Cantrell picked to lead Alabama Christian athletics
Spenser Cantrell was named the new athletic director of Alabama Christian Academy. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Spenser Cantrell said the opportunity to be the athletic director at Alabama Christian Academy wasn’t the type of job she sought out.
“I guess it’s a conversation when you’re the assistant A.D.,” Cantrell said. “Honestly, not something I was looking for. I loved what I did. I loved being involved with the students. Obviously, when you make your way to the A.D. position, there’s more meetings, more faculty, more all of the above. That means less time with students. So I need to make sure there’s a conscious effort to still be involved in students’ lives the way I want to be.”
After spending the last several months working with retiring athletic director Tim Perry, Cantrell will take over her new position with the start of the 2025-26 school year on Aug. 1.
“Spenser is someone that our ACA family has had a desire to lead athletics for a long time,” said head of school Josh Roberts. “When Tim came on board last year as our interim athletic director, it was for the purpose of helping grow and mentor Spenser in some of the very few areas that she had not yet had a chance to have direct authority over. That teamwork has been a phenomenal reason for our success this year and when it was time for Tim to enjoy retirement, there was no question who God had prepared to take over athletics at ACA.”
Perry, who served as the athletic director in 2024-25, didn’t rule out a return to the football field as a volunteer assistant coach for this fall, but said it was time to retire from his fulltime job.
“It was just kind of a mutual decision between my wife and I,” he said. “I just felt like it was time. I have several options. I’m not looking for anything fulltime.”
Cantrell said her work with Perry over the last year have been invaluable.
“Working under him has been amazing,” she said. “I’ve loved every second of it. He has helped me through every decision, every situation, every issue. Granted, I’m not going to say I’m nervous without him, but I can’t help but be a little nervous now that he’s not going to be around. But he tells me he’s just a phone call away.”
Despite Cantrell’s relative inexperience in the administrative world, Roberts said he considered her the ideal candidate.
“There are several qualities that Spenser exhibits more than anyone else on our campus,” Roberts said. “The first is she’s a hard worker. There’s no one in this state that outworks Spenser Cantrell.
“The second one is that she champions students. There is nobody that I’ve ever been around that cares more about student experience, especially in the athletic world, than Spenser Cantrell. If it involves sports and involves students, then Spenser has an opinion on it and she’s going to make sure the right thing is going to get done.
“The third thing is that ever since she was a little child, she has been gifted with this unbelievable talent of being the perfect teammate. She’s been one of my perfect teammates, she’s been our coaches’ ideal teammate. The way that she approaches team decisions, the way she approaches leadership, her philosophy, are second to none.”
Cantrell said her top priority are the ACA student-athletes and their parents.
“You’re not going to make everyone happy,” she observed, “and that’s something I struggle with. I want to make sure that every parent is being heard. They’re trusting us with their children, so I want to make sure the parents know (I care) and that they’re comfortable enough to be able to have those conversations with me. I want to make sure we’re taking care of students the way that we need to take care of them. I want to make sure that I’m able to help around the campus as much as possible.”
For the past four years, Cantrell has served as the girls’ basketball coach. Neither Cantrell nor Roberts were sure if she would continue in that role.
“We’re looking at everything,” Roberts said. “She’s going to be the most influential part of every one of our women’s sports and I do expect that she’s going to coach women’s basketball for us this upcoming year.”
Cantrell didn’t sound as certain of her role this winter.
“I love my girls,” she said. “I’m also somebody who wants to put 100 percent into what I am doing. I’m nervous about being able to give my coaches and boys’ basketball the same love and respect and availability that football has, because I’m not in season at that time. Those conversations are still being had.”