This text is designed for professional preparation classes in physical education and sports administration and serves as a guide for inservice secondary school athletic directors. Managerial principles are applied to athletic personnel and programs: coaches are depicted as managerial supervisors, the athletic director is middle management, and the principal is executive management. The focus is on the middle manager's (athletic director's) role and function. Chapters are arranged according to performed management functions and divided into eight sections: (1) the problems, forces, and issues shaping interscholastic athletics today, the responsibilities of the athletic director, and the organization of the interscholastic program; (2) specific managerial functions--goals and objectives, policy development, financing and budget, scheduling, facilities; (3) the management functions of organization, staffing, communications, and staff relations; (4) directing and delegating, assignment and evaluation of game officials; (5) controlling and reporting, safety conditions, office management, and bookkeeping; (6) changing roles and innovations; and (7) the future of interscholastic athletics and the implications for athletic management. (MM)