Sally Otto, face of Shoreline athletics, to retire

SHORELINE

It is relatively rare these days to find someone who has been in the same job even five years, let alone 21.

But that’s the case for Sally Otto, one of the most loyal and hard working employees of the Shoreline School District.

But think of Otto as just an employee of the district, sounds a bit too impersonal, not quite right. For years she’s been the face of Shoreline athletics.

If you’ve been to a game at Shoreline Stadium, you’ve probably been greeted by Otto and her infectious smile and laugh.

Otto is one of those people you’re glad to see and she seems genuinely glad to see you.

“Her positive attitude is contagious,” Shoreline School District athletic director Don Dalziel said. “There’s no conversation that doesn’t involve some form of laughter from her.”

Otto, is the longest tenured classified employee in the district, spending the last 21of those years as the district athletic secretary. Otto’s final day is Oct. 31. An open house is scheduled that day for goodbyes.

“In one way, I’m extremely happy for her, she deserves this, but at the same token it will be a huge loss for our school district,” Dalziel said.

Otto, who turned 65 in January, decided it was time to retire from a job that made her one of the most recognizable faces in the community.

“To me, it’s the most exciting part of working at a school district,” she said of working in athletics.

The district hired Otto on Aug. 28, 1972 and she started out as the secretary for the director of the data center. She had two young boys at the time and was looking for a part-time job while her then-husband was away on Coast Guard duty for a year.

She later served as attendance secretary at Shorecrest, and worked as an office manager in the business office, maintenance department and transportation department.

In 1986, she was hired by the district’s first full-time athletic director, Rich Gustafson, as athletic secretary and found her true calling.

“She probably was the best hire that I made in my 10 or 11 years as athletic director for the Shoreline School District,” said Gustafson, now a Shoreline City Councilman. “She’s a one in a million gal that fit the job we had posted.”

Otto easily identified the best part of the job. “The relationships you build with the schools, the coaches, the students,” she said.

In addition to her regular 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job, she has worked countless hours at football, soccer, basketball, track and wrestling games, meets and matches.

“She was truly involved in a lot of things that went beyond the normal scope of the day,” said Paul Lesh, who served as Shoreline athletic director from 1996 to 2004. “When there was something major going on, she was there, unless something major with family came up.”

For 20 years, Otto has served as the timer at Shorewood boys basketball games. She later started doing the Shorewood girls basketball games, missing few along the way.

Matt Bingham, the spotter for high school football games at Shoreline Stadium, has known Otto for more than 25 years,. He started volunteering at athletic events as a 12-year-old junior high student with Otto’s encouragement.

“She’s been like a mother figure for me, a second mom,” Bingham said. “She’s always put everybody else in front of her.”

When Otto first started in the job, she didn’t use a personal computer or e-mail. She coordinated all the scheduling over the phone and schedules were sent out to other schools by mail.

Now schedules are posted on the district Web site and e-mailed. Schedules for officials are posted online as well.

“It’s really eased in that respect from when I first began,” she said.

On occasion, mistakes happen and people get disappointed and that can be frustrating, Otto said. For example, sometimes when a game has to be rescheduled and officials aren’t notified of the change, the game can’t be played.

Still, Otto has a way of alleviating stressful situations.

“Her natural personality is very energetic and humorous,” Lesh said. “She loves to have fun. She loves her sports, Mariners, high school sports. It’s hard to get her to take a vacation.”

Otto has seen thousands of student-athletes come through the district, worked on hundreds of schedules and rosters, and taken reservations for countless fields. When people think of institutional memory in the district, Otto is automatically a person that comes to mind.

“She’s like a human database of historical data and procedures,” Dalziel said. “To this day, she is someone I lean on daily.”

In 1999, Otto received the Dave Duvall Meritorious Award from Northwest District 1 in recognition of her outstanding service to athletics in Shoreline, in the Northwest District and statewide.

The district named Otto its Support Person of the Year in 2006.

Otto worked more than a thousand games and events throughout her career but the most memorable for her were the state soccer finals at Shoreline Stadium and the state basketball tournament at Seattle Center and the Kingdome. Shorecrest won the girls 3A title on their home field in 1992.

Otto’s job has been posted on the district Web site and a new hire is expected in a few weeks.

Her advice to the new person is to have “flexibility” and be “accepting of all situations.”

Otto, who lives in Bothell, has two sons who have families in Shoreline and Mercer Island. She plans to spend more time with her five grandchildren. Her new life will inlcude more travel, including a trip to China next fall.

Things will go on in the Shoreline School District, but Otto left it a better place.