New South Eugene High School athletic director Jim Moore aims to sharpen Axe athletics

Jim Moore has a passion for high school athletics through more than a decade of coaching and officiating around Oregon.

Now, he'll be stepping back into his roots as the new athletic director at 6A South Eugene.

"I really wanted to get involved in sports and being at South seemed to be the perfect fit," said Moore, who will also serve as assistant principal. "I live in the community, and I have young kids."

Moore has Eugene area athletic roots

A four-sport athlete at Harrisburg High School, Moore was an athlete for current South Eugene head football coach Edmund Rivera in the mid-1990s. He started his teaching career in 2004 in the Beaverton School District while also serving as an Oregon School Activities Association wrestling official for three years.

He has worked as the principal at Edgewood Elementary School for the last seven years after serving as assistant principal at Thurston Middle School in Springfield.

As head coach, he led the wrestling team (2008-2015) at Sunset High School in Portland to three district titles and the program's first individual state championship in more than 40 years.

A focus on increasing participation across Axe athletics

Moore replaces Dave Hancock, who held the role for 22 years and resigned last year as the Axe's boys basketball coach after 21 years.

"My plans are to get to know the staff and our coaches and support them to the best of my ability," Moore said. "Really focus on giving our student athletes the best experience they can have at South Eugene."

He wants to increase participation across all Axe sports, he said.

"It's true with all of our athletic programs is connecting to our middle school and youth programs and really getting kids excited about being an Axe and competing at South Eugene High School," Moore said. "We are going to have better numbers this year."

He also emphasized focusing on the football program, which competes at the 5A level and went winless in league play in 2022.

"Edmund (Rivera) and I have been talking about is 'how do we reconnect with our youth and our middle school feeders and start to get kids out for football at that level,'" Moore said. "So that when they show up to high school, they are already thinking of themselves as South Eugene football players and are not having to recruit as nearly as hard."

He added he plans to work on connecting former South Eugene alumni to the athletic program.

"Not that it wasn't in place before, but I think it's important to connect with our past," Moore said. "I know South Eugene has a very storied history when it comes to athletics and academics."

Edith Noriega is a sports reporter for The Register-Guard. You may reach her at ENoriega@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Noriega_Edith.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: South Eugene High AD Jim Moore aims to sharpen Axe athletics