Back where he started

Daniel Senger has had an eye on Douglas High School since he graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno.

The 2004 Douglas High School graduate moved to the area in the middle of his high school journey, but said the Carson Valley immediately felt like home.

He kept a look out for the right opportunity while spending the last 10 years at Silver Stage High School.

Two years ago, his wife took a job at Minden Elementary School and the thoughts about returning to his old stomping grounds grew louder.

“I always wanted to get back here. It was always something I knew I was going to do, wanted to do, but the time had to be right,” said Senger. “My wife got down to Minden Elementary School two years ago and since then I’ve just been waiting for the opportunity for a job to open up that I felt like I could do and be comfortable with.”

Senger becomes the latest Tiger athletic director taking over for John Glover, who took the principal job at Eureka High School last month.

TIGER ROOTS

While at Silver Stage, Senger served in various roles including head football and baseball coach, a PE/health teacher and athletic director.

In 2019, Senger was inducted into the Douglas High School football Hall of Fame.

He’s known he wanted to be a teacher since he graduated from Douglas High School and holds a bachelor’s of science in secondary education from UNR.

He went on to get a master’s of science in educational leadership from Western Governors University.

After graduating from college, Senger took a job with a charter school in Reno before spending the last decade working in Lyon County.

Senger said he has been paying attention the success Douglas High School has had in athletics. He hopes his skills and experience can help amplify the Tiger programs.

“To be able to take what I’ve learned, take what I’ve gained from other places and … bring it to Douglas as a way to share what I’ve been able to take in. Take what they are doing so well already and enhance it,” Senger said.

The summer months will allow him to ask questions and get a better understanding of what is working well and what could be tweaked.

Building relationships with colleagues and students is another area of focus in his new position.

“Whether that’s talking with coaches or working with the students and building that rapport where you can trust them and they can trust you. Success comes from strong relationships and communication. That’s gong to be prominent for me, especially in the beginning,” said Senger.

Seeing student-athletes grow and show their own personalities more in extracurricular settings also is a motivator for Senger.

“I love the fact that coaching you get to see sides of students you don’t get to see in the classroom,” Senger said.

His experience and tenure at Silver Stage taught him how to manage limited resources.

With only varsity teams, he learned how to focus on fundamentals and work with high school athletes who were getting their first experiences with prep sports.

“I had football teams and baseball programs where half my teams are learning the sport for the first time in ninth grade,” said Senger. “One of my biggest takeaways from being athletic director out there is the ability to truly coach the game and truly teach the game at its basic level.”

He admits he has plenty to do in terms of relationship building and adjusting to a high school he hasn’t walked through in two decades, but that brings a buzz and plenty of nostalgia.

“It’s awesome being back in the school and the offices and the hallways I was once in,” Senger said. “To be able to take what I’ve learned, take what I’ve gained from other places and … bring it to Douglas as a way to share what I’ve been able to take in.”