New Vail Mountain School athletic director reflects on journey, successes and goals after first year at the helm

Katie Arnold’s path from Michigan to the Rocky Mountains wasn’t direct. But her journey — which included a decade teaching in China — has shaped her perspective and vision as the Vail Mountain School athletic director.

“Watching the teams come together from day 1 to playoffs and just watching that evolution of team dynamics has been amazing,” she said, reflecting on her first full year in the position. “I think that’s something I’ve never really experienced before. I mean, back in China, yes, it was a high school, so we had high school teams, but it’s not the same as here.”

While Arnold studied psychology at Michigan State University, she also took Chinese from middle school through college. At the end of her undergraduate, Arnold studied abroad in China — and ended up staying. She bounced from Harbin to Beijing and eventually Shanghai, where she landed at the Dwight School. Her jobs rotated from college counselor to physical education teacher and athletic director.

“Similar to other schools, you kind of do what they ask you to do and you adapt, you change and figure it out and learn,” she said. “I zoned in on doing PE, kind of making that my career choice when I moved back to the U.S. And then always kind of having in the back of my mind: ‘OK, so I really enjoy being a PE teacher — but do I want to be a teacher forever?'”

In 2019, Arnold left for Greeley, thinking she would pursue a second bachelor’s degree in PE. But when her boss in China offered her a position at the Dwight School campus in New York City, she jumped at the chance to move to the Big Apple, where she ended up spending the next two years.

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“But I knew I wanted to come back to Colorado,” Arnold added.

Her next stop was the International School of Denver, teaching PE and health.

“I’d always wanted to go back to being an AD,” Arnold said. “But I had kind of put it as a farther career goal.”

Two years ago, Arnold accepted a split position teaching PE and working as the middle school athletic director at Vail Mountain School. When high school athletic director Bobby Ecker moved over to Battle Mountain last fall, she was offered his position.

Her first year began with the boys soccer team earning the pre-season No. 1 ranking in Colorado. The young girls volleyball team improved in every game it played up through its rivalry rematch with Vail Christian in October. On the hardwood, Vail Mountain School’s boys basketball team played Battle Mountain to a 3-point loss in January but finished the year with a 13-7 record and 7-2 league mark. In the spring, both the girls soccer and boys lacrosse teams made it into the second round of their respective state tournaments.

“Katie has been fantastic,” head lacrosse coach Stephen Michel said. “Scheduling our games this year was extremely problematic given the warm weather followed by snow, but she handled everything like a seasoned pro! She was also a great leader; very collaborative in her decision making process and constantly seeking feedback from myself as well as our other coaches.”

Even though there was on-field successes, Arnold admitted facing challenges jumping into the new role. She said one of her personal off-season goals is to become more efficient everywhere.

“I’m not there yet, but I have the vision of what I want my goals to be for next year (and) in the future,” she said. “You know, how do I do better at developing coaches? How do I do better at developing players as leaders? I think those are things that, I’m not there yet, but I’m excited about.”

When asked to pinpoint a highlight from her inaugural year, she said the most satisfying feeling is when everything goes well on game night.

“When every single piece has fallen into place perfectly,” she explained. “I have all the people I need, athletes are happy, there’s no injuries … you come out with a win. Those are the amazing moments. That always feels great.”

Arnold said there isn’t any new program-related business to announce at the moment.

“We want to keep our programs as they are because they are so important to the VMS community,” she said before adding that field and court constraints prevent her from adding more.

“I would love to have flag football — I think that would be great,” she said regarding the activity CHSAA officially sanctioned this year.” (It’s) another sport that is becoming so popular and they’re trying to get it started on the Western Slope.”

This summer, the 38-year-old is looking forward to hiking and biking around the valley she sometimes visited for childhood ski trips. The route she took to finally call this place home has helped her savor it a little more.

“When you’re from the Midwest, I feel like Colorado is like the promised land,” she said with a smile. “I feel super grateful to have this opportunity to live up here.”