Justin Bayer Brings Enthusiasm and Creativity to Moeller AD Position
Picture of Justin Bayer By Mike Dyer, WCPO.com
As Moeller begins the school year with a new Athletic Director, Justin Bayer, he looks at the plans for Moeller High School and talked about his past.
The history of Justin Bayer is simple. A grad of Moeller class of 1997, he worked as Director of Athletic Development for University of Dayton for four years, has a degree in higher education administration from University of Vermont, and a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the University of Dayton. He even started a business with his brother in 2010 called Welcome to College, which was based in Dayton before moving into New Orleans.
When asked about his plans for this year at Moeller, Bayer stated that he was excited for Moeller to take a shot at each of the four fall sport championships. Based on the performance of each fall sports team, it's possible for them all to make a run at a state title. Bayer is excited for each team's chances.
As for goals and changes in the department, “The energy you can feel […] I was ready for that, it was a year off […] the student section was fired up which had me fired up,” said Bayer. As for the fan base, he said that he wants to have games packed, and for people from out of state to come to a Friday game just to watch Moeller. He plans to pack the basketball games with fans and other sporting events like ultimate frisbee, track and field, and bowling.
Now that the football locker room was completed last year, Bayer plans to continue to improve facilities for baseball, soccer, and lacrosse. For example, the new baseball field will be located at the athletic complex currently under construction.
Moeller enjoys a rich tradition of national recognition during the Gerry Faust era that Bayer wants to bring back. Over time, the school hasn’t gotten that recognition in a while. So, the AD’s plan is to bring that back while he is at Moeller. From reputation and word of mouth, he wants to get people from other states to come see what Moeller is all about. Bayer wants people to be talking about Moeller at their home state after coming to see the school for a sports event, social event, or even just a visit to Cincinnati. He wants them to say, “Wow that school in Ohio, Moeller; it’s the best I’ve been, the environment is so well-respected and the brotherhood that they have is completely an different spectrum from others.”
Bayer also explained that the baseball field will be done before the spring season starts. The stands around the diamond won’t be finished, but Moeller will still be able to host home games. This will hopefully make the atmosphere awesome.
As the new year started, Moeller has gotten a tailgate vehicle call MARV with the help of Barrett Cohen. It is a trailer that has televisions and a space to prepare food. They are bringing it to games home or away (depending on the destination of the away game). Next time you are going to see the amazing MARV is at the first home game for Moeller Football is at Norwood stadium on Friday against Lasalle.
The last thing that I found out from Bayer of plans that have started is that he is increasing the media of the Athletic Department, he started a new Facebook page, Instagram page, and increased the Twitter page recognition for Moeller.