Meet Hopkinton High's new athletic director. He wants to bring stability to the position.

As summer swelters, Ricky Andrade is looking ahead to winter. But not because of the heat.

The new athletic director at Hopkinton High has spent the past three weeks meeting with coaches, filling out schedules and focusing on hockey. No, not field hockey.

Also, swimming - though not to cool off.

“It’s crazy. Ice time and pool time are very much set in summer,” he said.

Those winter sports may seem far off, but Andrade plans on being here a while – to reverse a recent trend of high turnover in the position. He is Hopkinton’s third AD in the past three years and fourth since 2016.

Dee King held the position from 2016-2019 and Rich Cormier until 2022. Both cited family reasons for stepping down. Kiely Murray was the interim AD this past year.

“I want to build my own legacy. I want to create a home,” said Andrade, 31, “and I’m very hopeful that Hopkinton will be that. I know there’s been a lot of turnover. Throughout the interview process and talking with people, keeping this job stable is a priority of the high school and the district.”

Dan Lee served as Andrade's mentor at Needham

Andrade worked at Needham High in different capacities for the past six years. He was a soccer and Unified track coach, a teaching assistant and served as athletic director Dan Lee’s assistant the past two years. Andrade also was an intern for a year at the MIAA.

More: These boys hurdled over the competition: The Boys Track & Field All-Stars for 2023

Additionally, Andrade, who lives in Mansfield with his wife, Hannah, earned his master’s degree in sports leadership at Northeastern in 2019.

“I’m ready for what’s to come,” he said. “I like to challenge myself and I like being put into situations that are different. That’s the reason why I chose this field.”

Working with Lee, who recently started as athletic director at Lincoln-Sudbury, Andrade helped add a girls flag football team at Needham and served as a special education teaching assistant. Lee believes Andrade is ready to step into his new role while adding stability to the position.

“Ricky understands the expectations from not only an athletic standpoint and an academic standpoint, he also understands the pressures from being an AD and the toll it takes,” Lee said. “I think a lot of people when they go into athletic administration, they don’t understand everything that goes into being a good AD and running a successful athletic program, and Ricky knows that. He’s not scared away by the community and the parental pressure and the nights and the weekends.”

Andrade cherishes experiences, not victories

While Hopkinton High (1,300 students) is smaller than Needham (1,700; a Division 1 school), Andrade’s new school continues to grow: The Hillers will soon move up from Division 2 in most sports. Hopkinton, like Needham, routinely advances to state semifinals in many different sports.

But piling up banners is not a priority for Andrade.

“The biggest thing to me is that the school district and the school embodies the overall development of the students,” Andrade said. “At the end of the day, wins and losses are great but it’s about the experience and gaining those life skills and developing into capable adults who are going to be making a lot of changes in the world. That’s how I look at it every time I talk to a student-athlete.”

When will Andrade and Lee meet for first time?

While there are currently no varsity regular-season games between Hopkinton and Lincoln-Sudbury scheduled for the fall (the girls volleyball teams meet in a scrimmage on Aug. 29), that is sure to change. Hopkinton and L-S both call New England Sports Center home for ice hockey and the schools are annually part of the Rich Pedroli baseball tournament in Natick during the spring.

(Hopkinton held off L-S to win this past year's Pedroli, in a wild 21-19 victory.)

Lee and Andrade will be on opposing sides soon enough.

More: 'Stability's the number one goal.' Meet Milford High's two new basketball coaches

“I’m looking forward to working with Dan and I’m looking forward to a potential rivalry,” Andrade said.

“As we get settled,” Lee said, “I’m sure we’ll find some matchups where we can play each other.”

Hopkinton’s first varsity games with Andrade as AD will be played during the first week of September. He’s already anticipating the grind.

“Some days we’re out at football games, some days we’re in the office, some days we’re at a conference,” he said. “We don’t have normal days; we don’t have 9-5 (days).

“That’s what gets me up in the morning, that excitement.”

Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Ricky Andrade is Hopkinton High's new athletic director