Also, at the state championship game it was such a packed house on our side it might as well have been a home game,” Hilton said. “With what Coach Rider and the senior class did from where they started as freshmen, not winning a game, to where they are now was a really inspirational story and I’m happy I was able to be there to see it happen.”

During his time as athletic director, Hilton hired three head coaches: Cross Country and Track and Field coach Elizabeth Warren, Wrestling coach Zack Orrick and Boys Basketball coach Aaron Ihm.

Ihm said he first met Hilton during the interview process and immediately built a strong relationship.

“[Hilton] met me and my three kids up at the school and gave us a tour of the school and made us feel very welcome. Right off the bat, I knew he was a nice, genuine guy who wanted success and was family-oriented,” Ihm said.

When he first got hired, Hilton said it was a goal of his to build relationships with the staff and students. He said he made some lifelong friendships and met a lot of great people in his time here.

“I think the relationships I built with our coaches is something that I’ll take me when I leave. I made many lifelong friends,” Hilton said. “I also had a great time with our student body. I really enjoyed the enthusiasm and the passion they brought. This senior class not only has a lot of great athletes and great people, but they really love this place and I’ll definitely miss this senior class.”

Before Northwest, Hilton coached football at multiple schools, which Ihm said he believed helped him to be a successful athletic director.

“I think his coaching background helps a lot. He understands that it is for the students, he understands how to be there for coaches and how to help them navigate some areas. He also does a very good job handling some of the outside stuff to buffer us coaches from it. Whether it be parent complaints or any of the other things that an athletic director has to do that isn’t a fun part of the job, he did a very good job of,” Ihm said.

Despite all the positives Hilton mentioned in his time at Northwest, he said everything was not as easy as it seemed. Being thrown into an athletic director role in the midst of Covid-19 was difficult, according to Hilton.

“I think coming in new with everything going on in the world with Covid was pretty difficult. Even just in our community, there were many disagreements over mitigations and things like that and that was something I had to help navigate,” Hilton said. “When I came in it was also after the tragedy of Dr. Gerke’s death and I also just wanted to help our coaches get through that as well.”

Hilton said he is moving to Dallas, Texas after the year due to family obligations, but does not yet have a job lined up.