Fancy clothes, nerves building and excitement high, Sept. 30 looked remarkably similar for SHS students and Athletic Director Nick Stevens.

But the two were hundreds of miles apart. While SHS students got ready for homecoming, Stevens got ready for his wedding.

Having his wedding the week of homecoming proved to have challenges, but the SHS administration team came together to keep athletics running smoothly in his absence.

“(In) hindsight, (it was) probably not the best day to have a wedding scheduled, but it’s one of those (times) where you just kind of have to roll with it,” Stevens said.

And roll with it he did.

When he first planned the wedding last year, Brian Murphy was still the head Athletic Director. So then assistant Athletic Director Stevens checked with Murphy and the two agreed that Sept. 30, even though it was during homecoming week, would work for his wedding.

Things changed after Murphy left for New Palestine High School and Stevens got the job. But, Stevens still wasn’t too worried about it because he had an assistant whom he could trust to take care of things. However, when the assistant had to step down due to family issues just days into the school year, Stevens realized that the date of his wedding posed some problems.

Knowing that the athletic office would be empty during a critical week in high school sports, Stevens has worked double duty over the past few weeks, making sure that all of his “ducks are in a row” so that the stress won’t fall on other administrators and he can fully focus on his wedding.

“I (didn’t) want this to be a difficult thing for anybody to help me out,” Stevens said.