Memorial Day Athletic Director Andrea Bagnall brings experience from SEC basketball, the Olympics, and the NFL

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — After a search for a new athletic director in February, Memorial Day School in Savannah seems to have found the perfect fit in Andrea Bagnall.

Bagnall brings a wealth of experience in athletics, taking part as a trainer for Tennessee and Auburn women’s basketball along with the Olympic games, and has even contributed to programs through the National Football League.

She has also learned from coaches at the top of their respective sports. While working as a trainer at the University of Tennessee, she was mentored by a college basketball legend… The late Pat Summit.

“She was tough, she was hard, but she was fair,” Bagnall said. “She gave me so many oppurtunities.”

Summit tragically passed away in 2016, but Andrea said she still carries lessons Pat taught her in her everyday life.

“She taught me about sports, life, and perseverance,” Bagnall said. “You just have to want it more than the next person.”

Even with experience working at the highest levels of sports in the country, she said the local level is where she belongs.

“I wouldn’t trade working at the high school and colleges for working in the NFL, MLB, any of them because they just don’t have it,” she said. “There’s not that electricity with everybody rooting for the same team, it’s different.”

Despite the fact she has only been the athletic director for six months, she said Memorial Day already feels like home.

“I love the fact that we’re a family,” she said. “I love the fact that we’re all pulling for eachother, they all want to do well, the coaches are pulling for each other, and they all want to represent our school well.”