Apr. 24—ST. CHARLES — Born and raised in St Charles. And kind enough to never want to leave.
That is Scott McCready, the guy who St. Charles schools have been lucky enough to retain as their Activities Director for the past 25 years, its baseball coach the past 23 and its all-around good guy seemingly since birth.
There's a decent chance that McCready was born with a smile on his face, because you'll rarely see him without one now.
"Good natured" would be an accurate understatement in describing the 58-year-old McCready. "Enthusiastic" works too. And so does "boundlessly energetic and optimistic."
McCready's drive and desire to be the best activities director has never waned. Same goes with his baseball coaching.
"I want to do the right things," said McCready, who also teaches math at St. Charles. "Athletics is such a big part of what these kids do. It's important and I want to play a part in their lives where I play a role to lay the foundation so things are just right for them.
"One of the greatest gifts we have is to have something to look forward to. When we can give that to these kids on a regular basis and include the community in that there is nothing better. Then they get out there and just really enjoy it."
McCready doesn't hesitate when describing who his biggest influence has been. That is Paul Solberg, his baseball coach all those years ago at Luther College.
Solberg taught his pupils to live for today, to completely invest in whatever you are doing right now.
"He was a Luther legend," said McCready, whose son Derek followed his footsteps to Luther. "He cared about us so much. He would tell us that Division III basetball (Luther's level) was the most important place we could be right now. We were average at best. But it was so fun to play for someone who loved every minute of every day."
McCready has never tired of his job. Being an activities director is a bit akin to putting together a puzzle.
Putting schedules together for a horde of sports teams doesn't sound like a fun task. But McCready takes it on with enthusiasm.
"Putting together a bus schedule feels like a fun puzzle," McCready said. "I really like the tasks of being an activities director and I like the people that I work with. The fellow ADs in Region 1, I am so lucky to be able to work with them. And I really enjoy the variety of the job. I love all the sports and I love the dance meets."
At 58, McCready would seem near retirement. But he makes it sound like he is years away from that, still way too committed to what he does and fulfilled in doing it.
On a football Friday night, as the last of the fans are leaving the St. Charles stadium for the night, a special feeling of satisfaction always wafts over McCready.
He can't help but reflect on what a role he played on the entire night coming together.
"As people are leaving, I know that it all started on my desk 12 months ago (with scheduling)," McCready said. "Right now I am penciling in next year's baseball schedule, trying to figure out which days make the most sense."
About the only thing that McCready doesn't like about this job is the occasional conflcts he's called on to resolve.
"I don't like to see people upset," McCready said. "But sometimes it is necessary. If we could just avoid that I'd be very happy."
McCready says that St. Charles has been the ideal place to work.