In the LymeLight: Lyme-Old Lyme Schools Athletic Director Hildie Heck Earns Top State Honor

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LYME/OLD LYME – Hildie Heck, district athletic director and Title IX coordinator for Lyme-Old Lyme Public Schools, has been honored with the Connecticut Association of Athletic Directors’ highest honor. 

Heck accepted the Distinguished Service Award for her significant contributions at the local and state levels during the organization’s annual banquet on March 26 in Rocky Hill.  

According to her award biography, the 1998 graduate of Westbrook High School has served in her current role since 2016. Lyme-Old Lyme athletic programs under her leadership have achieved 19 state championships, 10 state runner-up finishes, 19 league championships and 21 league runner-up titles. The district has also earned eight Michaels Jewelers Achievement Cup awards, which recognize excellence in sportsmanship.

Heck oversees all district athletic programs while ensuring compliance with Title IX, which ensures gender equity in education and athletics. Her work has extended beyond daily operations to include revising athletic publications, overseeing planning and community engagement for a major athletic facilities project and expanding opportunities for student leadership.

In a CAAD award video, Heck described the fulfillment she gets from working with students on a day-to-day basis. 

“I always joke that my office is like Grand Central Station. The kids are always just popping in to say ‘hi’ or grab a snack,” she said. “But I love being out there and seeing them at practices and at games, being competitive and doing what they enjoy.” 

Heck founded the district’s first Athletic Leadership Council and helped create a unified application and selection process for team captains. In co-developing the Shoreline Conference Captains Workshop and Leadership Summit, she expanded leadership opportunities for student-athletes across the region. 

She described an outlook of thoughtful planning when it comes to choosing captains and teaching them how to grow in the role. 

“I’ve always wanted to help build the skills of the leadership, of what captains are supposed to be, and actually giving them the tools that they need in order to be successful in those positions,” she said. 

Heck also helped bring in additional athletic opportunities through new and cooperative programs, and worked with district leadership to hire the system’s first full-time athletic trainer.

Before joining Lyme-Old Lyme Schools, Heck served as athletic director and a physical education and health teacher at Classical Magnet School in Hartford from 2005 to 2016, where she was instrumental in shaping the program while serving as head coach for cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. She previously served as the girls’ head outdoor track coach at Westbrook High School and an assistant coach in track and volleyball at Branford High School.

Heck said experience has shown her “wins and championships are great,” but success comes down to instilling a positive culture at the schools. 

“It’s not just because you’re competitive, but because there’s respect among your athletes and they have integrity and accountability,” she said. 

At the state level, Heck is active with the Connecticut Association of Athletic Directors, currently serving as second vice president, mentoring chair, and a delegate to the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. She is a member of several Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference committees, including those focused on sportsmanship and boys’ and girls’ outdoor track and field. Regionally, she has held leadership roles in the Shoreline Athletic Conference and the Pequot Football Conference.

Heck lives in East Lyme with her partner, Chris Farrell, athletic director at Daniel Hand High School, and dogs Kona and Mako.

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