AD Mike Gavlik bids farewell to Chartiers Valley after 4-year stay

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, July 23, 2023 | 11:01 AM

Mike Gavlik just completed his 20th year as an athletic director in the area when an opportunity arose that would bring him closer to home, so he is headed north.

The now-former AD at Chartiers Valley has been hired as the new athletic director at Hampton.

“I wasn’t necessarily looking for a change, but Hampton was an attractive school district with strong academics and athletics,” Gavlik said. “I live in the north, so that made it more attractive.”

Gavlik and his family live in the North Allegheny school district. He leaves Chartiers Valley after four years as athletic director. He also was AD of the Pittsburgh City League for 16 years.

At Hampton, Gavlik replaces longtime athletic director Bill Cardone, who retired after 29 years of guiding Talbots sports.

“Bill was integral to the successes at Hampton,” Gavlik said. “He had great longevity and leadership.”

Cardone is comfortable the transition will be smooth and expects Gavlik will do well in heading Talbots athletics.

“From what I know of him, he’ll do a good job,” Cardone said. “He just needs to forge his own path. I told him this is the way we do things, now he has to determine to continue or make changes.”

Even though he was only there for four years, the decision to leave Chartiers Valley was a tough one for Gavlik.

“I think my time at CV was a positive one,” he said. “I made great relationships in my time at Chartiers Valley, and I feel we made great strides.”

Overall results and successes were something Gavlik won’t soon forget, but there is one special event that he will look back on when remembering his time at Chartiers Valley.

“I think we accomplished a lot on the field and the courts in my time at CV,” he said. “One of my proudest accomplishments, though, was the CV toy drive. It was amazing to see the support of the community, coaches and students. We were able to help a lot of families during the holiday season.”

During his time overseeing the Colts’ programs, Gavlik guided district athletics through a pandemic, saw a historic run by the Chartiers Valley girls basketball program and their record district and state winning streak of 64 victories in a row, a surprise run to gold by the girls lacrosse team in 2022, an unexpected championship in boys doubles tennis and section crowns in baseball and softball this spring.

The excitement of building new relationships with Hampton coaches, administrators and athletes will be forged over the upcoming months, but saying goodbye to all of those involved in Colts athletics has been tough.

“I will miss the relationships I built with the coaches and athletes,” Gavlik said. “They are integral to the success of an athletic department, and they were great.”

While Gavlik changes his wardrobe from blue and red to blue and gold, the process and search for a new athletic director at Chartiers Valley has begun.

Tags: Chartiers Valley