- April 20, 2024
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Ken Seybold, of Matanzas, and Steve DeAugustino, of FPC, impact the lives of every Flagler County high school student-athletes.
Steve DeAugustino
Age: 54
Family: Wife, Renee; children Stephen, Jaclyn, Michael
Occupation, title: Athletics Director, FPC
Quirky fact: Loves to cook, especially Italian food
Ken Seybold
Age: 47
Family: Wife, Jeanne; children Brian, Jamie
Occupation, title: Athletics Director, MHS
Quirky fact: San Diego Padres tattoo on left calf
Steve DeAugustino and Ken Seybold don’t work conventional hours. They go into work early in the morning to their respective high schools — DeAugustino to Flagler Palm Coast and Seybold to Matanzas.
On the way, they stop at nearby gas stations to get their cups of Joe.
The coffee will power them through their day, which begins when the first bell rings at 8 a.m. Administrative duties and other in-school responsibilities fill the day’s agenda. But the final bell of the day at 2 p.m., is when DeAugustino and Seybold really begin.
DeAugustino is FPC’s athletics director; Seybold holds the same position at Matanzas.
Both FPC and Matanzas offer 27 varsity sports.
DeAugustino and Seybold attend games about three nights a week, depending on what season it is and how many home games are taking place.
And most of the time, they are the last to leave campus. The two dedicate an exorbitant amount of time to their schools. Much of the behind-the-scenes work goes unnoticed, but DeAugustino and Seybold wouldn’t want it any other way.
“Steve and I are the guys who turn off the lights at the end of the day,” Seybold said. “But we do it because we love doing it.”
Dawn Kerstetter, athletics and activities secretary at Matanzas High School, works with Seybold on a daily basis. She said she has seen Seybold get on the tractor and cut the grass on the athletics fields.
“Ken is very approachable, and I believe he truly cares about the well-being of all of the students,” Kerstetter said. “He wants to see ineligible students become eligible and have a chance at being a part of an athletic team.”
Kathy Picano, athletics secretary at FPC, said DeAugustino was in the office during vacation time fixing things. His dedication is evident, she said.
“I’ve seen him take money out of his own pocket to give to students for lunch,” Picano said. “He’s just a great person and has a good heart.”
There are approximately 1,050 student-athletes combined at FPC and Matanzas. All fall under the responsibility of the athletics directors.
DeAugustino, 54, is in his fifth year as the athletics director at FPC. He previously was a physical education teacher and was also the wrestling coach for 27 years, when he won three state titles and had two second-place finishes.
Seybold, 47, has been the athletics director at Matanzas since the school’s inception seven years ago. He’s also an assistant principal. Before transferring to Matanzas, Seybold was an assistant principal at FPC, an Exceptional Student Education teacher, and coached basketball, soccer and track.
As Flagler County’s ADs, DeAugustino and Seybold share the same passion: helping the student-athletes get to where they want to go — wherever that may be.
“I heard someone say an AD is a coach’s coach,” Seybold said. “You’re guiding all sorts of personalities through whatever situations they are dealing with.”
DeAugustino wants to make sure each program gets equal attention.
“It doesn’t matter what they play or what they do,” he said.
DeAugustino and Seybold agree that one of the perks of being an AD is the ability to see all the different sports teams play. DeAugustino said he never got to see an entire basketball game prior to becoming an athletics director because his sport coincided with all the other winter sports. That all changed when he became AD.
“Being able to experience and be involved with all the different programs (is a huge benefit),” DeAugustino said.
Seybold has had the opportunity to see Matanzas grow and evolve into a school that, at one point seven years ago, was literally a pile of dirt.
“I had a unique experience opening up Matanzas,” Seybold said. “To see what it has evolved into, that’s been rewarding for me.”
A healthy, fun rivalry
Matanzas is still a young program, but an in-county rivalry is alive and beating.
Though some coaches downplay the meaning of a game between FPC and Matanzas, the two athletics directors see a healthy rivalry as a good thing.
“Obviously, whenever Matanzas plays FPC, we want to win,” Seybold said. “But we like to see them have success, too.”
DeAugustino agreed, adding that “no serious incidents” have taken place throughout the years.
“We’ve known each other for almost 20 years,” Seybold said about his relationship with DeAugustino. “We’re going to do the right thing for each school and the right thing for the student-athletes of Flagler County.”
Contact Andrew O’Brien at [email protected].
