Being a high school athletic director hasn’t always been Ryan Welch’s dream. In fact, when Plymouth High School’s former athletic director Josh Troyer resigned to become the new athletic director at Winamac in June, Welch didn’t immediately apply for the job despite being a 2008 alumnus and the then-Menominee Elementary School principal.
It was an idea that had always interested Welch, particularly within the last couple of years, but not one he had ever seriously considered or pursued. Once the job opened, Welch actually had community members reach out to him first, encouraging him to apply for the position.
A father of three children, all between the ages of 5-10, Welch still wasn’t sure if this was a commitment he even wanted to think about making – even if there was no guarantee he would get the job if he applied. After a couple of weeks of “soul searching,” Welch said it was when his wife, Shelly, gave him the green light that he knew this was an opportunity he didn’t want to let pass him by.
July 1, Welch was officially announced as Plymouth’s new athletic director. It was a full-circle moment for someone who has fond memories peering through the windows as a child to watch the Pilgrims’ 2001 IHSAA 3A girls basketball state runner-up team practice while his mother was an assistant coach on head coach Dave Cox’s staff.
A quarter-century later, Jack Edison Gymnasium is under that same kid’s supervision, and Welch will be able to bring his own children to many a Plymouth athletic event as they grow up.
“Those are core memories for me as a youngster that my kids are going to be able to do as much as they want,” Welch said.
As a student, Welch was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and baseball. While he had spent his entire professional career so far in elementary education, Welch has previous experience as a middle school and high school baseball and basketball coach.
He takes over Plymouth athletics in a time of transition, with a new superintendent, six new head coaches (including football, boys and girls basketball) and three head coaches heading into just their second season. With that comes a necessary rebuilding process, as Plymouth won just one IHSAA sectional and one regional team-sport championship in the 2025-26 academic year with some individual sport champions joining them.
Welch certainly does not lack the passion nor the ambition to lead this charge, with a clear mission statement for the 2026-27 academic year and beyond.
“There’s a standard of how we’re going to do things,” Welch said. “We want to be tough-minded, we want to show some grit and perseverance when things aren’t easy, and put together a product – aside from wins and losses – that our community can be proud of. Life is hard, so hopefully we can give [student-athletes] an experience that they can draw back on as they go off and do great things in the future.”
Kyle Smedley is a sports reporter at the South Bend Tribune. Contact him via email at ksmedley@usatodayco.com or follow him on X @KyleMSmedley.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: New Plymouth Athletic Director Ryan Welch ready to give back to alma mater
Reporting by Kyle Smedley, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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By Kyle Smedley, South Bend Tribune | USA TODAY Network
