Curt Miller remembers a very different high school sports scene in Henry County compared to what we have now.

  When he played basketball at Henry County High School in the mid-1990s, there were only three high schools in the district. Now there are 10, and he has played a major role in helping all of them navigate the scholastic sports landscape the past few years as coordinator of athletics for Henry County Schools.

  Now he is going back in time, in a way. Recently he accepted the position of assistant principal and athletic director at Oconee County High School, beginning with the 2020-2021 school year. The Oconee County Board of Education approved the move at its April 3 meeting, and he shared the news on his personal Facebook page that night.

  That was perhaps the most appropriate way for him to do so, because one of the most intentional and successful of Miller’s accomplishments of late has been the huge boost in the district’s social media presence when it comes to middle school and high school sports. As of April 17, the “Athletics – Henry County Schools” account on Twitter had 2,301 followers, and a similar page operates on Facebook.

  During football season, they were updated regularly every Friday night so that fans of county teams could see up-to-the-minute results. More recently they have been used to share and retweet news and recognition of senior athletes whose seasons were cut short by the COVID-19 response.

  In his new role, Miller will be part of a district with only two high schools and two middle schools. There are just over 8,000 students in Oconee County’s public schools (compared to more than 40,000 in Henry County). This is more like what he remembers growing up, having spent all of his K-12 years in Henry County as well as the entire 19 years of his professional career so far.

  “Growing up as a student in the HCS district, there were only two or  three high schools and everyone in the county knew each other,” he wrote last week. “From state championships and scholarships to facility upgrades and expansion of sports offerings, seeing how much the district has grown and how successful we have been makes me feel really proud to be a part of it. Most importantly, the relationships I have built will make this chapter of my life a wonderful one.”

  But he excited about the move to Oconee, where he will not be coaching but will keep a hand in the athletic side while while taking a positive step toward achieving his goals of working in school administration. The transition is important from a family perspective, since his wife’s job requires a lot of time in that part of the state. Their two daughters, both of whom play sports and will be in middle school this fall, will experience high school athletics in a district similar to what he came up in.

  “I thought that was pretty cool,” he said in an interview with the Times last week. “Just having an opportunity to do that with our girls is special.”

  In addition to improving the district’s brand recognition through social media and other outlets, Miller introduced a program for aspiring athletic directors that provided training throughout the year to help them understand those jobs better and pave the way for future success. It was something he created in Henry County because of a need he saw upon assuming the district coordinator role. There were seven new athletic directors in the county’s middle and high school that first year, and six the following year.

  “I knew we needed some kind o training to prepare people for this position,” he said. “The district leadership was on board with it, and it has taken off.”

  As of now, every current athletic director in the district has gone through the program.

  “We’ve had really good feedback on it,” he said. “Some other districts have seen it and decided to implement it themselves.”

  It has even reached far beyond the state line, as a New York school district reached out to Miller about it and he eventually took a trip to Long Island to see firsthand how it was being adopted there.

  Miller’s first head coaching post at the high school level was when he led the boys basketball program at Dutchtown, starting when the school opened in the fall of 2004. They played a full varsity schedule with only freshmen and sophomores. Three years later, he became the athletic director and head boys basketball coach at Ola, where he remained until he moved to the central office. He was a health and physical education teacher on assignment for one year before assuming his most recent role.

  “I can’t say enough about how supportive Dr. Davis and the [Henry County] district leaders have been,” he said of his exit announcement. “I will never forget the relationships we have built and I will always be appreciative of them.”